Thomas Keay Tapling was an English businessman and politician. He played first class cricket and was also an eminent philatelist who formed one of the greatest stamp collections of his era.

Early life

Tapling was born in Dulwich, London. He was educated first at home and then at Harrow School

Harrow School

Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...

 from age 15. Later he attended Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

, graduating BA and LL.B in 1880 and MA and LL.M in 1883. His father, also Thomas Tapling, was a businessman who made a fortune from the manufacture of carpets and household furnishings. His mother was Annie Elizabeth Tapling (née Keay).

Tapling originally intended a career in law, and he was called to the bar at the Middle Temple

Middle Temple

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...

 as a Barrister

Barrister

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

.

In 1882, however, Thomas Tapling senior died and his son was forced to drop his plans and take over the family business of Thomas Tapling & Son. This does not appear to have been a burden and the business prospered and expanded, providing him with the money to travel and build his stamp collection. He had a reputation as an enlightened employer who emphasised temperance and thrift to his employees.

Cricket

Tapling played first-class cricket at Cambridge University, turning out for Trinity College, Trinity College Long Vacation Club and Cambridge University Long Vacation Club. He played for the MCC

Marylebone Cricket Club

Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...

 against Cambridge University in 1886, his sole official first-class match. He was included in George Vernon

George Vernon

George Frederick Vernon was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club. He also played one Test match for England during the first-ever Ashes tour in 1882-83.Vernon was the son of George Vernon of 32 Montague Square...

's side for an 1889/90 tour of India and Ceylon but was unable to play after a close friend was taken ill in Italy and he opted to stay with him.

Politics

Tapling was a Conservative Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for the Harborough Division

Harborough (UK Parliament constituency)

Harborough is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...

 of Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

 from 1886 to 1891. He was a member of the Standing Committee on Trade.

Philately

Tapling began collecting stamps as a schoolboy in 1865. During the 1870s and 1880s he purchased existing collections from other philatelists, including those of William Image

William Image

William Edmund Image FRCS DL JP was a surgeon and early philatelist. In 1880 he served as High Sheriff of Suffolk.-Medicine:...

, W.A.S. Westoby

W. A. S. Westoby

William Amos Scarborough Westoby M.A. was an English philatelist who was one of the "Fathers of Philately" entered on the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921...

, Edward B. Evans

Edward B. Evans

Edward Benjamin Evans, RPS a British army officer, also known as "Major Evans", was a distinguished philatelist, stamp collector, and philatelic journalist...

, and Georges and Martial Caillebotte. By 1887 his collection was second only to that of Philippe Ferrari de La Renotière. Among his holdings were many world famous rarities, including both values of the "Post Office" Mauritius and three examples of the Inverted Head Four Annas

Inverted Head 4 Annas

The Inverted Head Four Annas of India is a postage stamp prized by collectors. The 1854 first issues of India included a Four Annas value in red and blue...

 of India. It is the only intact private collection formed during the Nineteenth century, with examples of practically every stamp issued world-wide up to 1889.

In 1870 or 1871 Tapling joined the Philatelic Society in London (which subsequently became the Royal Philatelic Society London), being elected to its Committee in 1876. He became Vice-President in 1881 following the death of the former incumbent in a railway accident. The Tapling Medal, in silver, was created in his memory by the RPSL and first awarded in 1920. His name was recorded on 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...

 in 1921 as one of the original "Fathers of Philately".

Death and legacy

Tapling died at the age of 35 of pleurisy

Pleurisy

Pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....

 at Gumley Hall

Gumley

Gumley is a village in Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom. The closest town is Market Harborough.The name Gumley is a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon “Gutmundesleah” – meaning Godmund’s clearing.- History :The village is first mentioned in 749...

, Market Harborough

Market Harborough

Market Harborough is a market town within the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England.It has a population of 20,785 and is the administrative headquarters of Harborough District Council. It sits on the Northamptonshire-Leicestershire border...

 in Leicestershire.

His extraordinary collection was bequeathed to the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

. It currently forms The Tapling Collection

Tapling Collection

The Tapling Collection was donated to the British Museum from the estate of Thomas Tapling in 1891.The probate value of the Tapling collection was set at £12,000 but on arrival Richard Garnett estimated their value at more than £50,000 and described the bequest as the most valuable gift since the...

 in the Philatelic Collections of the British Library

British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...

. The collection features these rarities:

• Gold Coast: 1883 (May) 1d on 4d magenta, unique
• Great Britain: 1858-79 1d red, plate 77, one of a few known
• Hawaii: 1851-52 2 cents to 13 cents (both types), the "Missionaries"
• India: 1854 4 annas blue and pale red, error head inverted, two used on a cover, unique
• Mauritius: 1847 1d red used on cover and 2d blue, the "Post Office" issue
• Spain: 1851 2 reals, error of colour, one of three known
• Switzerland: Zurich: 1843 4 rappen, the unique unsevered horizontal strip of five
• Uruguay: 1858 120 centavos blue and 180 centavos green, in tête beche pairs, two of five known
• Western Australia: 1854-55 4d blue, error frame inverted

External links