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{{Short description|British philatelist (1868–1954)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = W. C. Renouf
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = 5 March 1868
| birth_place = [[St Helier]], [[Jersey]]
| death_date = 28 June 1954
| death_place = Jersey
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| residence =
| alma mater = [[Christ Church, Oxford|Christ Church]], University of Oxford
| occupation = [[Civil servant]] in [[British Raj|India]]
| employer = [[Indian Civil Service]] (1889–1922)
| title =
| term =
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| known for = Study of the philately of India
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}}
'''Winter Charles Renouf''' [[Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] (5 March 1868 – 28 June 1954) was a British member of the [[Indian Civil Service]] who specialised in agriculture. He was also a [[justice of the peace]] in India, official member of the Central Legislative Assembly, and political agent at [[Bahawalpur]]. In 1921, he was president of the [[Cantonment Reforms Committee]] set up by the [[British Raj|Government of India]]. He retired in 1922.

Renouf was a noted [[philatelist]] who was one of the first to take an interest in early Indian postal markings and British Indian stamps used abroad. He edited ''[[The Philatelic Journal of India]]'' and was Hon. Vice-President of the [[Philatelic Society of India]]. In 1921, he signed the [[Roll of Distinguished Philatelists]]. His philatelic work was continued by [[Jal Cooper]] and his classification system of Indian postal markings continues to be referred to as "Renouf types".

==Early life and family==
Winter Renouf was born on 5 March 1868 in [[St Helier]], Jersey, in the Channel Islands.<ref name=Parish>{{cite book |title=Jersey, Church of England Births and Baptisms |date=1813–1915 |publisher=Anglican Parish Registers, Jersey Archive, Jersey Heritage |location=St Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands |page=398}}</ref> His father, Francis G. Renouf, was a mathematician and a [[master mariner]], and his mother was Elizabeth J. Renouf (née Vardon).<ref name=Parish/><ref>[https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2WS-P329 Winter C Renouf Census • England and Wales Census, 1881] Family Search, Retrieved 2 December 2023. {{subscription required}}</ref><ref name=roll>''[http://www.abps.org.uk/Awards/Roll_of_Distinguished_Philatelists/RDP_Background_20111231_LR.pdf Background notes on The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists September 2011]'', Roll of Distinguished Philatelists Trust, London, 2011. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130819000841/http://abps.org.uk/Awards/Roll_of_Distinguished_Philatelists/RDP_Background_20111231_LR.pdf Archived here.]</ref> He was educated at [[Victoria College, Jersey|Victoria College]], Jersey, before attending Wren and Gurney's [[Preparatory school (United Kingdom)|preparatory school]] in London from where he won a scholarship<ref>"Colleges, Public Schools, &c.", ''The Times'', 27 August 1887, p. 13.</ref> to [[Christ Church, Oxford|Christ Church]], University of Oxford.<ref name=Office>{{cite book |last1=Office |first1=Great Britain India |title=The India List and India Office List |date=1819 |publisher=Harrison. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3VQTAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA598|page=598 |language=en}}</ref> He passed the examination of the [[Indian Civil Service]] in 1887 in second place.<ref name="SJG1887">{{cite news |title=The Civil Service of India |work=[[St James's Gazette]] |date=5 July 1887 |location=London |page=13}}</ref>

Renouf married Ellie Marion (née Sheeu) on 14 November 1893, at [[Rawalpindi]].<ref name=C&MG1893>{{cite news |title=By the way |work=[[Civil and Military Gazette]] |date=20 November 1893 |location=Lahore |page=4}}</ref> Their best man was Mr O'Dwyer.<ref name=C&MG1893/> Ellie died in 1941.<ref name=obit/>

==Career==
Renouf reached India in 1889 where he joined the Bengal Civil Service.<ref name=EOM1889>{{cite news |title=To the North-West Provinces, Oudh, Punjab, and Central Provinces|work=Englishman's Overland Mail |date=19 November 1889 |location=West Bengal |page=14}}</ref> He served in the Punjab as assistant commissioner at [[Murree]].<ref name=C&MG1892>{{cite news |title=Indian Civil Service |work=Civil and Military Gazette |date=23 July 1892 |location=Lahore |page=8}}</ref> In 1892 he was appointed [[Justice of the Peace]]<ref name=C&MG1892/> and in 1899 he was appointed deputy commissioner.<ref name=Office/> In 1901, he became director of land records and agriculture.<ref name=Office/> In 1910, he published a bulletin on the advantages of growing "[[Durum|hard]]" Canadian red wheats there over the "[[Common wheat|soft]]" white wheats that predominated, the latter having been introduced following a report by [[Rank Hovis McDougall#History|McDougall Brothers]] in their favour in 1882.<ref>"Agriculture: Wheat growing in the Punjab", ''The Times'', 16 May 1910, p. 14.</ref><ref>"[https://books.google.com/books?id=oTroj7pY5SAC&pg=PA807 Indian Wheat]", ''Journal of the Society of Arts'', 1883, p. 807.</ref> He was an official member of the [[Central Legislative Assembly]]<ref>[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.177811/page/n73/ ''The Combined Civil List For India &c.''], Pioneer Press, Allahabad, 1921.</ref> and [[Indian Political Department|political agent]] at [[Bahawalpur]].<ref name=obit/> In 1921, he was president of the [[Cantonment Reforms Committee]] set up by the [[British Raj|Government of India]]<ref>[https://archive.org/details/dli.csl.962/mode/2up ''Report of the Cantonment Reforms Committee''], Government Monotype Press, Simla, 1921, p. i.</ref> before retiring the following year.<ref name=obit/>

==Philately==
[[File:Jal Cooper 1997 stamp of India.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Jal Cooper on a 1997 stamp of India with early Indian postal markings, an area of study pioneered by Renouf and continued by Cooper.]]
Renouf was a noted philatelist who was one of the first to take an interest in early Indian postal markings and British Indian stamps used abroad, publishing monographs on those subjects in 1919 and 1920 respectively. He edited ''The Philatelic Journal of India'' and was Hon. Vice-President of the Philatelic Society of India. He signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921.<ref name=abps/> He joined the [[Royal Philatelic Society London]] in 1923 where he was proposed by [[Edward Denny Bacon]] and [[Herbert R. Oldfield]].<ref>"Philatelic Societies' Meetings: The Royal Philatelic Society, London", ''The London Philatelist'', Vol. 32, No. 383 (November 1923), pp. 267-268 (p. 267).</ref> His work on early Indian cancellations was expanded and re-written as an appendix to volume three (Asia) of [[Robson Lowe]]'s ''The Encyclopaedia of British Empire Postage Stamps 1775-1950''.<ref>"Introduction" in Robson Lowe (Ed.) (1951) ''The Encyclopaedia of British Empire Postage Stamps 1775-1950. Volume III The Empire in Asia''. London: Robson Lowe Ltd., p. xi.</ref>

In an obituary in 1954, [[Jal Cooper]], whose philatelic interests coincided with Renouf's and who continued his work, described Renouf as one of the "stalwarts" of early Indian philately.<ref name=cooper>"The Late Mr. W. C. Renouf, C.I.E., I.C.S.", Jal Cooper, ''News Sheet''. India Study Circle, No. 20 (1954), p. 2.</ref> His Indian collection was auctioned by Robson Lowe in 1960.<ref name=abps>[http://www.abps.org.uk/Home/Who_Was_Who/index.xalter#R Who Was Who in British Philately], [[Association of British Philatelic Societies]], 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110713234319/http://www.abps.org.uk/Home/Who_Was_Who/index.xalter Archived here.]</ref>

==Death and legacy==
Renouf died at his home in Jersey on 28 June 1954<ref name=obit>"Mr. W. C. Renouf", ''The Times'', 1 July 1954, p. 10.</ref> after a "very painful and long illness" during the last two years of which he became blind, causing him to be unable to follow his hobby of philately which he regarded as a great loss.<ref name=cooper/> He received an obituary from Jal Cooper in the newsletter of the India Study Circle.<ref name=cooper/> He is buried with his wife at [[St Clement, Jersey|St Clement]], Jersey. His classification of Indian postmarks is still referred to in the pages of the India Study Circle's ''India Post'' as "Renouf types".<ref>"Underpaid", Clifford Gregory, ''India Post'', Vol. 39, No. 161 (March 2005), p. 37.</ref>

==Publications==

===Articles===
* "The Cultivation of 'Stronger' and More Valuable Wheats for Export from the Punjab", ''Bulletin'', No. 1 (1910), Department of Agriculture, Punjab.
* "Early Indian Cancellations, 1855-1884". Appendix I (pp. 485-549) in Robson Lowe (Ed.) ''The Encyclopaedia of British Empire Postage Stamps 1775-1950. Volume III The Empire in Asia''. Robson Lowe Ltd., London, 1951.

===Books===
* ''Early Indian Cancellations and Postmarks 1852-84''. Philatelic Society of India, Lahore, 1919. (Supplement, 1923)
* ''British-Indian Stamps Used Abroad''. Philatelic Society of India, Lahore, 1920. (Supplement, 1923)

==See also==
* [[Green Revolution in India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renouf, Winter Charles}}

[[Category:1868 births]]
[[Category:1954 deaths]]
[[Category:People from St Helier]]
[[Category:People educated at Victoria College, Jersey]]
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:Justices of the peace]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:British philatelists]]
[[Category:Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists]]
[[Category:Philately of India]]

W. C. Renouf - Revision history

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