Great Barrier Island Pigeon Post Stamp Collection

Collated by Jim Kilgour

Lewis James Kilgour 31-10-1934 to 22-11-2019

Here’s the link to Collections Online https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/

Just put Great Barrier Island Pigeon Post into the search box and it’ll bring up all the recently entered images.

Jim’s Story

Jim collected the stamps of Great Barrier Island over twenty six years. He made repeated trips to the Island and entered this collection in many stamp exhibitions around the world and in New Zealand from 1969 until 1990 where he gained a range of awards. Some he won were: the Grand Award in 1979 in ‘Orcopex’ in America, and Gold in’ Rompex’ Denver and ‘Balpex’ Baltimore. He gave talks to different groups of people, including the Howick Geneology group as well as at Te Papa.

As other Great Barrier Island Pigeon Post collection were sold overseas Jim was keen to see a piece of New Zealand history stay in New Zealand and was pleased when it went to Te Papa.

The Pigeon Post stamps were often used in other stamp exhibition as support material. One of those times was the ‘Aupex’ Exhibition to celebrate 75 years of the Auckland Philatelic Society held here in Auckland in 1997. A special flight was arranged from Ardmore to Claris on Great Barrier in a DC3 on May 11 and 40 boxes of racing pigeons were taken over along with members of the committee and the pigeon handlers. Flimsies with messages were attached to the pigeons. Other exhibition items also displayed pigeon post memorabilia.

Jim was deeply involved with Philately. He helped run exhibitions in Taranaki, Whakatane, Auckland and a junior Stamp Exhibition, being the Chairman of some of these. He held positions in different local clubs and was appointed Chairman of the Federation of New Zealand in 1971, then Secretary in 1972, a position he held for seven years. He was the New Zealand Commissioner for international exhibitions in Israel, Braziliana, Jakarta, Beijing and Taiwan. He has had articles about the Pigeon Post published in two American publications- Oceania Newsletter (U.S.A.) and the American Philatelist. He was a judge at some of these exhibitions, including Taiwan in 1996.

In 1983 he was honoured to given the ‘Award of Honour’ for his outstanding service to Philately in New Zealand.

Barbara Kilgour. 2-11-2020