In a letter dated 24^th April 1861 from Ormond Hill to Perkins Bacon a request for Specimens of Colonial postage stamps is made. The following sentence which is included in his letter is most worthy of note:

(The letter can be read in full in this Percy de Worms PDF document http://1dplate77.com/1dplate77/documents/PERCYdeWORMS_000.pdf)

"I do not wish to give you the trouble of printing specially for me on any acct."

This sentence is worthy of serious deliberation. Does it imply that if he asked for it, then Perkins Bacon would have obliged and printed these stamps especially for him? Furthermore does this also imply that if Ormond Hill asked for any particular favours as far as producing philatelic items is concerned then these would have also been produced for him?

There is no doubt that his influential position within the ‘System’, the Client in this case, would have been very valuable to the printers Perkins Bacon, the contractors. Pleasing him would have certainly been foremost in the mind of Perkins Bacon. This is evident in all their letters to him. They were only too eager to please!

Ormond Hill did have contacts in ‘higher circles’ who were collectors and he made no secret of this or of his attempts to acquire stamps for them. This sentence from his letter to Perkins Bacon on the 1 Nov 1861 clearly confirms this fact:

"I desired specimens for an Official collection and entirely for an official purpose.."

Could this have stretched a little too far during his period of employment? In that could a request have been made for stamps showing a plate number 77 to be produced for them, after all if these were produced and released in the normal way no misdemeanor would have been exercised. The possibility that these stamps could have been 'made' for collectors does certainly exist.

Would such work be logged in the Perkins Bacon record books?

William Hughes-Hughes, a founder member of the Royal Philatelic Society London started collecting around 1859. He stated in his interview with Stanley Gibbons Monthly Journal in January 1896  that his whole collection had cost him £69 as most of his stamps were aquired "through influential connections". Stanley Gibbons purchased a 'plate 77' stamp from him. There is no concrete information as to which stamp it was.

Was Ormond Hill that 'influential connection'?

Just food for thought!

Abed H Najjar

Below are images of stamps AB and AC which can be clearly seen to have been removed from the sheet with scissors!

 

The Tapling stamp BA in the British Library also seems to have the left hand side and bottom perfs cut with scissors!

 

 

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/philrar/g/zoomify82630.html