Radford Henry (Harry) Dagnall MA, AKC, FRPSL, (23 October 1914 – 9 March 2012) 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 ...

and Fellow of The Royal Philatelic Society London who made a lifetime's study of some of the by-ways of

philately 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 poss ...

with a special interest in revenue philately. He was educated at

The King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's ...

and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. Dagnall's heyday as a philatelic writer was in the 1970s and 80's and his work was mostly in the form of pamphlets and short monographs on diverse subjects which caught his attention. His history of the British government Stamp Office, however, ''Creating a Good Impression'', was a longer work published by

H.M. Stationery Office The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...

in 1994 to coincide with their 300th anniversary. In 1991, Dagnall's sight began to seriously fail and he gave up active philately at that time, though he continued to write as much as he could. A bibliography of his work was prepared during his lifetime by Ian D. Crane for private circulation and a bound copy was placed in the library of the Royal Philatelic Society."Radford Henry (Harry) Dagnall, MA, AKC, FRPSL" in ''The Revenue Journal'', Vol. XXIII, No. 1 June 2012, pp. 4-5. Outside philately, Dagnall was a

technical writer A technical writer is a professional information communicator whose task is to transfer information between two or more parties, through any medium that best facilitates the transfer and comprehension of the information. Technical writers researc ...

in the patent department of the

British Tabulating Machine Company __NOTOC__ The British Tabulating Machine Company (BTM) was a firm which manufactured and sold Hollerith unit record equipment and other data-processing equipment. During World War II, BTM constructed some 200 "bombes", machines used at Bletchley P ...

which became ICT and ICL. He made frequent contributions to ''The Communicator'', the journal of the

Institute of Scientific and Technical Communications The Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (ISTC) is the UK's largest professional association for those involved in technical communication and information design. It encourages professional education and standards, provides guidance ...

and also wrote on architecture, Biblical history and

xerographic Xerography is a dry photocopying technique. Originally called electrophotography, it was renamed xerography—from the roots el, ξηρός, label=none ''xeros'', meaning "dry" and -γραφία ''-graphia'', meaning "writing"—to emphasize ...

printing. He was a regular contributor to ''The Quarterly'', the journal of The British Association of Paper Historians, with whom one of his works was jointly published in 1998''The Taxation of Paper in Great Britain 1643-1861. A History and Documentation''.
Review by Richard Hills and Peter Bower, British Association of Paper Historians. Retrieved 8 September 2013. and he also contributed to journals as diverse as ''The Thai Times'' and ''The Wallpaper History Review''.

Selected publications

*''John Dickinson and his Silk Thread Paper''. Harry Dagnall, 1975. *''Postman's Park & its Memorials''. Harry Dagnall, Edgware, 1987. *''Paper Duty Labels: their history, background and use''. Harry Dagnall, Edgware, 1988. *''Post Horse Tickets: their historical background, purpose & use''. Harry Dagnall, Edgware, 1988. (With John H. Chandler) *''Creating a Good Impression: three hundred years of The Stamp Office and stamp duties''. HMSO, London, 1994. *''The Taxation of Paper in Great Britain 1643-1861: A history and documentation''. Harry Dagnall & The British Association of Paper Historians, Edgware, 1998. *''Taxation of the Printed Word: The introduction of stamp duty on almanacs and newspapers 1711 and 1712''. Harry Dagnall, Edgware, 1999.

Selected publications

References

Further reading