James Richard William Purves (5 March 1903 – 13 May 1979) – generally denoted in publications as J. R. W. Purves -- was an Australian lawyer and philatelist. His half century of work in Australian philately earned him the title "The personification of Australia in International Philately".

Philatelic literature

Purves authored philatelic literature based on his detailed studies of postage stamps. These included numerous books and articles: * Art and the postage stamp : the present Australian outlook * The Half Lengths of Victoria (1953) * North-West Pacific Islands : The Nature And Make-Up of the Different Overprinting Formes (1953) *

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

- The Long Stamps of 1902–1912 (1978) * Victoria: the Postage Dues * Numerous articles on aspects of the stamps and postal history of Victoria

Collecting interests

The most significant of Purves' collections of postage material included collections of philatelic material on: *

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

* Half Lengths of Victoria

Philatelic activity

Purves was active in all fields of Australian philatelic interest. He helped establish the Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria in 1957. For his work with the society, and because of his extensive work in Australian philately, the society established the J.R.W. Purves Medal in 1970 is his honor and named him as the first recipient.

Honors and awards

For his work in the field of philately, Purves was provided numerous awards and honors, including: * 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 1937
Background notes on The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists September 2011
', Roll of Distinguished Philatelists Trust, London, 2011
Archived here.
/ref> * The Crawford Medal in 1954 * The

Lichtenstein Medal The Lichtenstein Medal, also known as the ''Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Philately'' is given annually to a living individual for outstanding service to philately. Origin The Lichtenstein Medal was establishe ...

in 1960 * The J. R.W. Purves Medal in 1970 * Entered in the

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 ...

Hall of Fame in 1980. * Honorary Life Member of the Collectors Club of New York * Honorary Life Fellow 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 ...

in 1969 * Honorary Life Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria

References and sources

;References ;Sources
The Collectors Club of New York, Lichtenstein Award Winners

Library catalog

External links

*http://www.philatelicdatabase.com/australia-and-dependencies/mr-j-r-w-purves-rdp-frpsl/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Purves, James R.W. 1903 births 1979 deaths Australian philatelists Philately of Australia People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) University of Melbourne alumni Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists Fellows of the Royal Philatelic Society London 20th-century Australian lawyers American Philatelic Society