Many years ago I was becoming dissatisfied with my attempts to collect GB stamps. There were too many gaps in my album that were beyond my means to fill. Also the open ended nature of the commitment to a country constantly producing new issues and identifying new varieties was a concern. I discussed the possibilities with my father who had originally enthused me into trying stamp collecting, a hobby he still greatly enjoys. I reasoned that it had to be a collecting area that used English, as I have no great faculty with languages, and where stamps were no longer being issued. A few days later my father came home with a broad smile and the single stamp issued by Tierra del Fuego. In one stroke I had a complete collection of a 'somewhere' that was no longer issuing stamps! This was a little too simple; as ever I was looking for the Goldilocks solution, not too complex or too simple but just right.
I started turning the pages of the stamp catalogues and thought of various possibilities but once I saw Prince Edward Island, last issue 1872, I knew this was it. As a teacher I had directed a successful and enjoyable school musical production of “Anne of Green Gables” and in doing so had thoroughly researched the Island. A collection was born!
It has been a fascinating study - the range of stamps, proofs, plates, reprints and forgeries alone were enough. Ironically the stamps of PEI were mostly produced by Charles Whiting, a significant figure in the origins of British stamps. As my interest grew I diversified into the work of Charles Whiting and ended up with a good collection of his proofs and other stamp related products. This research was published by the RPSL and my Whiting collection was sold by Cavendish. The proceeds of this were used to increase my collection of PEI postal history.
In time, alongside a growing interest in family history, I found the postal history more and more fascinating. With such a small number (there are probably fewer than 2000 pre-confederation PEI items left in existence) every cover or letter is unique in terms of the stamp, postmarks or route. The contents of the letters contribute so much to the understanding of the history of the Island. I eventually also traded in my collection of PEI stamps, proofs etc. to concentrate on the postal history. This has all been processed into a large database to which I am still adding. The results of this research will be published when I have time, but the information collected informs the details of the description of each item in this collection.
Each item has a special detail, the only compound perforation on cover, a unique combination of postmarks, the only recorded item to a particular settlement. Some recipients such as William Sanderson, Henry Stamper or John Longworth stand out as their career and family life can be followed through these letters and the history books of the Island. Others, especially the long letters to James Douglas in the late eighteenth century (when PEI was still St John's Island) tell the story of settlers in a new world with interests in Scotland. These items are so old and special and the difficulties of communication with family members back home impossible to fully understand in our age of instant communication. I have felt the collector's joy at becoming the owner of covers with rare postmarks (such as the Newfoundland Solomon's seal on a cover to PEI) or the rare rate marks, as well as the joy of finding examples to fill a gap in the display that I was trying to put together (such as unusual bisects and registered covers from pre-stamp, pence and cents periods). I suppose there is one special cover that for me brings many things together. It is tatty and not much to look at, but postmarked 25th February 1863 and addressed to The Honourable Donald Montgomery at Park Corner. This is the Grandfather of L.M. Montgomery who wrote 'Anne of Green Gables' and is addressed to the house where she grew up in his care. The house that influenced much of her writing about the Island and its life; the house where a pair of china dogs stood on the mantelpiece over the fireplace. The stamps are the rarer early issue perforated 9 but these stamps are imperf. horizontally, very unusual. It is also a double rate internal cover. In a nutshell you have a significant, rare, piece of postal history linked to a significant Island author. Interesting to me as it links to the reason I chose to collect PEI in the first place with the interest of an informative piece of postal history proving that the part perforated stamps were issued and used.
It has been a long journey from G.B. stamps, to PEI stamps, proofs etc. back to G.B. for Charles Whiting and a long and happy study of PEI postal history. However having collected about one third of the known material together in one place the responsibility and concern about what might happen has grown too great and the time has come to see it grace other collections and inform other aspects of this wonderful hobby. I hope that some of it will return to the Island and bring pleasure to families and historians there.
Mike Salmon
March 2009