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Percival Stuart Bryce Rossiter (25 February 1923 – 1982) was a renowned 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 postal historian who wrote extensively about British postal history and
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...
s of British colonies in Africa and was involved in numerous philatelic institutions. In his Will he created ''The
Stuart Rossiter Trust The Stuart Rossiter Trust is a British charitable trust (registered charity number 292076) that was created by the will of the philatelist and postal historian Stuart Rossiter and subsequently the will of his mother. The trust was established in 19 ...
'' which has become a leading publisher of books on postal history.


Early life

Stuart was educated at
Framlingham College Framlingham College is a public school (independent day and boarding school) in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school and nursery at Brandeston Hall, it serves pupils from 3 to 18 ye ...
in Suffolk, leaving in 1941,Society of Old Framlinghamians, Percival "Stuart" Bryce Rossiter (G36-41)
/ref> after which he served in
RAF Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It served throughout the Second World War. It earned near-immortal fame during the Battle of Brita ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, achieving the rank of Flying Officer. After the war he completed his education at
King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
, where he obtained a BA degree in 1948 and an MA in 1953.


Career

Rossiter was employed as Assistant Librarian at Westminster City and Kent County Libraries and in 1954 joined the staff of the
Blue Guides The Blue Guides are a series of detailed and authoritative travel guidebooks focused on art, architecture, and (where relevant) archaeology along with the history and context necessary to understand them. A modicum of practical travel informa ...
where he rose to become editor (1963–1973).Blue Guides
His Blue Guides book on Greece was highly praised and as a result he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He also contributed to the
Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
. His most notable philatelic work is ''The Stamp Atlas''.


Philately

Rossiter became interested in stamp collecting and geography from the age of six and he would pursue these interests throughout his life. He is famous for his international stamp exhibitions through which he would display various portions of his extensive personal collection along with those of other collectors.Stuart Rossiter Trust, Rossiter biography
/ref> Rossiter edited ''The London Philatelist'', house journal 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 ...
, from 1975 and in 1977 became President of the Society of Postal Historians. He founded and was the Chairman of the ''East Africa Study Circle'' and was the editor of its journal. British East Africa was his main philatelic interest and he wrote a series of articles on the postal history of
Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
that were published in ''Postal History International''. He became President of the ''Society of Postal Historians'' in 1977 and was also the editor of ''The Postscript'', its journal. As a collector of stamps and postal history Rossiter had a sizable collection which he often exhibited internationally. As a student of postal history, Rossiter realised that a knowledge of geographical and political changes was essential to a proper understanding of philately. The arduous task of locating such relevant information is what led Rossiter and John Flower, working through the renowned Blue Guides, to propose a ''Stamp Atlas'', which was finally completed after his death in 1982.


Selected publications

Some of Rossiter's works include: * ''The Stamp Atlas'' * ''History of the East African Army Postal Service'' * ''The Blue Guide Denmark'' * ''The Blue Guide London'' * ''Rome and Environs'' (Blue guides) * ''Greece'' (Blue guides) * ''Yugoslavia: the Adriatic Coast'' (Blue guides) * ''The London Quiz Book'', 1957.


Death

In 1982 Rossiter died from leukaemia at the age of fifty nine and left all of his estate to the Stuart Rossiter Trust, as did his mother after him. The Trust has become a major publisher of postal history and is involved in the study of the postal history around the world.Heritage Fund / Stuart Rossiter Trust Fund


References


External links


Profile from his old school.The Rossiter Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossiter, Stuart British philatelists 1923 births 1982 deaths People educated at Framlingham College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society