Temporary Editors of 'The London Philatelist'
Unsung heroes who kept the show going
This article was first published as “Temporary Editors of The London Philatelist” The London Philatelist 129, whole number 1481 (December 2020): 580-582.
Now, it has been expanded including by the addition of many images not in the original.
Since its first issue in January 1892, The London Philatelist (LP) has been continuously published without any interruption. The men and women responsible for editing the journal, and as formally appointed by The Royal Philatelic Society’s Council, number twelve as of date. This is remarkable since it implies an average tenure of more than 10 years; in fact, two did the job for 20+ years!
However, on occasions, there have existed small time gaps as the baton of editorship was being passed from one to the other, usually on the death of the incumbent. In those periods, the editorship or arrangement of LP was undertaken on a temporary basis by a member or employee of the Society.
Butler (1992) has written a comprehensive article on the editors of LP. Walton (2014) has penned a detailed history of the journal. This short piece updates these two articles in small ways including by having photographs of Colonel Henry Wood (Figures 1 and 2) and Rev. A. C. Larmour (Figure 3), which have not been published in the journal before. Unfortunately, Wood’s photograph is from a group photo taken during a major expedition to the Himalayas and the Karakorum in 1913-14 and is not very clear.
Notes to the table
[1] Castle went on a world tour from November 1892 to August 1893 leaving Assistant Editor Nankivell (Figure 4) in charge of the journal. Castle’s experiences were published as a series, A Philatelic Traveller’s Notes, in LP from January to October 1893.
[2] A biography of Wilmot Corfield (Figure 5) appears in Hall (1919).
[3] The June 1937 issue contains the obituary of Charles Lathrop Pack which seems to have been written by Sir John Wilson (going by the initials J. W.) (Figure 6), the then President of the Society. He may have well written the other obituary of the deceased editor and past President, T. W. Hall, as well. Apart from the two obituaries, the rest of the issue largely devotes itself with the Society's Annual Report and other reports for the session 1936-37. Given his significant contribution to this issue, it is possible that Wilson could be considered the overall editor as well. Another candidate could be the then Hon. Secretary, L. J. Gilbert-Lodge.
[4] The minutes of the Society’s meeting held on 7 March 1940 records that Larmour had agreed to accept the office of the editor of the LP on a temporary basis. However, he “preferred not to be appointed officially until he had time to acquire more knowledge of the subject.” (Gilbert-Lodge 1940b). Gilbert-Lodge (1940a) credits Titford for “completing and producing the last number and also this number” i.e. January (the last that Wood edited) and February. It is presumed including by Rogers-Tillstone (1969, pg. 73) and Butler (1992) that she was involved in the March issue as well.
Annie Rose Saunders née Titford (1907-1988) joined the Royal in 1921 and was the Chief Assistant of the Expert Committee until her retirement in 1957. However, during the War, she had manifold duties to perform. An unclear photograph of Titford appears in Butler (1994, pg. S17) and is produced here (Figure 7).
[5] Rogers-Tillstone (1969) mentions February 1940 as the beginning of Larmour’s editorship on page 173 and April on page 73. That it was the latter can be found in Larmour (1942).
[6] See Butler (1983, 1992).
Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Frank Walton with whom I initially took the case of Wilmot Corfield (who was ex-Calcutta and an editor of two early Indian journals – The Philatelic World and The Philatelic Journal of India). He suggested to convert the inquiry into a short article. Any feedback is welcome on abbh [at] hotmail [dot] com.
References
Ascenzi, P., Kotsakis, T. & Cassi, L. 2015. “The De Filippi Scientific Expedition to the Western Himalaya, Karakorum and Chinese Turkestan (1913–1914): A Memory One Hundred Years After.” Rendiconti Lincei di Scienze Fisiche e Naturali, no. 26 (2015): 357-367. Accessed June 14, 2020. link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12210-015-0444-z/figures/2.
Bacon, E. D. 1917. “Marcellus Purnell Castle M. V. O., J. P.” The London Philatelist XXVI, no. 304 (April 1917): 75-77.
Butler, Roland. 1983. “The Honorary Editor.” The London Philatelist 92, no. 1085-86 (May-June 1983): 52.
Butler, A. Roland. 1992. “An Economy of Editors.” The London Philatelist 101, no. 1189-90 (January-February 1992): 15-18.
———. 1994. The Expert Committee 1894 – 1994. London: The Royal Philatelic Society, London.
Gilbert-Lodge, L. J. 1940a. “The Hon. Secretary’s Page” The London Philatelist XLIX, no. 578 (February 1940): 37.
(Gilbert-Lodge, L. J.). 1940b. “The Royal Philatelic Society’s Meetings.” The London Philatelist XLIX, no. 581 (May 1940): 37.
———. 1941. “The Royal Philatelic Society, London: Annual Report for the Session, 1940-1941” The London Philatelist L, no. 595 (July 1941): 127.
(Hall, T. W.). 1919. “Wilmot Corfield.” The London Philatelist XXVIII, no. 335 (November 1919): 253.
(Larmour, A. C.). 1942. “London Philatelist, 1892-1941.” The London Philatelist, LI no. 605 (May 1942): 91-92.
Old Wellingtonian Lodge. n.d. “A. C. Larmour.” Accessed June 14, 2020. owl3404.org/distinguished-brethren-i-p/a-c-larmour.
(Rogers-Tillstone, Captain B[enjamin].). 1969. The Royal Philatelic Society London 1869-1969. London: The Royal Philatelic Society, London.
Walton, Frank. 2014. “The History of The London Philatelist.” The London Philatelist 123, no. 1421 (December 2014): 422-428.
Thanks Abhishek for such nice and interesting article !
Best wishes,
Vincent