Those wishing to join any of the meetings who are not registered contact
Meetings are listed from earliest at the top of the page.
ZOOM MEETINGS
The next meeting will be Mick Bister showing ‘Colonial Exhibitions of France from 1894 to 1931’ on 11 February 2025 at 2.30pm GMT. Contact either
Click on the thumbnails to view previous Videos
The first meeting was held on 12 January 2020
The displays were:
- Canal du Midi - Peter Maybury
- The 1f50 Pétain Type Bersier - Mick Bister
- Boîtes mobiles - Steve Ellis
Zoom meeting number two was held on 9 February
The displays were
· A Celebration of the Art of Printing and 50 years of Printing at Boulazac by Andrew Telfer Brunton
· Nice by Roger Niven
· French airmail stamps by Chris Hitchen
Zoom Meeting number three was held on the 9 March
- Guadeloupe Postal History – Revisited by Ed Grabowski
Zoom Meeting number four was held on 6 April
- 'The French Congo 1900 pictorial issue' by Ken Nilsestuen President France and Colonies Philatelic Society US
Zoom Meeting number five was held on the 4 May
- 'Commercial Service Mail Carriers – Marseille and the Italian coast’ by Steve Ellis
- '50c Jeanne d'Arc booklets' by Mick Bister
Zoom Meeting number six was held on the 1 June due to technichal difficulties Impromptu displays from Chris Hitchen on Overprinted Charity stamps' and Dr Gwynne Harries on French newspaper stamps.
Zoom Meeting number seven was held on 28 June
- 'Early Algeria 1787 to 1852' by Peter Maybury
Zoom Meeting number eight was held on 14 September
Life and Times of the 1f50 Pétain by Mick Bister
Zoom Meeting number nine was held on 12 October
Tunis steam ship mail to 1900 by Peter Maybury
Les envois disques - Records, Rates and Rock ‘n’ Roll by Mick Bister
Zoom Meeting number ten was held on the 9 November
Steve Ellis gave us a wide ranging look at all sorts of mail which crossed the Channel and included many difficult and unusual items.
Zoom Meeting eleven held on 14 December showed the Late fee service in Paris by Chris Hitchen
The only Zoom Meeting of 2022 was held on 11 January and showed The Era of the French Colonial Allegorical Group Type:The French Pacific Colonies. Ed Grabowski
17 January 2023 saw what is hoped to the restart of regular Zoom meetings. FUN WITH A CENTIME - Ed Grabowski - "The French Area One Centime Rate has always fascinated me, including simple 1c rates and wrapper-banded post cards. Examples from France can be readily found; examples from the Offices and Colonies are much rarer. I had a few examples of simple 1c rates franked with Group Type. I foolishly thought about doing a one-frame exhibit on the 1c frakings, but finally thought better of it. Some ramblings in this area will be presented." - ramble: walk for pleasure, typically without definite route.
21 FEBRUARY 2023 saw eight members deliver Show and Tell
Philately and Mail Order Fraud Nuxated Iron - Ed Grabowski
The French Navy - Peter Stockton
France and the West Indies - Roger Niven
1851 Mail from Brazil to Sardinia - Jeff Bohn
French Colonial Group Type - Lorïc Dufresne de Virel
5c Napoléon Empire - Stan Fairchild
1805 Septinsular Mail - Peter Maybury
Forwarded Mail - Chris Hitchen
21 MARCH 2023 Madagascar & Dependencies, The Era of the French Colonial Allegorical Group Type - Ed Grabowski
18 APRIL 2023 Part 1 Group Type: Bisect, Uncut, or Badly Perforated Stamps, an Overview of Poorly Documented and Seldom Seen Varieties -. Loïc Dufresne de Virel
16 MAY 2023 Part 2. Group Type: Bisect, Uncut, or Badly Perforated Stamps, an Overview of Poorly Documented and Seldom Seen Varieties - Loïc Dufresne de Virel
20 JUNE 2023 Philately & International Mail Order Fraud Professor A Victor Segno and the American Institute of Mentalism Success in the European African Colonies - Ed Grabowski
18 JULY 2023 The Fell Railway - Steve Ellis - How could a British railway, sometimes referred to as the ‘Fell’ railway, built across the mountains of the Alps from France to Italy, and operational for less than three and a half years, have had a significant impact on the carriage of mail in the second half of the nineteenth century?
Tuesday 26 September - A joint display from our US members. Ed Grabowski provided a little more on Professor Segno, Philately & International Mail Order Fraud, A variety of French connections, whilst Loïc Dufresne de Virel presented some complex Colonial routes and tariffs.
Tuesday 17 October was a presentation by David Hucket on Part Paid and Unpaid mail between France and Switzerland 1845 to 1875.
21 NOVEMBER 2023
Dahomey Mail via Aéromaritime - David Parmley
Declared value letters from Indochina - Loïc Dufresne de Virel
Special Prints of the ´Type Groupe’ - Loïc Dufresne de Virel
WWI Red Cross reply service tracing labels: part 1 - John West
Precursors of Mechanised Letter Sorting Codes - Mick Bister
13 FEBRUARY 2024
The 50c Jeanne D’Arc - 500th Anniversary of the Relief of Orléans 1429 - 1929 - Mick Bister.
A splendid display based on one single stamp. Everything associated with Jeanne d’Arc was covered and a full presentation of the philately it inspired. The stamp production, booklet and postal usage were all included. The display concluded with the Jeanne d’Arc procession in Orléans.
12 NOVEMBER 2024
Show and Tell organised by Mick Bister
We had three quite different but very interesting displays:
John West, World War 1 tracking labels to the Red Cross; Loïc Dufresne de Virel, World War 1 censored Groupe Type; Roger Niven, Tapestries.
FUTURE ZOOM MEETINGS
The next meeting will be Mick Bister showing ‘Colonial Exhibitions of France from 1894 to 1931’ on 11 February 2025 at 2.30pm GMT
To enable those shy or unsure of how it works here are a few guidelines on how to participate.
1. Scan a stamp, several stamps, cover or several covers or any other item philatelically related to France or its colonies. Save each item as a separate JPG file. (That is important. PDFs don’t work as well.)
2. Send your JPG files to
3. Prepare a short description that will explain why you like the items you scanned – technical details, design quality, postal rates and routes, markings, social history of the writer or recipient, or anything else you would talk about if you were given five minutes to explain this to a group.
4. Send that description as a Word document or just put it in an email to
Be sure it is obvious which part of your description applies to which JPG file.
Mick will then put together a PowerPoint presentation with everyone’s scans and at least a portion of your written description. When we hold the Zoom meeting, you will be able to speak to the group about your “stuff” when it appears in the PowerPoint show. I expect most or all of you know how show and tell works.
There will be no indication of ownership in the PowerPoint file, so don’t let that limit you when you make your selection. The more of us who participate, the better it will be, of course.
Those wishing to join this meeting please contact
OTHER ZOOM MEETINGS
The Northern Group held its Virtual meeting on 4 March 2021
It was hosted by Peter Maybury and attended by eight other members, Steve Ellis gave a display on ‘Railway Mail’ focusing on the
history of the P.L.M line. Peter Stockton presented ‘French Morocco Military Aviation’
FULL DETAILS ON HOW TO JOIN AND/OR DISPLAY IN ZOOM -
A quick tutorial -