Neville Watterson
Walter Neville Watterson (1919 - 18 February 2017) was an English civil engineer and philatelist who was a specialist in the stamps and postal history of Sarawak, Borneo, and Brunei. He wrote a two volume history of the mails of the Japanese prisoner of war camps of Borneo during the Second World War.
Early life and family[edit]
Walter Watterson was born in Wolverhampton in 1919.[1] He married Betty Taylor in Newmarket, Cambridgeshire, in 1949.[2] They had a daughter Claire.[3]
Career[edit]
Watterson worked as a civil engineer in Sarawak in the 1950s, kindling a lifelong interest in the country that was expressed through his philatelic collection.[4]
Philately[edit]
Watterson wrote a two volume history of the mails of the Japanese prisoner of war camps of Borneo during the Second World War, the first volume published in 1989 generating such a response from philatelists and former POWs that a second volume was produced in 1994. His collection of Sarawak was sold by Cavendish Philatelic Auctions in London in September 2017.[5]
He was a stalwart of the Northamptonshire Philatelic Society, the East Midlands Federation of Stamp Clubs, the Sarawak Specialists' Society and the Postal History Society.[3][6] He and Betty were both fellows of the Royal Philatelic Society London.
Death[edit]
Watterson died in Northampton General Hospital on 18 February 2017. He was pre-deceased by Betty.[3]
Selected publications[edit]
- Sarawak: The issues of 1871 and 1875: Plating studies and postal history. 1989.
- Borneo: The Japanese P.O.W. Camps - Mail of the Forces, P.O.W. and Internees. 1989. ISBN 978-0951495100
- Borneo: Pt. 2: Japanese P.O.W. Camps - Mail of the Forces, P.O.W. and Internees. 1994. ISBN 978-0951495131
- Sarawak Officials: A Survey. 1996. ISBN 978-0951495148
- Sarawak: The De La Rue Story. Brock Publications, 2000. ISBN 978-0951495155
- Sarawak & Brunei: The De La Rue ink colours. 2004.
- Labuan: The beginnings, & 'the Crowns'. Brock Publications, 2008. (With Betty Watterson & Leslie Brueckheimer)
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Walter N Watterson England and Wales Birth Registration Index. Family Search. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
- ^ Walter N Watterson mentioned in the record of Taylor and Walter N Watterson. Family Search. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
- ^ a b c "Walter Neville Watterson - a Tribute", Colin Fraser, The Sarawak Journal, Vol. 70, No. 3 (September 2017), Whole No. 279, pp. 66-67.
- ^ "The Walter Neville Watterson FRPSL Collection of the Stamps & Postal History of Sarawak, 1869-2007", James Grimwood-Taylor in Far East, Featuring The Neville Watterson FRPSL Collection of Sarawak. Cavendish Philatelic Auctions, 2017, p. 7.
- ^ Far East, Featuring The Neville Watterson FRPSL Collection of Sarawak. Cavendish Philatelic Auctions, 2017.
- ^ "Neville Watterson, Obituary Part II", Bill Batty-Smith, The Sarawak Journal, Vol. 70, No. 3 (September 2017), Whole No. 279, p. 67.