“The Roll, as presented to the 1921 Philatelic Congress of Great Britain was, and is, a heavy and imposing document. It is inscribed on parchment to a design which is a good representation of the graphic design of the period. The side panels of the scroll contain the names of forty three philatelists deemed by the originators of the Roll to be the ‘Fathers of Philately’. It was believed that this token of remembrance of great names from the past would enhance the dignity and philatelic value of the honour being conferred”. A R Butler, 1990 The process by which the Fathers were chosen is not now known since no documentation survives from the founding of the Roll. Nevertheless it is certain that each was selected because they were recognised as having contributed significantly to the establishment and development of philately to the point where it occupied a position whereby even Royalty were willing to acknowledge their adherence to it. By the time the Roll was inaugurated, the achievements and, indeed, even the names, of some of the Fathers of Philately were already receding into the mists of time. The oldest of the Fathers was born forty years before the penny black was issued and some sixty years before stamp collecting became an established hobby. Three of them died in 1919, the year in which the Roll was first mooted, albeit under the guise of The Order of Philatelic Merit A century after the last of the Fathers of Philately died, the opportunity has been taken to recall and recount the reasons why they were so honoured by the creators of the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists.