David John Springbett (1938-2022) was a British

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is pos ...

and former insurance broker, who signed the

Roll of Distinguished Philatelists The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) is a philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921. The Roll consists of five pieces of parchment to which the signatories add their names. Sel ...

in 2004.

Philatelic activity

Springbett was President of the

Grand Prix Club The Grand Prix Club is a club for philatelists who have won a Grand Prix award of any kind from a Fédération Internationale de Philatélie accredited philatelic exhibition. Presidents of the club *1979 to 1982 Miroslaw A. Bojanowicz RDP *1982 ...

, a fellow of the

Royal Philatelic Society London The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as ''The Philatelic Society, London''. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its ...

, President of The

Revenue Society The Revenue Society (originally ''The Revenue Society of Great Britain'') was formed in 1990 and is the only international philatelic society which covers revenue stamps of the whole world. The society is also noted for the particularly high qualit ...

and a former Chairman of the

Stanley Gibbons The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and phi ...

company. He was Chairman of The Stamp Show 2000 in Earls Court, London and was involved in planning for an alternative

stamp exhibition A philatelic exhibition is an exhibition of Philately, stamps and postal history where stamp collectors (philatelists) compete for medals. The displays are shown in glass frames, and the exhibition is normally accompanied by stamp dealer Exchange ...

to the

London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition The London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition, 8–15 May 2010 at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, was a major international stamp exhibition that was granted FIP ( Fédération Internationale de Philatélie) patronage. Theme ...

. The alternative show would have been based at the ExCel conference centre in east London but the project was abandoned when the

Fédération Internationale de Philatélie The Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) was founded on 18 June 1926, and is the world federation for philately based in Zürich, Switzerland. Aims The primary aims of the FIP are: *To promote stamp collecting and philately. *To ma ...

(FIP) gave the London 2010 show approved status. In 2001 Springbett edited and compiled a biographical guide to the more than seventy philatelists who have been awarded a Grand Prix award at a philatelic exhibition held between 1950 and 2000. His philatelic interests lay in

revenue stamp A revenue stamp, tax stamp, duty stamp or fiscal stamp is a (usually) adhesive label used to designate collected taxes or fees on documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses, firearm registration, ...

s and the large

key plate stamp Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

s of Nyasaland. He won a Grand Prix medal for his exhibit of Straits Settlements at Bangkok in 1993 and was a candidate for a Grand Prix with his Nyasaland revenue stamps in Australia in 1999 and Nyasaland key types at Istanbul 1999.

Outside philately

David Springbett was an insurance broker and a campaigner on behalf of Lloyds names. Along with Malcolm Pearson and John Webb he founded Pearson Webb Springbett in 1964 which eventually became PWS Holdings. He lived in

Taplow Taplow is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the left bank of the River Thames, facing Maidenhead in the neighbouring county of Berkshire, with Cippenham and Burnham to the east. It is the ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...

World record flight

In 1980, Springbett set a world record for a circumnavigation of the world as a passenger on scheduled airline flights by completing the trip in 44 hours and six minutes with the help of supersonic travel on the

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and t ...

. He also beat the record for a circumnavigation of any kind which previously stood at 45 hours and 19 minutes.Bonner, Sara "The fastest man in the atmosphere" in ''The Times'', 12 January 1980, p.3.

References

Publications

*''The Grand Prix Club Book 1950–2000'', David Feldman, Geneva, Switzerland, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Springbett, David British philatelists Revenue stamps 1938 births Fellows of the Royal Philatelic Society London Living people Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists