Douglas Garth (15 May 1852 – 6 January 1900)
["The Late Mr. Douglas Garth." in '' The London Philatelist'', Vol. IX, No. 97, January 1900, pp. 2-3.] was a British
philatelist who was one of the "Fathers of Philately" entered on the
Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921. He was an expert on the stamps of India and British Guiana and a Solicitor in the firm of ''Pemberton & Garth''. Garth was the second son of
Sir Richard Garth (1820–1903), a former Chief-Justice of Bengal.
Philately
Garth was Honorary Secretary from 1888 to 1894 of the ''Philatelic Society, London'', now
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 ...
, and a member of the first Publications Committee of that society. He was on the committee of the
London Philatelic Exhibition 1890, where he won a gold medal for his display of India and Ceylon.
["British International Stamp Exhibitions" by H.R. Holmes in '' The London Philatelist'', Vol. 79, No. 932-933, August–September 1970, pp. 166-170.] He was credited by
The London Philatelist with introducing the modern stamp auction to Britain, the first such auction being held by Thomas Bull (1839–1905) at 77 Chancery Lane on 24 November 1888.
[
In 1891, Garth gave a display to the society of the ''First Issues of India'' and in 1896 he displayed ''Straits Settlements Stamps''. In 1892, he gave evidence against the stamp forgers Benjamin and Sarpy.]["Douglas Garth" by David Padgham in ''India Post'' (Journal of the India Study Circle for Philately), Vol. 30, Issue 2, 1996, p. 66.] Garth's involvement in organised philately began to wane, however, as his health worsened in the late 1890s and he died, at Old Headington, Oxford, on 6 January 1900 of influenza followed by bronchitis. He was survived by his wife and five children.[
]
Publications
*
References
Further reading
*Douglas Garth Obituary Notice in ''The Philatelic Record
''The Philatelic Record'' was an important early Philatelic literature, philatelic magazine published in 36 volumes between February 1879 and 1914. It was originally published by Percival Loines Pemberton, Pemberton, Wilson and Company of London ...
'', Vol. 22, p. 53, 1900.
*Douglas Garth Obituary Notice in ''Stanley Gibbons Monthly Journal'', Vol. 10, p. 145, 1900.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garth, Douglas
British philatelists
1852 births
1900 deaths
British solicitors
Fathers of philately