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Spring 2013 Newsletter

THE GREAT MERCATOR, MAPS AND STAMPS

Minou Button

On Monday 12th March 2012. notable stamps and a sheet from Belgium celebrated the great mapmaker Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594); the latinized version for Gerhard Kremer or Gerard de Cremer, or even De Kremer, who was born in Ruppelmonde in East Flanders and, accessorily Jodicus Hondius (1563-1612), or Joost de Hondt, born in Wakken in West Flanders.

It was 500 years ago that Mercator was born and 400 years ago that Hondius died. They are linked in the world of mapmaking and did meet, but this is a little academic. In fact, Hondius bought Mercator’s copper plates from his grandson.

Mercator’s greatest claim to fame is the “Mercator Projection” and his map of 1569 “Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Description ad Usum Navigantium Emendata”- “New and augmented description of Earth corrected for the use of sailors”- used by Hondius in his “Nova Totius.

“Terrarum Orbis Geographica ac Hydrographica Tabula” “New geographical and hydrographical map of the whole world”.

I am reliably informed that the Mercator projection is still used in our SatNavs.

In Mercator’s projection the size of the land masses is sacrificed. It preserves the shape of Land masses and provides for plotting courses of constant direction. The lines of longitude are straight vertical lines equal distance apart at all latitudes and horizontal distances are stretched above and below the equator so that shape and direction are preserved. It was not the first time that Mercator was celebrated on stamps in Belgium, in fact there are three previous issues of stamps or sheets.

Antituberculosis league "Portraits" 1942 450th Anniversary of Mercator’s birth 1962

Sailing Ship 'Mercator' 1995

Many, many countries have celebrated his invention, including Great-Britain for the 20th International Geographical Congress with the derivative Oblique Robinson Projection.

Let us not forget the earliest of all Christmas stamps - the 1898 from Canada.

A CHALLENGE

HOWARD FISHER

My philatelic interest is France and, in particular at present, postal history of World War One including the cachets which were used to authorise mail in the free Franchise Militaire system and censor cachets and marks. I extend the censor mark element to include mail sent from France by serving soldiers back to the U.K.

Whilst browsing eBay recently I came upon three lots of postcards which were sent to an address in Leslie, Fife, Scotland. One of the three lots had a bid but the other two did not and I was successful in acquiring all three amounting to 27 postcards and at little cost.

The cards are all picture postcards of various scenes in France, none bear postage stamps but are endorsed by the writer as ‘On Active Service’ and therefore qualified for free postage and all bear a censor hand-stamp cachet of different types and all but one have Field Post Office double ring hand-stamps of a standard pattern, the exception being a single-ring strike.

The censor cachets are oval, square, hexagonal, rectangular or triangular and from differing censors and, as was required, signed by the censor either in pencil or ink.

None of the cards provides a clue as to the last name, location or regiment of the sender but that is to be expected since such information was not allowed for security reasons. For the same reason the censor hand-stamps were not used permanently by the same censor but were moved from location to location at regular intervals to avoid the possibility of the enemy using them to identify particular units. On the face of some of the cards, the picture location has been crossed out although not very efficiently in some cases as the location can be read through the pencil marks and, of course, where the name is not immediately apparent, the pencil crossing-out could easily be erased to show the name underneath.

The cards fit into a regular pattern of being sent at least monthly, in some cases twice a month, but there is not a complete run from 1915 to 1918. There are 13 from 1915, 3 from 1916, 5 from 1917, 5 from 1918 and one where the date cannot be read.

The sender signs himself as ‘George’ and cards for 1915 and 1916 are addressed to Miss Agnes Neilson, 102 High Street East, Leslie, Fife, Scotland with one addressed to Mrs. J. Neilson at the same address. In 1917 the addressee changes to Mrs. G. M. Hill at the same address. The salutation is always ‘Dear Nan’, obviously Agnes was known as ‘Nan’ to her friends and family.

The messages are often short, thanks for a letter or parcel and several promises of sending a letter when George has time. For example a card postmarked 12 January 1916 simply says ‘Dear Nan, will probably answer your letter in about two days time, Affect yours, Geo’. One of 26 July 1915 has no message, just the initials ‘GMH’ and ‘George’; yet another says that the card is another for her collection All this intrigued me, who was Miss Agnes Neilson? The obvious conclusion was that during the war she married George but who was George? Adopting my historian’s hat, I set about a search, starting with Agnes as I had both her names. Agnes was born at Leslie, Fife in 1891 to John and Susan Neilson. In 1911 she was living with her parents, three sisters and three brothers, she being the eldest child in the family. Her father worked in a paper mill as did Agnes, one of her sisters and a brother. The paper mill was called the Fettykill Paper Mill and appears to have closed around 2009 but reopened later as the Sapphire Mill using waste paper to make re-cycled products. Sapphire had a serious fire in March 2013.

I had found Agnes, but what about George? Assuming his last name was Hill from the change of addressee title in the cards from 1917, I searched for service records without success; presumably his were destroyed in the WW2 bombing in London, along with many WW1 service records. There were several George Hills with Medal Cards but no indication which was my George. Undaunted, I eventually found a marriage record for Agnes. On October 28, 1916 Agnes Neilson married George M. Hill at Edinburgh under a warrant issued by the Sheriff-Substitute of the Lothians and Peebles dated 27 October 1916. His address was given as 79, High Street, Leslie and he was a private in the R.A.M.C. with the British Expeditionary Force. His father was James Forsyth Hill, a Colliery Engineer and his mother, Janet née Morton, was deceased. A quick search of the 1911 census for Scotland produced some possibilities to find out more about George, but as ‘Scotland’s people’ is a pay-site and I had used most of my credits in tracing Agnes I was reluctant to buy more on the off-chance of finding George.

However, I feel that I have done justice to George and Agnes in locating them, being able to find information about them and I am pleased that I bought cards, which have a personal story behind them.

DERBY SCOUTS' CHRISTMAS POST

Sandra Poole

This Christmas post, that I mentioned in the Spring Newsletter, 2011, is one of the biggest and longest running scout posts, having started operating in 1982, and in that time, they have raised nearly £105,000, 10% of which has gone to local charities. This Christmas, they raised over £5,000, delivering around 266,118 cards- 7,827 lbs @34 cards per lb. In 2011, it was 6333lbs @41 per lb. Bruce Kilgour, one of the organisers, explained that “the reason for fewer cards per lb .and is because folk are taking advantage of Scout Post to send the cards the GPO rates as ‘large’ and charges an extortionate fee to deliver.” He admits that counted this way, the figure is only approximate, “but nobody’s going to stop and count a ¼ million cards!” He didn’t think the P.O. was too bothered about the one month they run the service as, according to him, one report said that they “ ‘lose’ more letters in a month than Derby deliver”.

Christmas 2012 was “the first year of a booklet- actually produced to help a a busy pub, which really didn’t have time to sell separate stamps and then juggle odd 20p coins. It wasn’t official’, but it sold well. It’s something my wife and I made up, but it was well worth it.’”

THE LIMITS TO A COLLECTION

Alan Squires

In a recent article in Stamp Magazine, John Crace pointed out that his original collecting plan had had to be revised because of circumstances beyond his control. The article rang a bell for me as I had the same problems.

I was going to follow Stanley Gibbons Catalogue to build up my collection of Commonwealth stamps. The immediate problem came when I saw the catalogue value of quite a large number of the stamps. They were way beyond my finances. Yes I wanted the £1 PUC, but £400 on one stamp was more than I could afford. What about that Falkland Island set from 1933? Catalogued at £3750 meant I was going to give that and others like it a miss.

Errors and flaws were the next to be crossed off the list. These were rare by their very nature and that put the price up again. So what was left? Well, apart from the basic set I could go for different perforations and shades.

With this in mind I made my wants lists and set about expanding my collection. Perforations were easy to check in most cases. I have found a few stamps in my collection which have perforations slightly different to the catalogue. Not quite 13 and definitely not 12¾ or 13¼, so what perforations does it have? The book says it was only perforated 13, so that’s what it must be.

So what about shades? I now refuse to collect shades after purchasing a shade variation three times and not being able to tell the difference between any of them. I think I may have been had. Recently, I found an entry in Gibbons in which the main stamp is yellow-orange and the shade variation is orange-yellow! Which of these would be the lighter of the two? I tried using Gibbons colour chart guide, but without any luck. Often there isn’t enough colour showing through the hole to compare with the chart colour. Sometimes the Gibbons catalogue description isn’t on the Gibbons Colour Chart Guide

I asked a couple of dealers about classifying shades and their replies were intriguing to say the least. One suggested laying ten or twelve examples of the stamp in question in a line. He pointed out that this needed to be done in natural daylight from a north facing window to get good results. My immediate thought was ‘What if you live in a middle terraced house which runs north-south?’ Why do I need to buy ten or twelve stamps to find the right one when I only need one in my collection? He did point out that older stamps may have faded and this could lead to problems identifying the right colour variation. The other suggested only buying from a reputable dealer or only buying stamps that have been expertised.

B&Q will match any colour you take in when they mix up a tin of paint for you, so identifying the colours is within modern computer technology. I wonder when stamp collecting will catch up with this technology and be able to quickly and confidently identify the correct shade of a stamp? Or would this impinge on the expertising committees and lose them their revenue?

That leaves me with perforations which I’ll stick with for now. I can measure these with a good degree of accuracy with my Stangib perforation gauge. After all it cost me 9d back in the days when every thing was in feet and inches and I really do need to get my money's worth out of it.

OUR SOCIETY AT SPRING STAMPEX 2013

A REPORT BY Adrian Ritoridis

Since Philatex came to an end last year, Stampex has swelled in numbers. As the two shows were almost always on at the same time, dealers had to pick one of the two to attend. With Philatex no more, dealers flocked to the Business Centre at Islington, bringing with them their loyal clientele. As a result, greater variety of material and a larger number of people perusing and appreciating the competitive displays on show have made Stampex feel more like a national event than ever before.

This February it was the Cinderella Class that had place of honour at competitive level and there were some stunning displays on show. From hand-painted essays and proofs to U-boat labels, from the Isle of Man to Armenian Republic Revenue Stamps, the range was as fascinating as it was diverse. Amongst the many entries was one from our very own secretary extraordinaire! Sandy’s entry was a single-frame on the subject of ‘Postal Stationery of Kjøbenhavns Bypost’ (Copenhagen Local Post). I caught Sandy on the way in to the show and she confessed that she was worried that it would be ‘wooden spoon’ time for her and her entry. Of course, anyone who knows Sandy and her material would know her concerns were just down to a case of the jitters. As we zigged and zagged our way around the competition frames, barely stopping to catch a glimpse of what was on view, we finally arrived at Sandy’s wonderful display To her delight and amazement she had been awarded a Large Silver in the Cinderella Class! Several sighs of relief later, we had a look at the other entries and awaited the feedback from the judges.

She even outdid Francis’ own brother, Charles, also a leading expert on cinderellas, who received 72 points for his entry ‘WWI: The Deptford war memorial: Perkins Bacon Poster Stamps’! (Adrian gallantly fails to mention Charles’ 3 other higher awards!- Ed.) The rest of the day was spent looking through the exhibits and dealers’ stock, daydreaming that our pockets were as deep as the Mariana Trench. A favourite Scandinavian dealer had on offer a glorious Scandinavian local post item. Sandy barely resisted the temptation but, as she recently confessed, it’s been haunting her ever since. All I can say is that I hope it soon finds a home with her and that I get to see it in another one of her excellent displays. Well done Sandy!

MISCELLANY

News from a recent visit to Brussels: Bryan Button

It used to be possible to choose to visit more than sixty stamp shops on the rue du Midi in Brussels, but now there are only two. Recent kiloware has become extremely scarce, probably because more and more postal items are franked by machine. But then, of course, as individuals we increasingly correspond using email.

Falkland Islands Philatelic Specialised Group Annual Meeting 2013 : Brian Clayton

The Annual Meeting of the Falkland Islands Philatelic Specialist Group was held at the Sudbury House Hotel, Faringdon (near Swindon) 22-24 March. The object of the FIPSG 'is to research into all aspects of philately connected with the Falkland Islands and their former Dependencies, leading to the publications of findings’. This was certainly in evidence this year with magnificent displays of Black and Red Franks and other Victoriana, KGVI stamps and Postal History, South Georgia, many superb competition displays of correspondence and postcards and an update on a new Falkland Islands and Dependencies catalogue. This full colour, 6th edition, of the definitive catalogue by Stefan Heitz is truly outstanding as it covers stamps, franks, miniature sheets, covers and numerous important miscellaneous items. The Auction comprised many highly desirable items, several reaching £300-£500 or more and the highest well over £1000; I was quite happy with my two items for £28! I had a fascinating discussion with John Laurie, a descendent of Richard Laurie (1766-1858) a chart publisher, after whom Laurie Island in the South Orkneys was named. The FIPSG publishes, as part of membership, an excellent quarterly Journal, Upland Goose, and regular high quality research monographs, the latest No.15 by Hugh Osborne, who this year retired after 7 years as Chairman, on South Georgia ‘Paid At/At’ Hand-stamps (1911-12).

Disposal of the Society Library.

A unanimous decision was made at the AGM to dispose of the library. It is proposed that the books be valued and entered in the Cavendish September book sale, along with those of the Sheffield PS.

Jigsaws A lady in Bristol has fairly recently completed a 27,000 piece jigsaw which took her 17 months- a world record- but now a 32,000 piece one has been manufactured and she has already ordered it! (Sent by my sister-in-law, who completes 3,000 piece jigsaws in the blink of an eye!).

Internet Translating Service: Sandra Poole

I first tried this about ten years ago when I typed, in Danish, the mundane ‘Background History of C.Ferslew & Co’ and it came up with the far more exciting ‘The affair at the back C.Peach & Co’! I decided to repeat the experiment when I needed some information on a specimen stamp that I had recently purchased on Ebay. The text was in Norwegian and I didn’t exactly play fair when I absent mindedly typed in Danish. But the result wasn’t much better when I typed in the correct language. I will leave you to draw your own conclusions: ‘Specimen are original brands (like from first trykninng) which is void of specimen-patryk (brtyr sample) and sent to post offices outside bypostens narmrade in promotional purposes. For new brands should recognise how they said out is swimming pastempel, drilled and ink line. Pastemplet ‘Specimen’ is from Aalesund, Oslo and Trondheim. Through hole from Tromso, Ink drawing available as Specimen pa Bergen, no 2…’ Nul points, I think!

SOCIETY MEETING REPORTS

50 Years of British Antarctic Postal History: Brian Clayton, 15 January 2013

The Club Vice-President displayed a complete collection of the stamps of the British Antarctic Territory. The quality of design and printing of the Crown Agents issues is outstanding, especially when consideration is given to the small number of users in the territory. Brian showed his own photographs and attendance documentation taken on his visits to Antarctica. In part two, postal history was the theme. Obviously, it is difficult to obtain covers of postally used items, due to the small quantity. When first day covers were introduced, the availability increased. Signed covers show that some descendants of the early explorers have followed in their fathers’ footsteps. In a vote of thanks, David Shipstone, who has spent some time on an Antarctic base, mentioned that philatelists received priority over residents at the stamp counter of the PO, but opening hours were appropriate to the arrival of a mail ship and the postmaster was diverted from his usual occupation to process the mail.

Service Suspended Mail: Robert Johnson, 1 February 2013

Robert’s talk and display of service suspended mail proved to be a most unusual thematic presentation. Over 180 covers were shown, all of which had failed to reach their chosen destinations, due to postal difficulties. Most had been returned to their senders with an explanation for non-delivery. The very varied nature of the attempted postal communications and their failures made the display unique. By far the most common reason for postal service interruption was military conflict. The earliest cover was posted during the American War of Independence in 1861. Many examples from the two World Wars were displayed and some of these were returned after passing through a censor. Conflicts have arisen at too frequent intervals up to the present. Examples of these more unusual reasons for postal service interruptions were also illustrated. These included political independence declarations, cholera outbreak, siege and police emergency, civil uprisings, political unrest and political isolation.

Hong Kong- Wendy Orr. 1 March 2013.

Wendy showed many interesting items from her collection of Hong Kong. The stamps, a nearly complete collection up to the 1960s, included definitives and commemoratives and a small collection of fiscal issues. Some Hong Kong stamps were overprints and sold in Chinese Post Offices. The covers displayed consisted mostly of air mail letters, with explanatory details of the delivery routes. Interrupted war-time mail was also shown.

The Foreign Post Offices of Smyrna- Michael Fulford. 15. March 2013.

Michael explained that Smyrna was a busy port on the Mediterranean coast of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, with a population predominantly Greek. Between 1860 and 1914, several postal authorities founded offices in the area and their primary business concerned international mail. As stamps were introduced, currency exchange fluctuations made it necessary to surcharge with the local currency and the businesses became competitive. A remarkable collection of postally used covers was displayed, with representative examples from each postal authority. These were Austrian, British, Egyptian, French, German, Greek, Italian, Russian and Turkish. The offices were closed during World War I and some reopened after the war. They finally closed when the great fire and massacre of 1922 destroyed most of the town and inhabitants. The rebuilt Turkish town is now called Izmir.

DISCLAIMER Whilst every care is taken during the production of this Newsletter, neither the editor nor the Society Officers can accept any liability for views, opinions or unintentional publication errors which may occur.

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