Edward Stanley Gibbons
Encyclopedia
Early life
Edward Stanley Gibbons was born at his father William Gibbons' chemistChemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
shop at 15 Treville Street, Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
on 21 June 1840, interestingly on the same year that Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
issued the Penny Black
Penny Black
The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was issued in Britain on 1 May 1840, for official use from 6 May of that year....
, which was the world's first postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
. Edward’s interest in postage stamp
Postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...
s began whilst at Halloran’s Collegiate School. Gibbons owned a book containing stamps for exchange. Some of these stamps included the 1d. black
Penny Black
The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was issued in Britain on 1 May 1840, for official use from 6 May of that year....
Western Australia and a 1d. Sydney View. He left school at the age of 15 and worked for a short while in the Naval Bank, Plymouth, before joining his father’s business after the death of his eldest brother. William Gibbons encouraged his son's hobby and allowed him to set up a stamp desk in the chemist.
Between 1861 and 1871 Gibbons was developing his own stamp business, although there is no evidence to suggest that he had advertised prices prior to 1864. In 1867, Edward’s father died and Edward took over the business. However, by this time he was heavily involved in stamp dealing and the pharmaceutical business his father had left him was sold.
Stanley Gibbons & Co.
On 29 January 1872, Edward (also known as Stanley) married Matilda Woon. Two years later, Gibbons decided to move to London to develop his stamp business and relocated to 25 The Chase, Clapham CommonClapham Common
Clapham Common is an 89 hectare triangular area of grassland situated in south London, England. It was historically common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, but was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878.43 hectares of the common are within the...
(South London). He employed women to tear up sheets of stamps in the evening from this address. Neighbours became curious of the number of women entering the premises and reported it to the local Watch Committee, however they investigated and concluded that nothing unusual was happening there.
Gibbons moved to Gower Street (London)
Gower Street (London)
Gower Street is a street in Bloomsbury, Central London, England, running between Euston Road to the north and Montague Place to the south.North Gower Street is a separate street running north of the Euston Road...
in 1876. Gibbon's first wife, Matilda, died on 11 August 1877 in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
from a wasting disease, marasmus
Marasmus
Marasmus is a form of severe protein-energy malnutrition characterized by energy deficiency.A child with marasmus looks emaciated. Body weight may be reduced to less than 80% of the average weight that corresponds to the height . Marasmus occurrence increases prior to age 1, whereas kwashiorkor...
. The Post Office Directory lists the main occupier of the Gower Street property as ‘Stanley Gibbons & Co publishers’ or ‘Stanley Gibbons & Co postage stamp dealers’. In 1887, Gibbons married his assistant and housemaid, Margaret Casey and in 1890, sold his business to Charles Phillips
Charles James Phillips
Charles James Phillips , of London, England, and New York City, was a philatelist highly regarded in both England where he started his philatelic career and in the United States, where he emigrated to in 1922.-Philatelic activity in England:...
of Birmingham for £25,000 and retired. In 1891, Phillips opened a shop at 435 The Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
, as well as keeping the office at 8, Gower Street.
In 1892, two years after he had retired from business, Stanley brought the property “Cambridge Villa” in Cambridge Park, East Twickenham
Twickenham
Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...
. It was an impressive residence in a fashionable area of suburban London, near the banks of the Thames, alongside Marble Hill House (built by George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
for one of his mistresses). Gibbons lived there until 1911. The house was demolished in 1960.
Overseas trips
During Gibbons' retirement he made numerous trips overseas, mostly for pleasure, but also for business, buying stamps for his old company. A scrapbookScrapbook
Scrapbook can refer to:* Scrapbooking, the process of making a scrapbook* Scrapbook , a Mac OS application* Scrapbook , a Switchblade Symphony album* Scrapbook * ScrapBook, a Firefox extension...
was discovered belonging to either him or someone close to him, it contained photographs and memorabilia. It related mostly to his travels. The scrapbook became divided, half of it is kept in the Society of Genealogists
Society of Genealogists
The Society of Genealogists is a UK-based educational charity, founded in 1911 to "promote, encourage and foster the study, science and knowledge of genealogy". The Society's Library is the largest specialist genealogical library outside North America. Membership is open to any adult who agrees to...
archive and the other half is in private hands.
In 1894, Gibbons witnessed the crash of the Orient Express
Orient Express
The Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train service originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. It ran from 1883 to 2009 and is not to be confused with the Venice-Simplon Orient Express train service, which continues to run.The route and rolling stock...
at Tirnove in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. A pencil drawing of the crash, appears in his scrap book. A newspaper cutting headed "Honolulu, January" was also found in the scrapbook, referring to a resolution to burn stocks of obsolete Hawaiian stamps. Gibbons was present at the fire and described the experience as "sad". During this time, he was on his second world tour and was en route to Japan.
Margaret died on 23 November 1899 of cirrhosis
Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules , leading to loss of liver function...
and a few years after her death, Gibbons was in Calcutta and Rangoon. The scrapbook contains a duplicate passport issued at Rangoon on December 1901 for a Mrs Gibbons, his third wife, Georgina. In 1903, Gibbons was in Ceylon. The Society of Genealogists archive contains a newspaper article titled, Reminiscences of a Stamp Collector- Mr Stanley Gibbons (sic) in Colombo. The cutting is not dated, but is presumably from 1903 as it refers to the recent issue of stamps with King Edward VII’s portrait. When asked around this time if he still collected Stamps, Gibbons replied that he had specialised collections in six countries, but rarely bought any stamps because they were too expensive. Further visits seem to have been made to Ceylon judging by the existence in the scrapbook of souvenirs for Colombo Empire Day Celebrations and Edward VII’s Birthday Celebration Dinner in Colombo (November 1906).
Death
By 1905, Georgina Gibbons had died, as Stanley re-married again in October 1905. His fourth wife was Bertha Barth. In 1908, Gibbons was back in Ceylon and found in the archives there is a newspaper cutting headed, "Death of Lady Visitor to Ceylon: Wife of famous collector." This refers to Bertha, who had died in the General Hospital there from cancer of the liver at 35 years old. Gibbons returned to England shortly after the death of his fourth wife. On 16 January 1909, he married Sophia Crofts. However, it is possible that he and Sophia separated before his death in 1913 as his will makes no mention of her. Made in July 1912, from his address, ‘Selsey’, 63 Stanhope Road, StreathamStreatham
Streatham is a district in Surrey, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
, his estate is left to 'a dear friend', Mabel Hedgecoe.
Gibbons' death was recorded on 17 February 1913 at his nephew's apartment at Portman Mansions, just off Baker Street
Baker Street
Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid the street out in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who lived at a fictional 221B...
, although it was rumoured he had died in the arms of a lover at the Savoy Hotel
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
and was subsequently transported to his nephew's house. His death certificate gives his occupation as, "A retired Stamp Collector" and the cause was stated as, ‘Coma, Haemorrhage of the Brain, secondary to Extensive Valvular Disease of the Heart with Atheroma of Endocardium and the Blood Vessels accelerated by enlarged prostate’. He is buried in Twickenham cemetery.
Gibbons' string of wives, all but one of who died relatively young, his swift remarriages and his background in pharmacy has given rise to suspicions of ill-doing on his part, however, evidence for this is conjectural.