Content
Biography
James Chalmers was the second son of William Chalmers , an entrepreneur from Arbrot. Initially, James studied at the weaver , but in 1807 he moved to Dundee on the advice of his older brother William, who was engaged in the book trade there [4] . Here he settled on Castle Street as a bookseller, printer and newspaper publisher. [5] It is known that Chalmers published the newspaper “The Caledonian” already in 1822, and since 1830 - the newspaper “The Dundee Chronicle” [4] . Later he worked as a member of the city council [4] and became the chairman of the influential merchant association Dundee "Nine Incorporated Trades" [5] .
In this capacity, he is described as a hunter of "dragons that hinder progress," because Chalmers repeatedly fought for the cause of municipal reform ( Burgh Reform ) and fought for the abolition of the tax on newspapers and newspaper advertisements , as well as for the abolition of the excise on paper [5] .
However, with the greatest enthusiasm he advocated the reform of the post . From about 1822, he urged the authorities to speed up mail forwarding between Edinburgh and London , asserting that this can be done without additional costs. After a few years, he achieved a reduction in the time of mail delivery per day in each direction [3] [4] [5] .
The invention of the postage stamp
According to the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary [2] , James Chalmers came up with the idea of inventing pasted postage stamps. According to a number of sources, in 1834, he came up with a draft of postage stamp stickers. The project provided for the payment of newspapers to be sent using a 1- penny label , which was supposed to be glued to the packs of newspapers. In the same year, Chalmers allegedly manufactured several printed test samples of label-stamps, covered with glue on the back side [1] [2] [5] . Nevertheless, the invention of the marks is attributed to Rowland Hill , later to the English general postmaster [2] .
In November 1837, Chalmers sent a letter with his proposals to Robert Wallace , Member of Parliament for Greenock [3] .
In 1838, J. Chalmers, along with R. Hill, submitted a memorandum to the commission of the British parliament [1] , specially created for the study of penny-porto ( penny-porto - 1 penny postage) and the development of postal communication. In a note dated February 8, 1838 [3] , he outlined his proposal to introduce into the postal practice a stamp , a sign of postal payment with a glue layer, and a device for extinguishing . The offer also included illustrations of stamps with denominations of 1 and 2 pence . Chalmers reacted negatively to the use of envelopes for letters, since each additional sheet of paper meant additional costs. Instead, he suggested that the folded letter be sealed with a label ("slip") or a postage stamp.
The rejected samples of stamps designed by Chalmers [3] were later deposited in the Victoria and Albert Museum along with another memorandum, which Chalmers also submitted in 1838 to the Mercantile Committee of the City of London [2] .
| Essay on postage stamps of James Chalmers | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1838 | 1839 | Also |
Claims of James Chalmers
Chalmers knew that Rowland Hill was seriously engaged in the problems of postal reform and the development of postage stamps. Chalmers Hill's letters have been preserved. In one of them, dated October 1, 1839, Chalmers directly made it clear to Hill about his desire to be the first in the history of the invention of a postage stamp [3] :
“If labels (that is, brands) are destined to be used, then I am amuse myself with the hope that I have complaints about the priority in expressing this proposal; moreover, it took almost two years, as I first made it public and presented it in a message to Mr. Wallace, a member of parliament. ”
Original Text (Eng.)If you’ve been using them for a while, you’ve been using them.
Despite this statement by Chalmers, R. Hill’s publication of the idea of a postage stamp in his famous pamphlet Reform of the Post, Its Importance and Purpose, published in February 22, 1837, about nine months before Chalmers’s letter to Wallace, is indisputable. In Hill’s pamphlet, the design of postage stamps was uttered very clearly [3] [6] :
“Perhaps this complexity (using labeled envelopes in certain cases) can be eliminated by a piece of paper large enough to bear the stamp and covered on the back with a thin adhesive layer that the sender can, with a little wetting, put on the back of the letter in order to avoid having to redirect it. ”
Original Text (Eng.)It would be possible to make sure that it would be possible to it is necessary to attach it.
Most likely, Chalmers somehow missed Hill’s early pamphlet past his attention, but later openly admitted his delusion. In a letter to R. Hill of May 18, 1840, a few days after the “birth” of the first postage stamps , J. Chalmers frankly called all his claims erroneous [3] :
“I imagine this is just an act of justice to myself, to tell you what prompted me to become a competitor , because in this capacity I would never have acted if I knew that someone, especially you, suggested something like the same project. <...> I only have to regret that, because of my ignorance, I was plunged into causing others and myself problems in this matter ... "
Original Text (Eng.)I am becoming a competitor; I wouldn’t have gotten it if I’ve had it. <...> I’ve been to regret that
After death
In memory of James Chalmers, a bookseller from Dundee . He was born in 1782. He died in 1853. The creator of the glued postage stamps that saved the project of postage in 1 penny of 1840 from collapse, giving it overwhelming success, and which have since been accepted by the postal systems of the world. This memorial was erected by his son, Patrick Chalmers of Wimbledon , 1888.
Original Text (Eng.)To The Memory Of JAMES CHALMERS Bookseller, Dundee. Born 1782. Died 1853. It was an unified approach, it was an unqualified success, and it has been approved. This Memorial is Erected by his Son, Patrick Chalmers, Wimbledon, 1888.
Charles Chalmers replaced his father in printing in 1853. In 1868, Charles took David Winter to share and left him a business after his death in 1872. At the same time, the printing house was renamed David Winter & Son [8] .
The sons of Chalmers, and most of all the fifth son, Patrick Chalmers, tried unsuccessfully after the death of their father to challenge in his favor the priority in matters of post reform and the invention of a postage stamp [1] [5] .
Since 1879, Patrick Chalmers has published many articles and pamphlets in an effort to prove his father’s participation in the postal reform, as well as his primacy in inventing a postage stamp with a glue layer [3] [9] . One of his books, “Robert Wallace, MP, and James Chalmers, the Scottish Postal Reformers” (“Robert Wallace and James Chalmers, Scottish Mail Reformers”), was published in 1890. P. Chalmers also convinced philatelists - and not without success - to recognize his father as the creator of a postage stamp, and this opinion began to spread in the philatelic circles of that time, including in the American philatelic society [4] [7] .
Patrick Chalmers’s opponent was R. Hill’s son, Pearson Hill, who denied all of Chalmers’s claims. At the height of the debate, in 1884–1889, the case was even considered by Judge John Tiffany ( John Tiffany ), who came to the conclusion about the eligibility to consider Sir Rowland Hill as the “father” of the postage stamp [3] .
Patrick Chalmers’s daughter, Leah Chalmers [3] , was the author of a book entitled “How the Adhesive Postage Stamp Was Born” (“ How the Postage Stamp Was Born ”), published in 1939. Chalmers' granddaughter was opposed by Hill’s grandson, Colonel H. U. Hill ( HW Hill ), who made the relevant statements in 1940, when the 100th anniversary of the first postage stamp was celebrated [3] . In 1971, another book about James Chalmers was published: "James Chalmers, Inventor of the Adhesive Postage Stamp" ("James Chalmers is the inventor of the stuck postage stamp"). One of the co-authors of this book, William Smith ( William J. Smith ), was the director of David Winter & Sons Ltd. , successor to the printing house of James Chalmers [8] .
In all the sources mentioned, it is claimed that James Chalmers first produced a postage stamp essay in August 1834, but none of them contained any evidence, except for the verbal and written recollections of Chalmers’s subordinates who were in doubt [3] [5] .
In Dundee, the hometown of J. Chalmers, he was nevertheless recognized as the inventor of a postage stamp both during his life and after his death [4] [5] .
Family
James Chalmers was married to an early marriage to Barbara Dickson ( Barbara Dickson ), the eldest daughter of Baile Dixon ( Bailie Dickson ) from Montrose . He had five sons [5] , including Charles ( Charles Dickson Chalmers ), a merchant in Dundee, and Patrick [4] ( Patrick Chalmers ; July 26, 1819, Dundee - 1891, Wimbledon).
Memory
In honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of James Chalmers, the Royal Mail prepared a booklet ( Sc # BK572) in 1982, which included the standard UK stamps (of the type "Machen"). For the design of the outer and inner sides of the booklet, a graphic portrait of Chalmers, his facsimile and three different were used that were once offered by Chalmers as prototypes of future postage stamps [10] .
In June 2008, six essays on Chalmers’s postage stamps were exhibited at the British auction Spink. They were rated at 150 000 pounds , but the lot remained unsold [11] .
See also
- History of postal and UK postage
- Postage Stamp
- Hill, Rowland
- Black penny
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Chalmers, James // Big Philatelic Dictionary / N. I. Vladinets, L. I. Ilichyov, I. Ya. Levitas ... [and others ] ; under total ed. N. I. Vladintsa and V. A. Jacobs. - M .: Radio and communication, 1988. - S. ???. - 40 000 copies - ISBN 5-256-00175-2 . (Verified December 6, 2017) Archived December 6, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Postmarks // Encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extra). - SPb. , 1890-1907. (Checked November 2, 2010)
- 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Mackay JA The Guinness Book of Stamps: Facts and Feats. - New York: Canopy Books, 1982. - p. 72-74, 197. - ISBN 1-55859-432-9 . (eng.) (checked September 22, 2010)
- 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mill Roll Rolls Eminent Burgesses of Dundee, 1513–1886. - sn, 1887. - p. 242—243. (eng.) (checked September 23, 2010)
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Spence R. James Chalmers. The Scots inventor of the postage stamp Archived copy dated August 6, 2010 on the Wayback Machine // Scottish Magazine. - 1987. (English) (Verified September 19, 2010)
- R. Hill R. Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability. - 3rd edn. - London: Charles Knight and Co., 1837. - P. 30. (Eng.) (Checked September 24, 2010)
- ↑ 1 2 Chalmers P. How James Chalmers Saved the Penny Postage Scheme: Letter of the Dundee Bankers and Merchants to the Lords of Her Majesty's Treasury. - London: Effingham Wilson & Co., Royal Exchange, EC, 1890. - 71 p. (eng.) (checked September 23, 2010)
- ↑ 1 2 Smith, Metcalfe, 1971 , p. 18.
- ↑ See, for example: Chalmers P. The Penny Postage of 1837: Was It an Invention or a Copy? - Effingham Wilson, 1881. - 20 p. - OCLC 13869040. (English)
- Who Agrawal SK . - 2009. - Issue No. 16. - April 2. (Eng.) (See the 1834 Stamp of James Chalmers .) (Tested September 20, 2010)
- ↑ Stamp 'inventor' items go unsold . UK Scotland . BBC News (12 June 2008). The date of circulation is September 20, 2010. Archived July 1, 2012.
Literature
- Gross O., Gryzhevsky K. I. The stormy beginning of history // Travels in the world of stamps / O. Gross, K. Grizhevsky; Per. from polish Yu. M. Sokolov abbr. - M .: Progress , 1977. - 50 000 copies. (Checked June 23, 2016) Archived November 11, 2015.
- Chelnak N. Money of Sir Rowland // Offshore Express. - 1998. - № 1. (Checked September 19, 2010)
- Chalmers L. How the Adhesive Postage Stamp Was Born. - London: PS King & Son Ltd., 1939. - 45 p. (eng.)
- Chalmers, P. Robert, Wallace, MP, and James Chalmers, The Scottish Postal Reformers: Letters, Recent Press Articles, & Recognitions at Home and Abroad. - L .: Effingham Wilson & Co, 1890. - 75 p. (eng.)
- Smith WJ, Metcalfe JE James Chalmers, Inventor of the Adhesive Postage Stamp. - David Winter & Son Ltd., 1971. - 148 p. (eng.)
Links
- Novoselov V.A. Chapter 3. Birth of a postage stamp . Acquaintance with philately: The world of philately . Smolensk: World m @ rock; Union of Philatelists of Russia (November 3, 2008). - EBook. The appeal date was September 19, 2010. Archived March 11, 2012.
- James Chalmers (English) . Angus Listings. Families & People . Angus Council. The circulation date is September 20, 2010. Archived May 26, 2012.
- James Chalmers (English) . The Invention of the Postage Stamp . Stamp Domain; Jan Kosniowski. The circulation date is September 20, 2010. Archived May 26, 2012.
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