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{{Use British English|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
[[File:All Hallows Staining and Rectory.jpg|thumb|right|An old engraving of [[All Hallows Staining]] where Stainforth and fellow philatelists used to meet.]]
The '''Reverend Francis John Stainforth''' (1797<ref name=abps>[http://www.abps.org.uk/Home/Who_Was_Who/index.xalter#S Who Was Who in British Philately] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713234319/http://www.abps.org.uk/Home/Who_Was_Who/index.xalter#S |date=13 July 2011 }}, [[Association of British Philatelic Societies]], 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2011.</ref> – 3 September 1866<ref name=lp>"The Royal Philatelic Society, London. 1869 - 10 April - 1929" by [[Percy de Worms]] in ''[[The London Philatelist]]'', Vol. XXXVIII, No. 447, March 1929, pp. 52-56.</ref>) was an early British [[philatelist]], conchologist, and book collector. He was the Perpetual Curate of [[All Hallows Staining]] church in London, where [[Mount Brown (philatelist)|Mount Brown]] compiled large parts of his catalogue. The church was believed to be the one mentioned by Charles Dickens in ''Dombey & Son''.<ref name=lp/>

''[[Alumni Cantabrigienses]]'', philatelic sources, and Stainforth's death certificate all give his forenames as ''Francis John''. An 1894 work by the Rev. A. Povah records his name incorrectly as ''Frederick J''.<ref name=lp/>

==Early life and military career==
Baptized on 14 December 1797, at [[St Peter le Poer|St Peter-le-Poer]] in the [[City of London]], Stainforth was the son of Richard Stainforth, by his marriage to Maria, the eldest child of [[Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet]], of Devon. In 1817 he joined the [[Bengal Army|Bengal Cavalry]] as a Cadet and by 1825 had been promoted to captain. Resigning his commission in 1827, he was admitted to [[St John's College, Cambridge]], where he graduated BA in 1830 and was promoted to [[Master of Arts (Cambridge)|MA]] in 1833.<ref name=venn>'Stainforth, Francis John', in John Venn, ''Alumni Cantabrigienses'', vol. 4, p. 5</ref>

Stainforth had an older brother, George, born in 1796, who was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, and was President of the [[Cambridge Union Society]] in 1816. He died at [[Cadogan Place]], [[Belgravia]], on 24 August 1820, aged 24.<ref>'Stainforth, George', in John Venn, ''Alumni Cantabrigienses'', vol. 4, p. 5</ref>

On 23 January 1823, at [[Benares]], Stainforth married Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Dr Frazer, of London. She died young.<ref name=venn/>

==Church career==
In 1830, Stainforth was ordained as a deacon of the [[Church of England]], and in 1834 as a priest. In 1841 he became Curate of Camden Chapel, [[Camberwell]], in 1846 Curate of St Pancras, London, in 1852 Perpetual Curate of All Hallows', Staining.<ref name=venn/>

In October 1838 he married secondly Elizabeth, daughter of [[Edward Southwell Ruthven]].<ref name=venn/>

==Origins of the Royal Philatelic Society==
Stainforth met at the Rectory in 9 Mark Lane, which adjoined the church, on Saturday afternoons with a group of like-minded collectors to pool their knowledge. Apart from Mount Brown, these included [[Charles Viner|Dr. Charles W. Viner]], [[Henry Haslett]], [[Frederick Philbrick]], [[William Hughes-Hughes]] and [[Sir Daniel Cooper, 1st Baronet|Sir Daniel Cooper]].<ref name=stamp>''The Stamp Lover'', Vol. 1, No. 1, June 1908, pp. 5-6.</ref> Stainforth in particular was said to have had a very fine collection which largely formed the basis for Brown's catalogue.<ref name=birch>Birch, Brian. ''Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers''. 9th edition. Standish, Wigan: 2008, p. 1362.</ref>

The group that met at the church were thought to be the most serious British collectors of the day and have been credited with being the nucleus that eventually formed ''The Philatelic Society, London'', which subsequently became the [[Royal Philatelic Society London]], the oldest philatelic society in the world. Stainforth was never a member of the Society as he died before it was formed in 1869.<ref>[[Fred Melville|Melville, Fred J]]. ''Chats on Postage Stamps''. London: T. Fisher Unwin Ltd., 1920, pp. 122-123.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* Susan Guinn-Chipman, [http://stainforth.colorado.edu/about/biography Francis Stainforth Biography], Stainforth Library of Women's Writing, [[University of Colorado Boulder]]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stainforth, Francis}}
[[Category:British philatelists]]
[[Category:1797 births]]
[[Category:1866 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:19th-century English Anglican priests]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]

Francis Stainforth - Revision history

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