Category: News

The 1d Double Head: Plating and Positioning

The plating and positioning of the 1d Double Head is a task that has preoccupied a number of enthusiasts for many a year. In a 2003 presentation, Keith Watkins quoted from The Philatelic Magazine of 1 November, 1917:

(Writing about the 1d Double Head) .. we can vouch for the existence of the above 23 varieties .. there remain 77 more to complete the plate. Any reader finding the full number will be awarded a first class ticket to the nearest Lunatic Asylum.

Stephen Reah-Johnson once reflected that the Penny Double Head is like a desert into which great philatelists wander and are then never heard from again.

So, in order to assist those brave who wish to venture into this abyss, we offer some support.

Firstly, two diagrams from Ian Hamilton which offer one an initial guide as to positioning:

 

What follows is a detailed analysis obtained through the work of Keith Watkins and Charles Temple and others:

To follow this analysis one must use the Thirkell Co-ordinates

In addition, here are some Positioning Diagrams 1-100 ex Bill O’Connell which are another useful resource in this study.

And something very exciting. Bob Gibbs has begun detailed work on writing up each individual position on Plate A and Plate B. This is a work-in-progress and will be added to over time.

Plate A

Plate B

 

JOURNAL OF THE RHODESIAN STUDY CIRCLE: NO. 287 September 2021

  • Editorial
  • Membership News and Information
  • Remembering Joan Soriano – Rod Kantor
  • Matters Arising
  • Members Ask
  • Members Share
  • Reports of RSC Meetings:
  • Manchester Virtual (13/5/2021)
  • Manchester Virtual (19/6/2021)
  • North America/Melbourne Virtual (26&27/6/2021)
  • Melbourne (3/7/2021)
  • Manchester Virtual (17/4/2021)
  • South West England Virtual (13/5/2021)
  • Some unusual Postage Dues from
    Northern Rhodesia – Keith Harrop
  • Stanley Gibbons BSAC Admiral Catalogue Listing
    2022 Update – David Spivack
  • “Airmail Second Class /PRINTED /MATTER”
    marking on letter mailed from Lusaka, Zambia to
    Aachen, West Germany – David Frye
  • 1900 Government Notice re censorship of mail 
    Zimbabwe/Rhodesia: the country that never was
    – Jack Joyce
  • Nyasaland: the 1934-1935 Definitive Issue –
    Colin Fraser
  • Cape Overprints of 1896, the 1/- revenue usage –
    Mike Barter
  • Rhodesia Pre-Paid Bank Cards – Andrew Wilkie 
    The U.P.U. Specimen Surplus Archives – Peter Thy
  • Caveat Emptor – Adrian de Bourbon
  • Patience is a virtue – Sean Burke
  • Southern Rhodesia T.P.O. – Paolo Guglielminetti
  • There are no stamp dealers in Northern Rhodesia –
    Adam Goulding
  • Collectors should be bound by no rules –
    Rand Daily Mail 15 July, 1935
  • Parcel Labels – Patrick Flanagan
  • Some Rhodesia & Nyasaland Postage Due Covers
    Examined – Walter Herdzik
  • Some examples of Rhodesia Admirals postal
    history – David Spivack and Sean Burke
  • A 1859 cover from Mary Livingstone at Kuruman –
    Patrick Flanagan
  • Northern Rhodesia Revenues – Jamie Smith
  • Comb Perforating and perforation varieties –
    Colin Hoffman Feira – Adam Goulding 
    The King’s Shilling – Sean Burke
  • From Plumtree to Matopos, and places in between –
    Rob Burrett
  • Certificates of Registration of the British South
    Africa Company – Christopher Cooksey
  • A Small Treasure with Royal Connections:
    Lady Maud Bowes-Lyon – Peter Hankins
  • Review of Memoir 30 – Adam Goulding
  • Kenneth Kaunda – a potted philatelic history –
    Allan Rendle and Adam Goulding 

Memoir 39: ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FEDERATION OF RHODESIA & NYASALAND POSTAGE STAMPS – 1954-1963

Memoir 39: ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF THE FEDERATION OF
RHODESIA & NYASALAND POSTAGE STAMPS

1954-1963

Following the completion of the Rhodesia and Zimbabwe Encyclopaedia, I was “persuaded”
to go further back and look at the issues during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. My collection is almost entirely centred around the territory of Southern Rhodesia, and not to any great extent the other two territories. It was therefore logical that the issues of the Federation should be handled together collectively.

For many of the RSC members who were brought up in any of the three territories the first
stamps they would have seen on a regular basis would be those issued during the Federal
period. I can well recall the excitement that was generated when a new issue about to be
released. On one issue, in particular, was released on my tenth birthday!

There were only eleven issues of stamps (including two postage dues) during this period, with a further one planned, but never issued. Researching the issues during this period has been a challenge. Whilst there is a fair amount of published material for the 1954 definitive, this is not the case for the 1959 definitive. The Mashonaland Guide has been a useful source of material but here are gaps that have been identified.

Whilst I, personally, have a fairly extensive collection of the varieties found in all the issues, I had not built up a collection of imprints, cylinder blocks and other important information. I am therefore very reliant of being able to study material held in members collections. I know that the material as it is being released will have gaps and I would therefore be very grateful if members can provide additional this material.

I have had a significant amount of material provided already and am most grateful to the
following members that have assisted:

Pat Flanagan, Keith Harrop, Adrian de Bourbon, Jamie Smith, Christopher Cooksey, Phil Clarke, Dave Trathen, Dave Cooper, Andrew Wilson, James Gavin, Mark Thomas, Jefferson Ritson.

I, also, thank Sean Burke who downloaded this material on to the RSC website.

Please peruse the files and feedback comments, criticisms and, more specifically, more
information and additional material. This has been a big project but one that goes to the heart of the Study Circle’s aims and objectives. Please contact me by email at
geoff.brakspear@btopenworld.com.

Many thanks
Geoff Brakspear
August, 2026

 

CONTENTS

ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF MALAWI POSTAGE STAMPS SINCE 1964

The Rhodesian Study Circle (RSC), following the successful similar venture undertaken to update the listing of all Rhodesia and Zimbabwe stamps since 1964, is now compiling a full list of the stamps issued in Malawi since 1964.

I am attempting to gather and present as much information as possible. Any and all contributions are welcome and the entries will be updated and amended as appropriate. Information can come from whatever source -magazines, journals, auction catalogues and, of course, actual studies already undertaken or in progress.

Please peruse the files and feedback comments, criticisms and, more specifically, more information and additional material. This is a big project but one that goes to the heart of the Rhodesian Study Circle in an area that has only had scattered attention.

If you would like to contribute any information, please Contact Us.

Stuart Ross
Contributors:
Stuart Ross
Colin Gardener
Tony Banks
Tony Hawken
Ian Macdonald
Chris Moffat
James Gavin
Ian Frith
Chris Palmer

Contents

 

 

 

JOURNAL OF THE RHODESIAN STUDY CIRCLE: NO. 286 JULY 2021

  • Editorial
  • Membership News and Information
  • Matters Arising
  • Members Ask
  • Members Share
  • RSC AGM
  • Report of the RSC Chairman
  • RSC Awards and Prizes
  • RSC 2021 Virtual Conference:
  •  In Attendance 167
  •  Programme 168
  •  Presentations 170
  •  Reflections on the Conference 200
  • Bulawayo Post Offices – Rob Burrett & Andrew Wilkie
  • The stolen stamps of 1895: questions remain – Rob Burrett & Anita McCullough
  • Rhodesia 1978: the Mozambique Stamp – Richard Berry and Trooper ‘V’
  • The ‘Blanic’ Collection of Nyasaland and Rhodesia: Auction Report – Ian Cubbin & Tony Plumbe
  • Auction Report: Important Stamps and Covers ofthe World featuring Rhodesia & Nyasaland and Southern Rhodesia – Patrick Flanagan The Waterlow Archives – eyes wide open!
  • Colin Hoffman, John and Mark Taylor
  • Dinner with the ‘King of America’; one of the many tales that emerge from Memoir 30 on the postal history of the Paris Missionary Society – Sean Burke
  • Rhodes’ Valhalla: from Great Zimbabwe to Malindidzimu – Narendhra Morar 

 

Ott, Eunice

Eunice Ott 1914-1956

Eunice Irene Ott was born to Mr. and Mrs. Roy Ott near Green, Iowa, January 1914. After graduating from the Moody Bible Institute and undergoing nurses training at Booth Memorial Hospital in New York, she served at Bible Witness Mission in Chicago. She was commissioned in 1944 as a missionary in Southern Rhodesia with the Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM). Eunice served first as a teacher at Msengedzi Mission.

 

In 1951, she transferred to teach at Mavuradontha Mission, where she also helped out in the dispensary.Eunice moved to Chironga Mission in 1956 to work at the newly established Teacher Training Institute. Tragically, she died shortly thereafter in May 1956, and is buried at Mavuradontha.

References

  • Ordinary People in God’s Hands – Diane Powell Hawkins
  • Eunice I Ott Blog, “Transcribed letters from a mid-century missionary,”

https://euniceott.com

  • Ott obituary, Globe-Gazette, May 24, 1956, p. 20

JOURNAL OF THE RHODESIAN STUDY CIRCLE: NO. 284 March 2021

  • Editorial
  • Membership News and Information
  • RSC Virtual Conference and Competitions
  • Matters Arising
  • Members Ask
  • Members Share
  • Reports of RSC Meetings:
  • North America Virtual (7/11/2020)
  • Manchester Virtual (14/11/2020) 
  • Melbourne Virtual (5/12/2020) 
  • Manchester Virtual (12/12/2020) 
  • Cape Town (14/11/2020) 
  • South West England Virtual (3/12/2020) 
  • North America Virtual (9/1/2021) 
  • Manchester Virtual (16/1/2021) 
  • More Chinde Postcards—Mark Ladd 
  • A selection of favourite registered covers –
    Mark Thomas 
  • The Paul Graetz Expeditions – Derek Lambert 
  • The 1897 BCA Issue – Colin Fraser 
  • More on the Rhodesia Admiral Postal Stationery
    Cards – Andrew Wilkie 
  • Revenue documents with history –
    Dan Judson and John Blakiston – The siege and
    relief of Mazoe 1896 – Mike Barter 
  • Harry Van Jaarsvelt – Postmaster of Salisbury 
  • Making connections – Mark Thomas 
  • Post Offices in Zimbabwe and Zambia – Rob Burrett
  • More on the Besançon Rhodesia Sale of Corinphila –
    Colin Hoffman and Sean Burke 
  • 1932 Northbound First Flights to off-line
    Destinations within Africa – Christopher Cooksey 
  • A brief history of Waterlows – Colin Hoffman 
  • A confusing tale of too many Gwaais – Rob Burrett 
  • A half-penny for your thoughts – Brian Coop 
  • Some postal examples of the BSAC 1909-1911
    Surcharges – Patrick Flanagan 
  • Artists of Waddington Printed Malawi and
    Zambia Issues – Tony Plumbe 
  • Aspects of the 1917 Livingstone Provisionals –
    Patrick Flanagan 
  • “100 Years Surveying and Mapping”— Centenary
    Noted on Bulawayo Slogan Cancel – David Frye 
  • The 1940 BSAC Golden Jubilee Specimens –
    Dave Cooper 
  • Telegraph Forms of the Bechuanalands—
    Military, Official and Civilian – Peter Thy 
  • Request for Booklets, Stickers, and Calendar Leaves
    Malaŵi by Surface Mail – David Frye 
  • The Postmarks and Post Offices of Post-Federation
    Rhodesia—Eryl Worton 
  • 1970 Definitive issue SG 441 2½c multi-coloured –
    Dave Cooper 
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