Sir Gawaine Baillie - the racing driver with the 'secret' £15 million collection
Sir Gawaine Baillie
In 2004 one of the largest and most complete collections of stamps was sold by the famous auction house Sotheby’s. A series of ten sales, which were held at regular intervals throughout 2004, raised a total of around £15 million.
The collection belonged to the industrialist and racing driver Sir Gawaine Baillie. What was most surprising was not just the amount and quality of the stamps, but the fact that the collection had been amassed in secret. None of his family or friends or, for that matter, members of the philatelic community seemed to be aware of the fact that he had built up a multi-million pound collection.
Sir Gawaine Baillie had an interesting life to say the least. He was born into an aristocratic family in 1934 and his early years were spent in the famous Leeds Castle in Kent. He was shipped off to American cousins during the war. Soon after returning to England, his father died and so - in January 1947 - he became the seventh Baronet of Polkemmet.
His education took place in the famous private school Eton, and later he studied engineering at Cambridge University. In 1959 he created HPC engineering - specialising in motoring, aerospace and military contracts.
He was best known for his motor racing. These were still the days when gentlemen could race privately, so he was able to enter his own cars into major events. In 1956 he started racing a Lotus Eleven Sports Car, and then joined the Equipe Endeavour Teams, racing Jaguars. By 1960 he was having some success in his own Lotus Elite and even made an attempt on the Le Mans 24 hours race.
He variously raced American cars, such as Ford Galaxies and Ford Mustangs and a Ford Falcon. During his career he raced against racing greats such as Sterling Moss, Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark.
However at some time during this period, he started seriously collecting stamps. He collected only unused stamps - mainly from the British Commonwealth. Among his treasures were numerous New Zealand Chalon heads, a large collection of Australian states and a copy of the famous Tyrian plum 2d stamp. He had one or two obsessions - for example he had literally hundreds of Rhodesian double heads.
Because of the stealthy way in which he collected, there have always been lots of rumours surrounding his collection. His collection is often described as 'second only to the Royal collection'. However some sceptics have suggested that it contains duplicates, which were stolen from the Royal Collection. According to this theory, the stamps were illegally sold by John Wilson, the curator of the collection royal collection from 1938 - 1969. Now it is true that Wilson rarely did any work on the collection, was a heavy drinker and had taken stamps from the collection, without authorisation - these were found in his home after his death. However there is no real evidence that he was a crook. In fact many of the better items in the Baillie collection could be traced back to sales from other private collections.
Although it is widely said that Baillie collected entirely in secret, some people were aware of his collection. Because he liked large blocks of mint stamps, Baillie mounted his collection in the largest Frank Godden albums. As a result, the firm of Frank Godden were aware that he must be accumulating large quantities of stamps. Although he was never a member of any philatelic organisation such as the Royal Philatelic Society, Baillie worked closely with a number of large dealers. At least some members of the stamp collecting fraternity knew that he was building a collection, although it is doubtful whether anyone realised the extent of his possessions.
see also:
John du Pont - the sportsman and stamp collector who died in jail
Other Famous collectors
The collection belonged to the industrialist and racing driver Sir Gawaine Baillie. What was most surprising was not just the amount and quality of the stamps, but the fact that the collection had been amassed in secret. None of his family or friends or, for that matter, members of the philatelic community seemed to be aware of the fact that he had built up a multi-million pound collection.
Sir Gawaine Baillie had an interesting life to say the least. He was born into an aristocratic family in 1934 and his early years were spent in the famous Leeds Castle in Kent. He was shipped off to American cousins during the war. Soon after returning to England, his father died and so - in January 1947 - he became the seventh Baronet of Polkemmet.
His education took place in the famous private school Eton, and later he studied engineering at Cambridge University. In 1959 he created HPC engineering - specialising in motoring, aerospace and military contracts.
He was best known for his motor racing. These were still the days when gentlemen could race privately, so he was able to enter his own cars into major events. In 1956 he started racing a Lotus Eleven Sports Car, and then joined the Equipe Endeavour Teams, racing Jaguars. By 1960 he was having some success in his own Lotus Elite and even made an attempt on the Le Mans 24 hours race.
He variously raced American cars, such as Ford Galaxies and Ford Mustangs and a Ford Falcon. During his career he raced against racing greats such as Sterling Moss, Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark.
However at some time during this period, he started seriously collecting stamps. He collected only unused stamps - mainly from the British Commonwealth. Among his treasures were numerous New Zealand Chalon heads, a large collection of Australian states and a copy of the famous Tyrian plum 2d stamp. He had one or two obsessions - for example he had literally hundreds of Rhodesian double heads.
Because of the stealthy way in which he collected, there have always been lots of rumours surrounding his collection. His collection is often described as 'second only to the Royal collection'. However some sceptics have suggested that it contains duplicates, which were stolen from the Royal Collection. According to this theory, the stamps were illegally sold by John Wilson, the curator of the collection royal collection from 1938 - 1969. Now it is true that Wilson rarely did any work on the collection, was a heavy drinker and had taken stamps from the collection, without authorisation - these were found in his home after his death. However there is no real evidence that he was a crook. In fact many of the better items in the Baillie collection could be traced back to sales from other private collections.
Although it is widely said that Baillie collected entirely in secret, some people were aware of his collection. Because he liked large blocks of mint stamps, Baillie mounted his collection in the largest Frank Godden albums. As a result, the firm of Frank Godden were aware that he must be accumulating large quantities of stamps. Although he was never a member of any philatelic organisation such as the Royal Philatelic Society, Baillie worked closely with a number of large dealers. At least some members of the stamp collecting fraternity knew that he was building a collection, although it is doubtful whether anyone realised the extent of his possessions.
see also:
John du Pont - the sportsman and stamp collector who died in jail
Other Famous collectors