Leeds Philatelic Society - Collections

Edwin Peters Collection

Horsforth Postal History


Introduction

Foreword

This collection was formed by the late Edwin Peters and bequeathed to the Leeds Philatelic Society in about 1965. This introduction, the Notes accompanying the Collection (written by Edwin Peters), the detailed history of the Post in Horsforth (again written by Edwin Peters) and the collection itself, have been digitised and stored on a Society memory stick. 1

Summary

Edwin Peters was the Leeds Philatelic Society's Librarian from 1956 to 1964 and bequeathed to the Society a very comprehensive and scholarly collection of Horsforth Postal History running to over 50 sheets.

Horsforth is a township and urban district 5 miles north-west of Leeds. It is mentioned three times in the Domesday survey of 1085, and is later listed in Kirby's Inquest of 1284. However, the first mention of postal activity is not found until 1822 in Baines History, Directory and Gazetteer of the County of York with an entry reading:

Grocers, etc :- Whitaker, John - and Postmaster.

Failure to get an earlier mention is no doubt because Horsforth was positioned off the main postal routes, being in the centre of a triangle formed by the three turnpike roads: Leeds-Otley-Skipton, 2 miles to the east; Leeds-Bradford 3 miles south east; and Dudley Hill-Killinghall some 3 miles West.

The collection starts with examples of the early pre-stamp markings and shows the development of the service in Horsforth up to the 1960s. It covers metered and registered mail as well as bulk mailing and parcel post labels.

The collection is supported by maps and photocopies of pages from the Post Office Stamp Impression Proof Books of handstamps issued to post offices.

(Contents and Method continues on next page)
Contents and Method

The original collection contains the following:-
* An introduction written by John Edwards and amended by Richard Smith;
* The Post in Horsforth typed on A4 yellow paper by Edwin Peters;
* The Detailed History of the Post in Horsforth typed on A5 white paper by Edwin Peters; and
* The collection of original material remounted and presented in an album.

The digitised version of the collection contains the following: -
* An introduction written by John Edwards and amended by Richard Smith;
* The Post in Horsforth.
o Please Note : When transcribing these original notes into digitised format every effort was made to copy the original wording and layout correctly.
* The Detailed History of the Post in Horsforth.
o Please Note : When transcribing these original notes into digitised formatevery effort was made to copy the original wording and layout correctly and any alterations to the original typed notes which were made (usually in pencil) have been added as footnotes to the transcribed text.
* The scans of the original pages from the detailed history which contained copies of postmarks or documents. The scans of these postmarks and documents have been included in the digitised version of The Detailed History of the Post in Horsforth.
* The scans of the original pages from the collection of material.
* The Collection (prepared in word format) which includes the scans of the original collection material.

The method employed whilst working on the Edwin Peters Collection was: -
1. The Post in Horsforth was transcribed using Microsoft Word. This transcript was saved on a Leeds Philatelic Society's memory stick.
2. The detailed History of the Post in Horsforth was transcribed using Microsoft Word. This transcript was saved on a Leeds Philatelic Society's memory stick.
3. The original Introduction was transcribed using Microsoft Word. This transcript was saved on a Leeds Philatelic Society's memory stick.
4. Some of the written material (The Detailed History of the Post in Horsforth) from the collection was damaged around the holes for the ring file. These damaged holes were reinforced and placed in a new ring binder together with the Post in Horsforth summary (yellow paper), the Introduction and this Contents and Method information
5. The original collection material was then carefully removed from the enclosures. Most of these enclosures were made from (non-archival) card and thick (non-archival) cellophane. At this stage, signs were noticed of the original Sellotape used on the card having deteriorated and discolouring the card. There were also signs of discolouration and deterioration on the edges of the sheets in the collection.
6. Scans were then taken of the 58 sheets of the collection These scans were saved on a Leeds Philatelic Society's memory stick.
7. The sheets used in the collection were not consistent in make, size or quality.
8. The mounting of the collection was not consistent; for example
o Some pages had hand drawn borders around the display whilst others did not;
o Some displays had headings/titles, whilst others did not; and
o Some entries lacked consistency in wording.
9. It was decided that no attempt be made to re-mount the collection but to preserve the original format and nature of the collection. In so doing, the original work by Edwin Peters would be preserved.
10. Each sheet was then carefully trimmed to remove any deteriorating edges but retaining all the design aspects of the presentation on each sheet.
11. Each sheet was then carefully mounted on a sheet of archival quality white card and secured on the card using archival quality dry mounting strips.
12. The card had been prepared previously (using Microsoft Word) with page numbers and titles.
13. Each card was then placed in archival quality plastic pockets and the pockets placed in a storage ring binder. The total number of cards being 58 the exact number of sheets in the collection.
14. The scans of the collection (referred to in 5 above) were used to prepare a digital version of the collection material. At this stage every effort was made to make this digital version reflect the presentation of the stored collection.
15. All digital material was copied on to a Leeds Philatelic Society memory stick.
16. Finally, the collection and the memory stick were handed to the Society Curator for safe keeping.

Ring Binder One

This ring binder contains all the written material associated with The Collection of Edwin Peters. This material belongs to Leeds Philatelic Society. Typed transcripts of the written material are also stored in this ring binder.

Please take great care when examining this material and please do not remove any of the original written material from the ring binder. Some of that original written material had been damaged (through inappropriate handling) and has been repaired and restored. Digital scans of each item are stored on the memory stick contained in this ring binder.

The following items are stored in this ring binder :-

1. The Leeds Philatelic Society Memory Stick containing the digitised version of all the collection material.

2. An explanation of the overall contents of the collection and the method used when restoring this collection for Leeds Philatelic Society in 2016.

3. The Introduction to the Collection written by John Edwards in 2011, amended and digitised by Richard Smith in 2016.

4. A retyped copy of The Post in Horsforth, printed on white A4 paper and stored in an archival quality pocket. Please feel free to remove this and read the contents.

5. The Post in Horsforth, written and typed on yellow quarto paper by Edwin Peters. Now stored in an archival quality pocket. Each page of this introduction is very delicate and should not be removed from the pocket.

6. A re-typed copy of Horsforth Postal History, printed on white A4 paper and stored in an archival quality pocket. Please feel free to remove this and read the contents.

7. The original Horsforth Postal History written and typed on A5 white paper by Edwin Peters. Each page of this history is very delicate and should not be removed from the binder.

Ring Binder Two

This ring binder contains all The Collection of Edwin Peters. This collection belongs to Leeds Philatelic Society and is stored in 58 archival quality pockets.

Please take great care when examining the items in the collection and please do not remove any items from their pockets. Digital scans of each item are stored on the memory stick contained in ring binder one.


Richard Smith
September 2016

1 ThisIntroduction and Summary was written by John AEdwards FRPSL in 2011, amended and digitised by Richard Smith in 2016.)

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