Adelaide Lucy Fenton

Adelaide Lucy Fenton
Born	1824 or 1825
Died	6 February 1897
Nationality	British
Known for	Early female philatelist

Adelaide Lucy Fenton (1824 or 1825 – 6 February 1897) was an early female philatelist and philatelic journalist who was among the first to adopt a scientific approach to philately. Miss Fenton has been called "...the first female philatelist of note".

Adelaide was born in 1824 or early 1825, the daughter of Captain James John Fenton of the 44th Regiment.

In 1859, a Miss Adelaide Lucy Fenton, was a party to a legal case brought against Colonel John Alexander Forbes which alleged that he had, on 23 June 1859, "unlawfully and wickedly utter and publish an obscene and indecent letter, with intent to debauch and corrupt Adelaide Lucy Fenton, and with intent to incite her to commit a breach of the peace." The case was widely reported in the press of the day. Miss Fenton was described as "a lady, well known in fashionable circles, and much esteemed in Bath."

Miss Fenton deposed that she was an unmarried lady residing at 3 Montpelier, Bath and not at all acquainted with the defendant. A number of anonymous obscene letters, including drawings, were alleged to have been sent by Forbes to Miss Fenton over several years. Separately, a Mr Llewellyn Watling of London, who had placed an advert seeking a job, had entered into a correspondence with a "Francis York" care of the Post Office, Bath, but the correspondence was broken off by Watling after unpleasant suggestions were made in the letters from Mr York. Eventually both Miss Fenton and Mr Watling separately contacted the police in Bath and by comparing the letters the police were able to confirm that the writer of both sets of letters was the same person. The police were also able to establish that it was Colonel Forbes who picked up the replies at the Post Office. Forbes was bailed but did not appear on the first day of his trial on 11 August 1859.

From 1863 Miss Fenton became a prolific contributor to The Stamp-Collector's Magazine and The Philatelist and her contributions were noted for their philatelic scholarship. Her first contribution to the Stamp-Collector's Magazine was a letter published on 1 December 1863 titled "The Bahamas Stamp – Yams versus Shells" and her first article was published on 1 June 1864 titled "The Morality of Postage Stamps".

Miss Fenton wrote under several pen names including Herbert Camoens, the name of a Portuguese poet which she chose partly because it also included the name of the Belgian dealer Jean-Baptiste Moens,Fentonia, Celestina, Virginia and SJV after the name of her home, St. John's Villa in Clifton, Bristol. Bound copies of The Stamp-Collector's Magazine and The Philatelist were presented to Miss Fenton by the Editors of those magazines in gratitude for her contributions and they are now in the library of The Royal Philatelic Society London complete with Miss Fenton's marginal notes.

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