Name W. S. Role Barrister | Died 1899 | |
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Education Trinity College, Cambridge | ||
William Amos Scarborough Westoby M.A. (1815–1899) was an English philatelist who was one of the "Fathers of Philately" entered on the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921. His obituary in The London Philatelist stated that he had "...fairly earned the title of the Grand Seigneur of Philately." By profession, Westoby was a Barrister of Lincoln's Inn.
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Early life
Westoby was born in 1815 at Emberton, Buckinghamshire. He received his M.A. in 1839 from Trinity College, Cambridge.
Philately
Westoby began collecting stamps in 1861 or 1862. He was resident in Paris for some time where he met his lifelong friend Frederick Philbrick in 1863. He discovered the first known copy of the Spanish 2r 1851 error of colour in 1867. He was not a founder of The Philatelic Society, London, now The Royal Philatelic Society London, but was a member from at least November 1869, shortly after the Society's founding, when he read a paper titled "Envelopes of Germany". At one point he resigned and was later re-elected, possibly because membership of the society was at one time limited to residents of London.
Westoby was a prolific contributor to philatelic journals under the pen name "A Parisian Collector", including The Philatelist and The Stamp-Collector's Magazine. He was the editor for four years of The Philatelic Record and also of Alfred Smith & Co.'s Monthly Circular from 1878. When his European collection was dispersed, many fine items found their way into the Tapling Collection.
Selected philatelic publications
Legal works
Westoby was a Barrister of Lincoln's Inn and wrote a number of legal books including guides to the laws of Belgium and France for foreigners resident there and a guide to the Wills of British subjects made abroad.
Personal life
Westoby was married to Mary Frances Baldock, the only daughter of Edward Holmes Baldock, the prominent London dealer in French 18th-century furniture and reproductions, until her death in 1842, aged 28.