R. I. P. Hugh Freeman A. P. R., Great Of Australian Philately.

I was saddened to hear that Hugh has recently passed away.
The online tribute page is here: http://tributes.smh.com.au/obituari...6&fhid=31557

Hugh was a great gentleman of the Australian philatelic world who generously shared his vast knowledge and wisdom.

Just some of his achievements mentioned inside the cover of his latest book, 'The Barred Numerals of Victoria':

- Auction manager
- Established one of the first postal auction businesses, 'The Penny Black'
- Moved business to Martin Place, Sydney
- Launched Status Stamps Auction with Barry Cooper
- Appointed in 1991 as Stanley Gibbons Australia's Managing Director
- Gold Medals at national exhibitions and national judge
- Author of 'The Numeral Cancellations of Victoria' (2001), 'The Numeral Cancellations of New South Wales' (2012 and 2017) and 'The Barred Numerals of Victoria' (2018)
- In 2017, Awarded the Research Medal of the Australian Philatelic Federation for his contributions to Australian Colonial philatelic research.

He will be greatly missed.
May he rest in eternal peace.

Very very sad news indeed. I knew he wasn't well.

Years ago, before the first edition of the NSW Numeral Cancellations came out, I was buying numerals from Hugh on ebay and I didn't even know it was him

I never had the pleasure of meeting the man but I did speak with him on the telephone before he moved to Tasmania.

Thank you Hugh, there's simply no way I could've built my three NSW numeral collections without your help and guidance. A philatelic legend among mortals.

R.I.P.

Another great lost. Time is such an evil villain.