41st PCGB Torquay 1959 by Brian Austin
The Headquarters for the Golden Jubilee Philatelic Congress was the Victoria Hotel, Belgrave Road, Torquay, now part of the TLH complex. Congress was held between 9th and 12th June 1959, by which time Study Circles had become very popular, and six additional rooms were allocated at the nearby Torre Abbey for the duration of Congress. This was the Golden Jubilee of Congress, and the PCGB Committee themselves were the host. Captain Rogers-Tillstone and Major Adrian Hopkins were the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Congress.
Ernest Hugen was the Secretary and he designed the Congress Medal which was awarded for the first time in 1959 to Wilfred Haworth. The prestigious Medal, together with a lapel pin, is presented to just one person each year at the Annual ABPS Philatelic Congress of Great Britain, in recognition of dedication and voluntary service to British philately at a national level.
There were no labels printed for this Congress, as was the usual tradition, but the yearbook was produced in commemorative golden-coloured covers, and contained short summary histories of Congress by Wilfred Haworth (the first 25 years) and Adrian Hopkins (the second 25 years). Ernest Hugen must have had an especially busy year, because he reproduced all the special commemorative Congress postmarks since 1909, with graphics help from the Brighton Herald, where he lived.
Below are images of four additional covers, the last two showing alternative colour printings of Congress’s official Commemorative envelope.
