Kenilworth, Warwickshire: The Autumn Meeting of the Borneo Philatelic Society’s AGM was successfully held between October 3rd and 5th, 2025, at the Chesford Grange Hotel. We were pleased to welcome 27 members, guests, and partners, an excellent overall turnout.
The program commenced with an introduction by the president, Dr. Jon Higgins, followed by presentations on new acquisitions and discoveries by members.
The session continued with two highly engaging presentations from fellow members. Simon Martin-Redman delivered a detailed review of Sarawak Airmails, followed by Peter Halmkin’s lively talk on the ‘Sarawak, 1917 to 1918 Colour Chaos’ – a copy of his display in pdf file is available here.
After the presentations, members enjoyed an auction viewing session. The evening ended with a relaxed dinner, allowing everyone to catch up over food and wine.
Auction Day (Saturday)
Before the auction started, Simon Martin-Redman, on behalf of The Association of British Philatelic Societies (ABPS), presented an Award of Merit 2025 to the Society’s auctioneer, Mr. Ivor D. Moore for his services to British Philately.
Ivor Moore has served as the auctioneer for the Sarawak Specialist Society (SSS), now the Borneo Philatelic Society (BPS), for an impressive 47 years. The society’s auction, which he leads, is among the most successful in the UK, with two annual events with roughly 600 lots each. Ivor’s role is exceptionally demanding: he personally visits the homes of members, both living and deceased, to collect collections. He then single-handedly sorts, describes, and lots the material, conducts the auction, and dispatches the sold lots worldwide. Beyond his auctioneering duties, Ivor has been a Council member for the entire 47 years. His contributions extend further, having previously served as Secretary of the Plymouth Philatelic Society and as Organising Secretary for the 58th Philatelic Congress when it was held in Plymouth in 1976.
After an additional viewing period, the auction commenced promptly at 10 am, beginning with the J&M Roberts sale before moving into the general auction.
Unfortunately, a technical issue with the laptop necessitated a switch to a manual, paper-based recording system. As a direct consequence, we regrettably anticipate delays in several post-auction processes: the list of unsold lots will not be available for a few days, no list of realisations will be published, and the dispatch of lots to successful bidders will be postponed. We sincerely apologize for these inconveniences and will post any further updates, such as the unsold list, to the website as soon as they are available.
After the auction, we were treated to two fascinating presentations: one by Simon Martin-Redman on Rare Postmarks (of Sarawak), and another by Richard Currie and Jon Higgins on the Borneo Confrontation of 1962-1966.
The weekend culminated in Saturday’s dinner, offering members, partners, and guests an excellent informal setting to relax after the day’s events.
AGM Day (Sunday)
On Sunday morning, the Society held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) with a strong turnout of members. A full report of the proceedings will be published in the next issue of the Sarawak Journal.
A key highlight was the transition of presidency, as Dr. Jon Higgins passed the reins to Malcolm Gascoyne. The Society extended its profound gratitude to Jon for his many years of sterling service and warmly welcomed Malcolm as the new President.
Three further presentations followed. The first was by Jon Higgins on North Borneo War Tax issues, followed by Len Stanway on post-Merdeka (independence) Borneo, and finally by Malcolm Gascoyne on Sarawak’s second De La Rue issues.
The Borneo Philatelic Society (BPS) fosters a global community of collectors passionate about the stamps and postal history of Brunei, Labuan, North Borneo (Sabah), and Sarawak. New members are warmly welcomed to join the Society regardless of their level of experience. Find out more about joining the Society.
