Philatelic Congress of Great Britain

Each year the Association of British Philatelic Societies (ABPS) holds a national congress, the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain.

The first Congress was held in 1909 in conjunction with a stamp exhibition at Hulme Town Hall in Manchester. They continue to this day, each year in a different location.

The business of the first Congress included the formation of a National Society or Federation, the desirability of a Collectors’ Catalogue, unnecessary issues, deceased collector’s stamps and an encyclopaedia of philatelic literature.

The Congress is an opportunity for philatelists to network, view displays and attend the Congress Banquet.

Each year a Congress Medal is presented and the new signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists sign the Roll.

Papers are given on philatelic subjects, for instance at the 88th Congress in 2006 David Beech of the British Library gave a paper on "The Philately of the Edwardian era as shown in its literature".

Extract from "100 Years of the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain" by Colin Searle, published by the Association of British Philatelic Societies, 2009. Reproduced by permission of the author. searlec@gmail.com

Manchester 1909. The first British Philatelic Congress was held in Manchester in connection with a philatelic exhibition arranged by the Manchester Junior Philatelic Society in February 1909. This was a novelty in this country but already established in Germany, the United States and other countries. In Germany the idea was thirty years old and even in Great Britain it had been mentioned many times. It seemed to be approaching reality in 1907 when various suggestions appeared in the philatelic press. When in 1908 the Manchester branch of the Junior Philatelic Society decided to hold an exhibition in February 1909, Mr I J Bernstein, the main mover behind the exhibition, suggested in a letter to the press that an exhibition drew in philatelists from all parts and so formed a good basis for a Congress; he was chosen as the first president.

In July 1908 it was decided to hold the first British Congress at the same time as the exhibition, with some fear and trepidation and in the hope that the exhibition would draw philatelists together and make a Congress possible. At a meeting of the Society’s exhibition committee on 16 July Mr J J Darlow was appointed Congress secretary and Mr W D Beckton chairman. The philatelic press welcomed the news and support was forthcoming from every quarter of the kingdom.

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