Congratulations are extended To Dr. Geoffrey Kellow MAP who has joined a select number of signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists.  The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists was established in 1921 by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain with the approval of His Majesty King George V who was the first signatory.  An invitation to sign the Roll is regarded as the world's pre-eminent philatelic honour.  Not including the newly elected RDPs, 342 philatelists from 40 countries have achieved this distinction.  There are at present 68 Signatories from 25 countries including 12 from Great Britain, 10 from the United States, and one from Australia.

Dr Kellow is a specialist in the stamps of Victoria, Australia, having formed collections of the 1852-57 'Queen on Throne' and 1854-64 'One Shilling octagonal' issues, receiving International Gold medals for the latter.  He is the author of Stamps of Victoria published in 1990 and a subject index of Victorian Philately published in 1988.  He is editor of the Australian Commonwealth Specialists' Catalogue, nine volumes of which have been published since 1993.

He is a prominent member of the Royal Philatelic Society of Victoria, serving as its librarian between 1976 and 2000 and as a member of its expert committee.  For this he was made an Honorary Life Member. He was previously editor of Philately from Australia from 1981 to 2000 and since 2004 has been editor of the Australian Commonwealth Collectors' Club of NSW Bulletin.  He has acted as a national judge since 1989 and internationally since 2004.

Dr Kellow has been the recipient of a number of awards, notably the Tapling Medal, jointly with Peter Jaffe RDP, for St Vincent 1881 4d on 1/- surcharge, and the J R W Purves Medal in 1990.  He was made a Member of the Australian Philatelic Order in 2006.

The Signing Ceremony took place on Friday 17th July in Manchester Town Hall during the 2009 Philatelic Congress of Great Britain which was held from Thursday 16th July to Sunday 19th July at the Copthorne Hotel, Salford Quays, Manchester.

[ Source:  APF News, November 2009 ]