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In January 1999, I showed my ‘Origins of Stamps’ collection at the NYCC; since then the collection has expanded to cover every aspect of all the Postal Reform campaigns in Britain, the U.S.A. and elsewhere, in the period from 1642 to 1906. This time I will again be showing in person in New York; I will have 18 frames of mostly newly acquired items to tell the story of how the absurdly high ‘war rates’ of postage in the 1820s eventually led to Rowland Hill’s 1837/39 campaign for Cheap Postage in Britain. I will then show how that campaign led to the introduction of Uniform Penny Postage on 10 January 1840, and how the engraving skills of the American Jacob Perkins led to his becoming the printer of the iconic 1840 1d Black postage stamps that came into use from 6 May 1840 (and how he had been a printer of sheets of stamp-like cotton-reel labels from as early as the 1820s).

Britain’s ‘Cheap Postage’ soon inspired other countries to follow suit (including the USA from 1842). First-Issue covers from many different countries up to 1856 will be shown, and there will be a particular focus on the U.S. campaign that continued into the 1850s (with an amazing 1856 personal letter from Rowland Hill to Pliny Miles). The frames will include not only covers but also a few photos of “unobtainable” rarities and a wide range of ancillary material (with some ephemera) such as Hill’s 1837 “POST OFFICE REFORM” pamphlet, 1840s Punch magazine cartoons, a ticket to Rowland Hill’s 1846 Testimonial Fund Dinner, and much more…

James has been fortunate to make his lifelong hobby into his profession since 1979; he has been a collector since the age of three but also owned (and ran) Cavendish Philatelic Auctions for 30 years (from 1988 to 2017), where he still works part-time. He has been a member of the NYCC for almost 40 years (since 1987) and is a member of the CCP’s Editorial Board. He has served as a British National Philatelic Judge since the 1980s and has occasionally judged overseas.

He has been President of the GBPS (2007/8) and of the Society of Postal Historians (2003) and served as Chairman of the British Philatelic Congress in 2005. He is still keenly collecting Postal History of G.B. and the World (mainly to c.1864) having received two International Large Gold Medals (New York 2016 & London 2022) and several other Gold Medals for his three main collections. His ‘Postal Reforms’ exhibit was the runner-up for the Grand Prix d’Honneur in the May 2025 U.K. ‘EuroPhilEx’ International Exhibition.

He signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 2021; in 2020 his 2-volume 1000+ page book – “International Postal Reforms” – had been published by the RPSL. It was awarded the RPSL Crawford Medal in 2021. He also received the RPSL Tilleard Medal in 2022, and earlier this year became a Council Member of the Royal Philatelic Society of London.

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