NEWSLETTER OF THE ROYAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY OF NZ

ROYAL LINES

www.rpsnz.org.nz

                PO BOX 1269, WELLINGTON 6140 TEL: (04) 472-2590 FAX: (04) 472-5426 rpsnz@orcon.net.nz

 

Vol. 47 No 8                            September 2008

 

1. September Meeting - IMPORTANT CHANGES

 

The next meeting will be the combined meeting with the Wellington Philatelic Society on 22 SEPTEMBER commencing at 7.30pm. It will be held at the 1st FLOOR, ANVIL HOUSE, 138 WAKEFIELD STREET, WELLINGTON (opp. Michael Fowler Centre). The doors will be manned from 7.20pm.

Note: As the meeting is at a different venue the library will not be open as usual.

 

Programme:    Speaker: Don Mee on Samoa

 

At this the second of the combined meetings with the Wellington Philatelic Society, Don Mee from Christchurch is the evenings speaker. Don is well known as a collector, exhibitor and writer of the stamps of Samoa. So come along and enjoy a really interesting talk on a fascinating subject that is becoming increasingly popular.

 

2. August Meeting

 

Items of Interest

Items of interest included Brian Vincent's take on the rugby thematic possibilities of the recent A-Z set, shipping ephemera from John Kersel, a Panama canal company share certificate with many fiscals and very off-centre .Albert & Son copyright stamp 'on 78' from Adam. And from Doug a large piece with many c1923 German air post stamps used.

Patrick Brownsey's talk was on his fern-themed collection. Patrick is Curator of Botanical Collections at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa. Ferns have been around for 300 million years, and can be defined as havi g spores, a highly divided leaf and especially through the coiled frond - the crosier. Their many interesting names date back to the Middle Ages, such as maidenhair and spleen wort. They can be found in most locales, from coastal to alpine, rain forest to near-desert.

 

Despite their prominence as a New Zealand symbol, we have yet to issue a set featuring ferns. However, many New Zealand stamps have a fern as part of the design, starting with the 1874 2/- rose (yes, really). The most common is the tree-fern. It also appears frequently in the illustrations on FDC's, notably the early health covers. The valious early botanists visiting New Zealand were covered, and Patrick has some early covers to or from our first locally based ones, including Colenso and Kirk. Kirk was responsible for persuading Kew to repatriate much material gathered here by Daniel Solander in 1779, including the Silver Fern specimen annotated by -Solander himself.     .

 

The first book dedicated to our ferns was published in 1880 by the cyanotype process by H B Dobbie. Later he became more philatelically famous as the stationmaster at Whangarei where New Zealand Railways trialed the early Freight and Parcel stamps - now scarce. Patrick had a strip of three with 'HBD' initials. A second vastly improved edition of the book was published in 1921. Patrick has also co-authored a book on New Zealand ferns.

 

In the late Victorian age, there was somewhat of a fern craze, leadJng to considerable export of material from New Zealand. Related fern postcards started the use of the fern as a national symbol, most strongly when associated with a kiwi.

 

Patrick showed the use of ferns on cinderellas (eg Hays coupons), postmarks (Fern Flat) and advertising covers (YMCA &NZAF). The silver fern logo is getting near-ubiquitous, both in various logos and on stamps, leading Patrick to wonder if it isn't now being over-used.

 

Brian Vincent gave the vote. of thanks on behalf of those present.

 

3 Recent new Members

There has been two new members join the Society in the past month. Terry Layman from the United States of America and Ron Archer from New Zealand. Royal Lines welcomes the new members and wish you a long and philatelically rewarding association.

 

Another pleasant, if modest statistic to emerge from the 2007-08 year, is the fact overall membership of the Society made a net gain of nine during the past twelve months. This arrests the trend in the last few years for the membership total to steadily shrink, and hopefully we can continue on this upward course.

 

4 Postal Sale

The November sale date has been set as 13 November. Material has been steadily accumulating and it is reported by the Sales Manager, there are some very interesting items to be sold.

 

5 Tarapex 2008

on the Saturday afternoon, the Society is to hold its November meeting at Tarapex. This will be in the upstairs facilities and the speakers will be President, Adam Miller and Vice President Allan Berry. There is an open invitation to all societies for their members to attend. As for the exhibition itself, a reminder entries are required no later than 1 November. For further information contact the Secretary, Tarapex 2008, P 0 Box 7129; New Plymouth or email tarapex@xtra.co.nz

6 Prestigious Awards

Robin Startup was recently asked to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists. This is the ultimate accolade in the philatelic world and is recognition for the contribution to our hobby that Robin has made. The Society's heattiest congratulations go to Robin. There is to be a full write up in the September issue of the New Zealand Stamp Collector. And just to hand, another for Robin 'This is his induction to the American Society Writers Unit Hall of Fame at Hartford, Connecticut. Well done.

7. Subscriptions" - Have you renewed-yours?

The new one month discount period worked well this year and thanks go to those members who took advantage of this. There are still a few outstanding subscriptions to come so please check and send your remittance in as soon as possible.

8 Publications Still Available

Still available from the office are 'the following publications. If you do not have these then what better time to make  an addition to your library.

Volume IX The Postage Stamps of New Zealand. By the late Robert Samuels.

Covers all aspects of Postal Stationery in New Zealand and is the latest in the handbook series.

            Priced at $140.00 plus P&P.    .-.

Mails by Rail in New Zealand - The story of the Railway Travelling Post Offices.

By Robin Startup and Albert Johnstone. 206 pages. Members price $75.00 plus P&P.

Bibliography of New Zealand Cinderellas and

Bibliography of New Zealand Military Postal Histoiy - Both by Des Hurley. $15.00 each plus P&P

Index to the New Zealand Stamp Collector - Update 1995-2004. Editor Adam Miller.

Available at $15.00 plus P&P.

Special offer. Order the update and receive a copy of the original Index of the Stamp Collector 1919-1994 for $40.00 plus P&P.

 

Two new Publications.

ROSSITER POSTAL HISTORY JOURNAL VOLUME No.8: 2008

Contents The Post Office - The Other Side of the Counter Or - What the Customer does not see Robert J ohnson Netherlands East Indies: Postal History 1789 to 1877 Richard Wheatley The Stuat1 Rossiter Trust 2008

Available from1\lfan P. Berry, 238, Waikiekie Road; Thames 3500, New Zealand. ( 07-868-3065 e-mail: apberry@wave.co.nz Price £12-50, plus postage: -£8-00 air mail to Australia or New Zealand £5-00 by surface mail to Australia or New Zealand

Express Mail, After Packets and Late Fees in India before 1870 Max Smith & Robert Johnson

This book on an interesting time in Indian Postal History explores the complexities, and sometiI1! s overlapping, services designed to speed the transit of mail to, from and across the continent of . India. It is a must for any student of Indian Postal History.

The book has xiv + 291 pages, illustrated, soft-bound, bibliography, index of place names and

general index. ISBN 0-9545207-2-6. The cost is £20-00, plus postage to air mail to Australia or New Zealand
£15-00 surface mail to Australia or New Zealand £8-50.

Cheques should be made payable to Allan P. Berry for the equivalent in New Zealand or Australian currency and sent to: - Allan P. Berry 238, Waikiekie Road, Thames 3500, New Zealand.

Those who have access to a Sterling Bank Account should make their cheque payable to The Stuart Rossiter Trust, and send them, with their order, to: - David Tett, P.O. Box 34, Wheathampstead,

            Hetts., AL4 8JY,England.

9 In General

Don't forget, the Annual General Meeting comes up on October 14 and will be as usual at Turnbull House. This is your chance to have your say in the running of the Society, so make sure you attend.