Oswald Marsh (26 October 1880 – 4 August 1951)"Oswald Marsh - Philatelist Extraordinaire" by Michael Peach in ''Gibbons Stamp Monthly'', July 2009, pp.45-48. was a London

stamp dealer A stamp dealer is a company or an individual who deals in stamps and philatelic products. It also includes individuals who sell postage stamps for day to day use or revenue stamps for use on court documents. Stamp dealers who sell to stamp collect ...

who specialised in

cut-out Cut-out, cutout, or cut out may refer to: * Cutout animation * Cutout (electric power distribution), a combination fuse and knife switch used on power poles * Cutout (espionage), a mechanism used to pass information * Cut-out (philately), an impr ...

s. Many Marsh covers have addresses created using

addressograph An addressograph is an Address (geography), address labeler and Label, labeling system. In 1896, the first U.S. patent for an addressing machine, the Addressograph was issued to Joseph Smith Duncan of Sioux City, Iowa. It was a development of the ...

plates. Oswald Marsh was not related to Victor Marsh.

Stamp dealing

Born in Belfast, into a Quaker family, his father Joseph Chandler Marsh, born in Surrey, was an architect practicing in Belfast. Marsh moved to London around 1900 where he had several addresses in the suburb of Norwood. He also briefly had offices at 1 Exeter Street, London W1, around 1914. Marsh appears to have started his stamp business some time after 1900. He is thanked in the preface to

Herbert L'Estrange Ewen Herbert L'Estrange Ewen (1876–1912)Birch, Brian. ''Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers''. 9th edition. Standish, Wigan: 2008, p. 504. was a British stamp dealer and philatelist in Swanage, Dorset and later in Norwood, London who was an a ...

's ''Priced Catalogue of the Unadhesive Postage Stamps of the UK 1840-1905'' which was published in 1905 and was well established enough to publish a book by W.H. Bertram Poole in 1906. Marsh and Ewen must have been well known to each other as Norwood stamp dealers who both had an interest in "unadhesive stamps", or cut-outs as they are now known. Marsh specialised in British and Commonwealth stamps, controls, and cut-outs from British

postal stationery A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related servi ...

which adorned much of his outgoing mail. He also ran a new issue service.

Organised philately

Marsh was a life 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 ...

."List of Members, 1923" in ''The Bulletin'', Fiscal Philatelic Society.

Books and journals

Marsh produced several journals, including ''Marsh's Monthly Offers'' from 1910, ''Marsh's Weekly Circular'' (1908 to 1921) which was renamed ''Marsh's Weekly Philatelist'' in 1914 and ''Marsh's Colonial Philatelist'' from 1928. As publisher, Marsh also produced ''The Postage Stamps of the Seychelles'' by W.H. Bertram Poole in 1906 and Sam Buckley's ''Marginal Varieties of the Edwardian Stamps of Great Britain, 1902-1912'' in 1912.Marsh is wrongly stated to be the author of Buckley's book in ''Who Was Who in British Philately''. Marsh also acquired the business of Errington & Martin, trade binders and producers of stamp albums.

Death

Marsh continued in business until his death in 1951, after which it was taken over by his son Herbert and daughter. The stock was eventually dispersed through a series of sales continuing up to 2008. Oswald's obituary was published in ''The Philatelic Journal'', July/September 1951, p. 66.

Publications

*''Oswald Marsh's Priced Catalogue of King George Controls''. Norwood, 1918.

References

External links

Profile at Who Was Who in British Philately.Archive here
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Oswald British stamp dealers 1880 births 1951 deaths