Welcome to the homepage of the Scottish Postal History Society!

The Early Edinburgh Bishop Mark The Perth Lamb The Greenock Fleuron & The Fort William Thistle Early Circular Town Namestamps

The Society was founded in 1978 for the study of Scottish Postal History in all its aspects, from the earliest times to the present day. Our aim is to help everyone, whether an internationally renowned postal historian, a dealer, or a relative beginner, to enjoy and better understand the rich diversity of Scotland's postal services past and present. To that end we are an active society with a range of interests both social and philatelic, and with a world-wide membership. Members actively promote the hobby through local and national organisations, by providing displays to interested societies, or by publishing the results of their research. Members join for many reasons, often simply to keep in touch with events and the latest information through the award winning journal The Scottish Post. Whatever your interests or level of expertise, you will find a warm welcome in the Society.

About Us

The Society has approximately 200 Members worldwide and regular contact with all Members is maintained through the quarterly Journal, The Scottish Post. In addition, regular meetings are held throughout the year. These include Winter (February) and Autumn (October) meetings at Dunblane, where invited speakers give presentations. These meetings also include the opportunity for Members to give a short display (10-20 sheets) of some of their collecting interests. An Annual Conference and AGM Weekend is held in the early Spring, usually towards the end of March. The venue for the annual conference has been in Perth, Ayr and Crieff in recent years. It will be held in Dundee in 2010. Delegates usually gather on the Friday evening for an informal dinner. Saturday brings two Plenary Sessions from invited speakers, intermingled with Members displays, and a dealers and Members Bourse. The Conference Dinner is held on the Saturday evening, which is followed by social gathering. Sunday morning is the time for the Conference Auction followed by the AGM. The Afternoon session is devoted to a competition for The Jimmy Gall Trophy, a further session of Members displays, then it's the high or low roads home!

Applications for membership are welcomed. Subscriptions are currently £10 GB pounds sterling per year for residents of the United Kingdom & Europe and £12 GB pounds sterling for all other applicants. This includes 4 issues of the Scottish Post, by airmail for worldwide members and access to all auctions. Arrangements can be made to pay through Paypal for European and worldwide members but an additional charge would be made to cover fees incurred.

As a Society we do not undertake valuations of stamp collections.

Latest News

Next society auction - will be a live auction at the 2013 AGM Conference Weekend in Dundee, all 143 lots are now online. The catalogue will arrive with the next edition of the Scottish Post. Members who wish to view lots will have to contact the webmaster for a link, if they do not already have the link.

The Society's Publications Committee has embarked on a mission to publish books on Scottish Postal History. The first 4 Books are listed below. Enquires welcome from non-members.

No 1 - Wilson's of Bannockburn by Roy Erskine.

No. 2 - Manuscript Town markings on Early Scottish Mail by Rex Clark.

No. 3 - Glasgow Penny Post by Bill Cochrane.

No. 4 - The Postal History of Elgin by Don Hilditch.

The publications committee can be reached at the following email address if you wish to order any books or are thinking of publishing a book on Scottish Postal History - publications@sphs.org.uk

We now have a new hosting package. This means we can offer all SPHS members their own email address @sphs.org.uk. If you want one of these highly desirable email accounts please contact the webmaster ( webmaster@sphs.org.uk ) with your preferred email address. Your account will usually be setup within 24 hours.

There is now a link to access your SPHS email account on the home page menu.

Thanks to Lyn Robinson we now have an index to articles published in the journal "The Scottish Post". This is available to download or view on the "Society Journal" page of this website.

Meetings and Forthcoming Events

Non-members are welcome to attend Society meetings but please email in advance as we need to confirm numbers for catering.

SPHS spring meeting at Dunblane Golf Club, 10^th February 2013. Displays to be announced.

SPHS AGM - Queens Hotel, Dundee, details to be anounced

ASPS Congress 19^th - 20^th April 2013 Dewars Centre, Perth. As a member of the SPHS you can submit an entry to the National Exhibition (Competition).

Meetings and Events now finished or closed.

SPHS Regional Meeting 22^nd September 2012 John Whitehead Park Bowling Club, Billingham TS23 3DD. Displays - One Round from Ron Stables Collection; Geoff Reynolds - Zeppelin Mail, Stephen Parkin - SPHS President. Another successful meeting with 21 members and visitors attending from the north and south. Once again there was great interaction with many members bringing short displays. If you have not attended a Society meeting, we will be having our next meeting at Dunblane Golf Club in early spring, details will be here when available. Remember the joint meeting with the Society of Postal Historians in November in Edinburgh details below.

Perth 2012 UK National Exhibition 19^th-20^th October 2012 Dewars Centre, Perth. This is now over but you can find a list of the award winners on the website. Click here for details.

Perth 2012 UK Philatelic Congress of Great Britain 20^th-22^nd October 2012 The Queen's Hotel, Perth. This event also ended successfully. Click here for details.

SPHS joint meeting with the Society of Postal Historians 3^rd-4^th November 2012, the King's Manor Hotel, 100 Milton Park Road, Edinburgh EH15 2NP. Another successful meeting with the invited displays well received and members bringing along short displays. We look forward to our next joint meeting.