Bertram McGowan was a Scottish

Scottish people

The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...

 solicitor

Solicitor

Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...

 and philatelist who specialised in Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 and the Postage stamps and postal history of Great Britain

Postage stamps and postal history of Great Britain

Postage stamps and postal history of Great Britain surveys postal history from the United Kingdom and the postage stamps issued by that country and its various historical territories until the present day....

, especially Great Britain used abroad.

McGowan worked with Charles Nissen

Charles Nissen

Charles Nissen was a philatelist, and stamp dealer who discovered the famous stock exchange forgery and wrote, with Bertram McGowan, the definitive book on the plating of the Penny Black.-The Royal Philatelic Collection:...

 on the plating of the Penny Black

Penny Black

The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was issued in Britain on 1 May 1840, for official use from 6 May of that year....

 and the Penny Red

Penny Red

The Penny Red was a British postage stamp, issued in 1841. It succeeded the Penny Black and continued as the main type of postage stamp in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1879, with only minor changes to the design during that time...

 and was the co-author with Nissen of The Plating of the Penny Black Postage Stamps of Great Britain, 1840, for which they received the Crawford Medal

Crawford Medal

The Crawford Medal is a vermeil medal awarded by the Royal Philatelic Society London for the most valuable and original contribution to the study and knowledge of philately published in book form during the relevant period....

 from The Royal Philatelic Society London in 1922. He was appointed to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists

Roll of Distinguished Philatelists

The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists is a philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921...

the same year. McGowan and Nissen's work on the Penny Red formed the basis of the later work by J.B. Stanton which itself became the definitive work on that stamp.

In 1923 he won a gold medal for his display of the Penny Red

Penny Red

The Penny Red was a British postage stamp, issued in 1841. It succeeded the Penny Black and continued as the main type of postage stamp in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1879, with only minor changes to the design during that time...

 Die II at London.

And in 1940 Robson Lowe

Robson Lowe

John Harry Robson Lowe , Robbie to his friends, was an English professional philatelist, stamp dealer and stamp auctioneer.- Life and career :...

held an auction sale solely devoted to McGowan's Penny Black collection which included 2146 lots.

After his death McGowan's collection of Great Britain used abroad was also auctioned by Robson Lowe.

Publications

• The Plating of the Penny Black Postage Stamps of Great Britain, 1840, London 1922 (With Charles Nissen).