Sir John Brook Marriott (27 July 1922Bateman, Robert. ''Stamp collectors' who's who''. London:

Stanley Gibbons The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and philat ...

, 1960, p. 59. in Stretford – 3 July 2001 in Godalming"Obituary: Sir John Marriott" by Francis Kiddle in

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, 17 July 2001.) was a British teacher 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 was the keeper of the

Royal Philatelic Collection The Royal Philatelic Collection is the postage stamp collection of the British royal family. It is the most comprehensive collection of items related to the philately of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, with many unique pieces. ...

between 1969 and 1995.

Early life

A mathematics graduate from

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

during World War II, Marriott was quickly sent in 1943 to

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

, then the United Kingdom's main codebreaking establishment.Courtney, Nicholas (2004). ''The Queen's Stamps'', pp. 294-303.

Teaching

From 1945 to 1982 Marriott taught mathematics at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

, in Godalming, Surrey, where he was a

housemaster {{refimprove, date=September 2018 In British education, a housemaster is a schoolmaster in charge of a boarding house, normally at a boarding school and especially at a public school. The housemaster is responsible for the supervision and care o ...

from 1960 to 1975.

Philately

A Stamp collector from the age of twelve, Marriott was a specialist in Trinidad postal history. In 1952 he sold part of this collection to set up a new home after his marriage.Mary Thompson, his wife, would earn the nickname " Lady McLeod", the name of the first stamps used in Trinidad. Anecdote quoted in Courtney, Nicholas (2004). ''The Queen's Stamps'', page 296. He rebuilt his collection again and won medals at international philatelic exhibitions. In 1969, John Wilson, keeper of the

, suggested Marriott as his successor. As a member since 1965 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 ...

's Expert Committee, of which Wilson was Chairman, Marriott was very familiar with the Royal Collection. From 1969 to 1995, he divided his time between Charterhouse and London. His wife replaced him at the boarding house when he was at Buckingham Palace. Because Wilson had preferred to let time pass between receiving new stamp issues from Britain and the Commonwealth and mounting them into

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

, Marriott began to mount the issues of the

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

's reign into green leather covered albums, and continued the mounting of the

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

blue collection. Apart from new issues sent by postal administrations, Marriott bought "

errors, freaks, and oddities In philately, errors, freaks, and oddities (EFO) collectively refers to the wide variety of mistakes that can happen in the production of postage stamps. It encompasses everything from major design errors to stamps that are just poorly printed an ...

" : stamps with missing colours or inverted picture for example. Like his predecessor, Marriott travelled thirty-nine times with parts of the Collection to international exhibitions. He helped to organize the "London 1980" International Stamp Exhibition at Earl's Court, and the "London 1990" International Stamp Exhibition at Alexandra Palace. He retired from teaching in 1982 and was elected to serve as president of the Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) from 1983 until 1986. He had been vice-president of the society since 1979. Facing an increasing amount of work and activities, he was the first keeper of the Royal Collection to have a deputy: Charles Wyndham Goodwyn, president of the RPSL since 1991. He helped Marriott mount the collection, prepare exhibitions and write articles that permitted the Royal Philatelic Collection to be self-sufficient. Marriott gave up his function of the keeper to Goodwyn in September 1995.

Honours and awards

* Member of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

in 1978, Commander in 1991 and Knight Commander in 1995. * Tilleard Medal in 1968 from the RPSL for the exhibition of his Trinidad collection. This collection won a gold medal at the 1960 London and the 1967 Amsterdam exhibitions. * Signatory of 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 1972. * Alfred Lichtenstein Memorial Award in 1988 from the

Collectors Club of New York The Collectors Club, often referred to as the Collectors Club of New York, is a private club and philatelic society in New York City. Founded in 1896, it is one of the oldest existing philatelic societies in the United States. Its stated purpose ...

References and sources

;References ;Sources * Courtney, Nicholas (2004). ''The Queen's Stamps. The Authorised History of the

''. London: Methuen. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Marriott, John 1922 births 2001 deaths British philatelists Bletchley Park people People from Stretford Presidents of the Royal Philatelic Society London Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists