Fred Melville in The Philatelic Record 1908

Fred Melville, Gibbons Stamp Weekly, Feb 1905, p

Frederick John Melville (25 February 1882 – 12 January 1940)Schofield, Brian. ''Who Was Who in British Philately''. London:

British Philatelic Trust The British Philatelic Trust was established in 1981 by the British Post Office. The governing deed was executed on 26 September 1983.here
. was a British

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 ...

, prolific

philatelic 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 ...

author and founder of ''The Junior Philatelic Society''. He was also a founder in 1907 of the Philatelic Literature Society."The Philatelic Literature Society" in ''

The London Philatelist ''The London Philatelist'' was first published in January 1892
by

American Philatelic Society The American Philatelic Society (APS) is the largest nonprofit stamp collecting foundation of philately in the world. Both the membership and interests of the society are worldwide. History The organization, originally named the ''American Phil ...

's Hall of Fame and was a signatory to ''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.

Early life

Melville was born in Edinburgh to Thomas J. Melville and Annie Melville but moved to London at the age of two when his father, who was a journalist, became the House of Commons correspondent for

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

."Fred Melville Biography" by Michael Goodman in Furnell, Michael., ed. ''National Philatelic Society Centenary Handbook''. London: National Philatelic Society, 1999, pp.8–10. Fred had brothers Cecil Balfour, Thomas B. and William. He also had sisters Kate and Helen (later Mrs Helen P. Terry). Fred was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

where he was the instigator of a school magazine ''The United Westminster School Field Club Magazine''. He was always known just as Fred. As a young boy of just 11 he took his father to an exhibition of stamps organised by 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 he ...

at Arundel Street. At that exhibition he met

Edward Denny Bacon Sir Edward Denny Bacon, KCVO (29 August 1860 – 5 June 1938)Biography
in the ...

who handed him a copy of the Society's journal, ''

The London Philatelist ''The London Philatelist'' was first published in January 1892
by

National Philatelic Society) that same year. The society was a huge success, capitalising on pent-up demand for a philatelic society that anyone could join and the new society soon had to seek a larger meeting place. In 1906 Melville formed a

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

branch of the society. Melville was President of the society from the start until his death and also edited the society's journal ''The Stamp Lover''. Melville was never in good health and he did not serve in the military during World War One.

Writing

Melville wrote over 100 books and his works are still some of the most common encountered in Philately. In 1897 he wrote and self-published an eight-page pamphlet called ''Stamp Collecting'', priced at one penny. Fred was so embarrassed with the publication in later years that he bought up every copy that was offered for sale, with the result that it is now a very scarce item. In 1899 he became the editor of the philatelic section of a small journal known as ''Hardman's Miscellany''. Soon afterwards he launched his own magazine, ''Young Stamp Collector'' which ran for six issues before merging with ''Stamp Collectors' Fortnightly''. Melville also contributed philatelic articles to ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''Wide World Magazine'', ''The Straits Times of Singapore'', the ''Illustrated London News'' and ''John O'London's Weekly''. His second philatelic book was ''The A.B.C. of Stamp Collecting'' (1903) which received a highly complimentary review in ''Morley's Philatelic Journal'' where it was praised as being "remarkably free from heerrors which are so often found in cheap guides to philately" despite having one fault in omitting telegraph and fiscal stamps. A new edition was published in 1922 as ''The New A.B.C. of Stamp Collecting''. His 1908 book ''Postage Stamps worth Fortunes'' was translated into Swedish and Dutch"The Philatelic Works of Melville" by Glenn H. Morgan in ''National Philatelic Society Centenary Handbook''. London: National Philatelic Society, 1999, p.14. Online versio
here
/ref> and his last book, ''Modern Stamp Collecting'', was published on 6 May 1940, the centenary of the issue of the

Penny Black The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom (referred to in philatelic circles as Great Britain), on 1 May 1840, but was not valid for use until 6 May. ...

. Melville also edited the ''Postage Stamp'' (1909–1929), ''Stamp Collector's Fortnightly'' (1921–1939) and ''British Philatelist'' (1932–1939). He also wrote, still on a philatelic theme, ''The Lady Forger: an original play'' which was published by ''The Junior Philatelic Society''. The play had its first performance in 1906 at the society's annual ''Concert-Conversazione'' at the ''Bijou Theatre'', Archer Street, London.Furnell, Michael., ed. ''National Philatelic Society Centenary Handbook''. London: National Philatelic Society, 1999, p.56. According to Brian Birch, Melville used the pseudonym ''Miss Fitte'' as a pun on ''misfit'' when writing about stamp errors.Birch, Brian. ''Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers''. 9th edition. Standish, Wigan: 2008, p.534 & pp.1025–1027. Outside philately, Melville was editor of the ''Heartsease Library'', ''Cosy Corner'', ''Good Words'' and ''Sunday Magazine''. Melville's skill as a journalist has been partly attributed to the training he received from the press baron Sir Alfred Harmsworth, later

Lord Northcliffe Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (15 July 1865 – 14 August 1922), was a British newspaper and publishing magnate. As owner of the ''Daily Mail'' and the ''Daily Mirror'', he was an early developer of popular journal ...

, founder of ''The Daily Mirror'' and ''The Mail''.

Organised philately

Melville was active in many branches of philately. He was a member of the

Fiscal Philatelic Society The Fiscal Philatelic Society (11 January 1902 – 1928) was an early twentieth-century British philatelic society that is seen as a predecessor to today's '' The Revenue Society''. The principal object of the society was the study of fiscal stamp ...

from 1911''Bulletin of the Fiscal Philatelic Society: Vol.I-II, 1908–28''. London: The

Cinderella Stamp Club The Cinderella Stamp Club was founded on 5 June 1959 in London, England, and is an association of philatelists, amateur and professional, whose interests lie in local stamps, telegraph stamps, railway stamps, revenue stamps, fiscals, forgeries, bo ...

, 1980, p.61. (Reprint of 1906 edition) and he served on many philatelic exhibition juries. He won the ''Congress Cup'' at the ''Philatelic Congress of Great Britain'' in 1935, for his work ''The Lives of the Forgers'' and when the ''Postal History Society'' was founded in 1936, he was elected as the first President of the society. He appears in the 1938 ''Blue Book of Philately'' where his specialism is shown as

philatelic literature Philatelic literature is written material relating to philately, primarily information about postage stamps and postal history. Background to philatelic literature Philatelic literature is held by stamp collectors and dealers, philatelic soci ...

and his address is given as 10a Ardberg Road, Herne Hill, London. Melville organised the Imperial Stamp Exhibition of 1908, the War Stamps Exhibition in 1915 and the first international airpost exhibition, APEX, in 1934. He also edited the catalogues for the international philatelic exhibitions held in London in 1912 and 1923. In 1915 an exhibition titled ''War Stamps with Tango Teas'' was arranged by Melville at the Florence Restaurant in London. In addition to the stamp exhibition, an orchestra played daily and Melville was reported as being "the only one who braved the intricacies of the Tango, the Boston, and the Maxixe". Although principally an author and journalist, Melville did also deal in stamps and a full page advert appeared in ''Stamp Lover'' in June 1920 offering stamps for sale from the firm of Fred J. Melville Ltd.

Legacy

Melville died on 12 January 1940Williams, p.112. and his funeral took place at Lambeth Cemetery, Tooting, London on 16 January. Fred was not married and was survived by his sister Mrs Helen P. Terry (née Melville). In 1941 he was posthumously inducted into the

APS Hall of Fame The American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame award honors deceased philatelists who have contributed significantly to the field of national and/or international philately. History The APS ''Hall of Fame'' award was founded at the 1940 American Ph ...

. After his death, Melville's extensive philatelic library was purchased by the United States

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

but it was not delivered until 1947 due to the effects of World War Two. Today it is split between that library and the library of the

National Postal Museum The National Postal Museum, located opposite Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States, covers large portions of the Postal history of the United States and other countries. It was established through joint agreement between the United S ...

, part of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Libraries.

References

External links