William Wilmot Corfield (1859 - 27 October 1919)"Wilmot Corfield." in '' The London Philatelist'', Vol. XXVIII, No. 335, November 1919, p. 253. was a British philatelist who was an important figure in Anglo-Indian philately. By his own account, he was an auditor by profession.

Early life

Corfield was born in Birmingham in 1859 and educated at King Edward's School. His mother was Jemima Corfield (''nee'' Randell) who died in 1862. Subsequently, he was the editor in that city of ''Ye Manual'', ''Birmingham Town Crier'' and ''Birmingham Faces and Places''Corfield, W. (1910) ''Dâk dicta: a selection from verses written in Calcutta, 1907-1910''. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co., p. iii. and he was a friend of George Bernasconi.

Philately

Corfield started to collect stamps aged six and later acquired his brother, Winter's, collection after Winter died following an accident on a cricket pitch."Notable Philatelists: Mr. Wilmot Corfield"
in ''The Philatelic Record'', Vol. 24, September 1902, p. 179. In 1886 and also in 1893, Corfield travelled to India where he subsequently became Editor of ''The Philatelic World'' (1894 to 1897) and the ''Philatelic Journal of India''. At different times the Hon. Secretary, Treasurer and Vice-President of the Philatelic Society of India (1897-1909). He was also Curator of the ''Indian National Stamp Collection'' at Victoria Museum, Calcutta. While in India, Corfield wrote topical verses under the pen name ''Dâk dicta'' which appeared in the Indian press, ''Dak'' being the Hindi equivalent of "post office". He was active in the

Calcutta Historical Society The Calcutta Historical Society, a distinguished learned society founded in 1907, holds a significant place in the annals of Indian history. With its mission to preserve and promote the rich cultural heritage of Kolkata, the society has played a ...

.Who Was Who in British Philately

Association of British Philatelic Societies The Association of British Philatelic Societies, commonly known as the ''ABPS'', is the British national association of philatelic societies, regional philatelic federations, and specialist philatelic societies.Royal Philatelic Society London from 1899 and of The Fiscal Philatelic Society. He was also a member of the Hertfordshire society, ''The Junior Philatelic Society'' (now the

National Philatelic Society The National Philatelic Society is one of two national philatelic societies in Great Britain. The other is the Royal Philatelic Society London. History ''The National'', as it is known, was formed in 1899 by Fred Melville and the first meeting i ...

and the

International Philatelic Union The International Philatelic Union, formed 1881, was an early international philatelic organisation formed for the study of stamps and the promotion of philately generally.Rogers-Tillstone, Capt. B. ''The Royal Philatelic Society London 1869-1969''. ...

. He became closely associated with the ''Philatelic Congress of Great Britain''. He was for a short time Editor of The London Philatelist. He was active in the

National Philatelic War Fund National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

and was credited by ''The London Philatelist'' with suggesting the design of the souvenir ''sword of justice'' stamp produced for the fund. He wrote the obituary of noted Indian philatelic specialist Sir David Parkes Masson in ''The London Philatelist''."Death of Sir David Masson." by Wilmot Corfield in '' The London Philatelist'', Vol. XXV, No. 289, January 1916, pp. 6-8. Corfield campaigned for the Tapling Collection to be brought up to date so as to become the British ''national stamp collection'' but this ultimately proved impossible due to the terms under which the Tapling Collection had been donated and the scarcity of some of the material missing from it.''The Royal Philatelic Society London 1869 - 1969''. London:

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 ...

, 1969.

Death

Corfield died on 27 October 1919 at Sydenham, South London. He was survived by his wife and daughter.

Selected publications

*''Ye manual of the proceedings of the Birmingham Young Men’s Christian Association Debating Society. Vol. 1. Oct. 1881 - April 1882.'' Birmingham, 1881-82. (Editor) *''The adhesive fiscal and telegraph stamps of British India''. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co., 1905. (With C.S.F. Crofton) *''Calcutta faces and places in pre-camera days.'' Calcutta: Calcutta Historical Society, 1910
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*''Dâk dicta: a selection from verses written in Calcutta, 1907-1910''. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co., 1910
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*''More dâk dicta. Verses written in Calcutta (1894-1910) and philatelic verses.'' Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co., 1911
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corfield, William, Wilmot 1859 births 1919 deaths People from Birmingham, West Midlands British philatelists Philately of India

Early life

Philately

Death

Selected publications

See also

References