Arthur Francis Basset Hull (1862–1945) was an Australian public servant, naturalist and

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...

. He signed the

Roll of Distinguished Philatelists The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) is a Philately, philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921. The Roll consists of five pieces of parchment to which the signatories add their n ...

in 1921.

Tasmania

Hull was born on 10 October 1862 in Hobart. In 1883–1889 Hull worked as

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

in the Supreme Court. In 1880s, Hull worked as

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and

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for the Orpheus Club. In 1888 he published a series of short stories called ''A Strange Experience''.

Sydney

On 12 October 1892 Hull moved to Sydney to work as clerk for the General Post Officer. On 1 July 1900, Hull received a transfer to the

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as a secretary to labour commissioners. In January 1903 Hull worked in Department of Mines until his retirement in 1921. Hull worked as secretary and president to

Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales (RZSNSW) was formed in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in 1879 as the New South Wales Zoological Society. A Royal Charter was granted in September, 1908, leading to a change to the current name ...

from 1917–1919, 1928–1929 and 1938–1939. Hull was a member of Taronga Zoological Park Trust from 1926. Hull served as president Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union in 1919–1920 and the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

in 1923–1924 also publishing in their journal publications. From 1917–1945, Hull worked with Australia Museum as honorary ornithologist. From childhood, Hull collected stamps. He was an

honorary fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...

of the

Royal Philatelic Society London The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as ''The Philatelic Society, London''. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its he ...

, from 1887. Hull published many articles including ''Stamps of Tasmania'', ''The Postage Stamps of New South Wales'' and ''The Postage Stamps of Queensland''. In 1941 he presented a paper on "History on Australian Postage Stamps" to the Royal Australian History Society. Hull was appointed a

Member of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 1936 New Year Honours for "service as a member of Taronga Park Trust and honorary ornithologist, at the Australian Museum".

Personal life

At age 15, Hull suffered

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

and had to wear a surgical boot and use a

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for the rest of his life. On 29 April 1891 at Congregational Church, Newtown Hull married Laura Blanche Nisbet. The couple lived at The Abbey, Annandale where Laura gave birth to a son in July 1893, but she died less than a month later. In March 1899 Hull was

sued - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil acti ...

by Bertha Cligny de Boissac for breach of marriage promise. Hull was unable to pay Boissac £500 in damages he was forced to declare bankruptcy. At Annandale on 15 January 1902, Hull married Caroline Ann Lloyd. In 1912 Hull divorced his second wife. On 3 December 1926 in Manly he married Diana Farley. Hull died on 22 September 1945 and was cremated with Anglican rites.

Selected publications

* * * * Ashby, E. & Hull, A.F.B. 1923. The Polyplacophora of King Island, Bass Strait, with description of a new subspecies. ''The Australian Zoologist'' 3: 79–84 pl. 8 * Bassett-Hull, A.F. 1910. The Birds of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. ''Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales'' 34: 636–693 * Campbell, A.J., Milligan, A.W., Legg, W.V., Mellor, J.W., Basset Hull, A.F. & Hall, R. 1913. Official Check–list of the Birds of Australia. ''The Emu'' 12(Suppl.): 1-116

References

External links

Arthur Francis Basset Hull
at ''The Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation''
Arthur Francis Basset Hull
at Australian Postal History & Social Philately {{DEFAULTSORT:Hull, Arthur Francis Basset Australian philatelists 1862 births 1945 deaths Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists Fellows of the Royal Philatelic Society London Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire