John Marriott (philatelist)

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For other persons named John Marriott, see John Marriott (disambiguation).

John Brook Marriott (27 July 1922 in Stretford–3 July 2001 in Godalming)[1] was a British teacher and philatelist. He was the Keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection between 1969 and 1995.

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[edit] Biography

A mathematics graduate from the University of Cambridge during World War II, Marriott was quickly sent in 1943 to Bletchley Park, then the United Kingdom's main codebreaking establishment.[1] [2]

He taught mathematics from 1945 to 1982 at the Charterhouse School, in Godalming, Surrey, where he was a housemaster from 1960 to 1975.[1]

A Stamp collector from the age of twelve,[3] Marriott was a specialist in Trinidad postal history. In 1952 he sold this collection in order to set up a new home after his marriage.[4] He rebuilt his collection again and won medals at international philatelic exhibitions.[3]

In 1969, John Wilson, Keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection, suggested Marriott as his successor. As a member since 1965 of the Royal Philatelic Society London's Expert Committee, of which Wilson was Chairman, Marriott was very familiar with the Royal Collection. From 1969 to 1995, he divided his time between Charterhouse and London. His wife replaced him at the boarding house when he was at Buckingham Palace.[2]

Because Wilson had preferred to let time pass between receiving new stamp issues from Britain and the Commonwealth and mounting them into albums, Marriott began to mount the issues of the Elizabeth II's reign into green leather covered albums, and continued the mounting of the King George VI blue collection. Apart from new issues sent by postal administrations, Marriott bought "errors, freaks, and oddities" : stamps with missing colours or inverted picture for example.[5] Like his predecessor, Marriott traveled thirty-nine times[1] with parts of the Collection to international exhibitions.[6] In 1980 he organized the "London 1980" International Stamp Exhibition at Earl's Court.[1]

He retired from teaching in 1982 and was elected to serve as president of the Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) from 1983 until 1986. He had been a vice-president of the society since 1979.[1]

Facing an increasing amount of work and activities, he was the first Keeper of the Royal Collection to have a deputy: Charles Wyndham Goodwyn, president of the RPSL since 1991.[7] He helped Marriott mount the collection, prepare exhibitions and write articles which permitted the Royal Philatelic Collection to be self-sufficient.[6]

Marriott gave up his function of Keeper to Goodwyn in September 1995.[8]

[edit] Honours and awards

  • Tilleard Medal in 1968 from the RPSL for the exhibition of his Trinidad collection.[5] This collection won a gold medal at the 1960 London and the 1967 Amsterdam exhibitions.[1]
  • Signatory of the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1972.[1]
  • Alfred Lichtenstein Memorial Award in 1988 from the Collectors Club of New York for his actions in favor of philately.[1]

[edit] Sources and references

Sources

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kiddle, Francis, « Obituary: Sir John Marriott », The Independent, 17 July 2001.
  2. ^ a b Courtney, Nicholas (2004). The Queen's Stamps, page 294.
  3. ^ a b Courtney, Nicholas (2004). The Queen's Stamps, page 295.
  4. ^ Mary Thompson, his wife, would earn the nickname "Lady McLeod", the name of the first stamps used in Trinidad. Anecdote quoted in Courtney, Nicholas (2004). The Queen's Stamps, page 296.
  5. ^ a b Courtney, Nicholas (2004). The Queen's Stamps, page 296.
  6. ^ a b Courtney, Nicholas (2004). The Queen's Stamps, page 301.
  7. ^ Courtney, Nicholas (2004). The Queen's Stamps, page 302.
  8. ^ Courtney, Nicholas (2004). The Queen's Stamps, page 303.

[edit] External links

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