Born in Plymouth

The postage stamp was introduced here in 1840. The same year, Edward Stanley Gibbons was born at Treville Street in Plymouth. When he grew up he was employed in his father's pharmacy business in Plymouth, where he was allowed a corner of the pharmacy to buy and sell stamps. In 1865 he produced a price list in the form of a magazine. This was to be the foundation of the Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogue and what is now the world’s longest established rare stamp merchant. After reading about Stanley Gibbons and his early life in Plymouth I turned out some old boxes containing childhood stamp collections. Amongst a pile of first day covers I found these stamps featuring spring flowers. They were released in March 1979 and show how postal charges have increased. I thought the art work was beautiful.