The Society commenced with 16 founding members on 11 August 1911 under the name of the Christchurch Junior Philatelic Society.  It was not the first iteration of a stamp club in the city with the first being recorded in the local press in 1899. In 1910 a local branch of the Chums Society of Stamp Collectors was set up. This was run from England through the pages of the boy’s magazine “Chums” and it’s members went on to be the founding members of the CPS.

The word “Junior” in the name only lasted a year by which time the membership had grown to 71.

In 1920, the Society registered which enabled it to add (Inc) or Incorporated to it’s name.

In the late 1920’s, the Society joined the British Philatelic Association as in those days there was no NZ equivalent and as there was already a Christchurch Philatelic Society in Dorset, England, the (NZ) was added to our name

From the beginnings with 16 members, the peak in membership numbers was reached in 1990 with 1209 members.

Initially, meetings were in people’s homes until they obtained a room in the YMCA. This room was used for some 7 years before the Society moved around to 9 venues in the central city.  From 1977, meetings were held in the Philatelic Foundation’s premises at 27 Worcester Street until 1998. That year, several meetings were held at Christchurch Polytechnic before moving to the Philatelic Centre at 67 Mandeville Street, Riccarton, where we continue to meet. The CPS is a shareholder in the building’s owner, Philatelic Properties Ltd.  From days in a smokey room with stamps the speaker was talking about being passed around in a tray to today’s use of digital projection and computer-based presentation techniques, the Society has moved with the times in how it presents itself.

Apart from having our own “home,” other assets of the CPS include our publications and our library, which collectively form an extensive archive of philatelic information that members can draw on.

Newsletters were first produced under the title of “Philatelic Newsletter” in 1944, and 293 were published in 1972. From then, the title changed to “Captain Coqk”, the mis-spelling referencing a well-known flaw in the 2 shilling 1935 Pictorial stamp. “Captain Coqk” is still being published 11 times a year, and since 2021, members have had the option of having it posted with a monthly Personalised Stamp.

The beginnings of a library go back to 1912 when subscriptions were taken out to the magazines “Australian Philatelist” and “Australian Stamp Journal”. Today, we have a specific library space with extensive shelving and some 12,000 books and magazines catalogued, as well as an internet connection and computer to enable all aspects of philatelic research to be undertaken.

* (Extracted from “Centennial History of the Christchurch Philatelic Society 1911-2011”)