An event will take place in the Weston Library in Oxford on Monday 5 November to celebrate the life and work of OW Frank Bellamy (1863-1936), an astronomer, photographer and stamp-collector.
He attended MCS in the 1870s and 1880s before embarking on a long career in astrography (the mapping of the stars), working for 46 years at the University Observatory and publishing 35 papers in astronomical journals between 1883 and 1901. In his spare time, he assembled one of the finest collections of stamps of the period.
He was also a keen early photographer, in part due to his use of cameras for his astronomical work. He helped to found the Oxford Photographic Society in 1889.
The event is being organised by the Oxford Philatelic (stamp-collecting) Society, of which Bellamy was the founding Honorary Secretary and Treasurer.
It will begin with a talk at 10am, accompanied by an exhibition of his famed stamp collection and other postal history material from the Bodleian’s John Johnson Collection. Entry is free, and OWs are encouraged to attend.
A plaque is also to be installed this autumn by the Oxford Blue Plaque Board, to recognise the achievements of Bellamy and his niece Ethel.