Robson Lowe is regarded by philatelists as the father of postal history, having published many definitive works on the subject and having introduced the term in his first major book Handstruck Postage Stamps of the Empire 1680–1900 in 1948.

[1] He started his philatelic career at Fox & Co. in 1926 and then established his own firm, Robson Lowe Ltd., in Regent Street, London, in 1926.

According to one story, while playing cards in South Africa, and possibly after several drinks, he won an orange farm, but was able subsequently to swap it for a stamp collection.

[4] As well as being a pioneer in postal history, Lowe was one of the first to recognise the potential of revenue philately which had been long neglected.

His personal magnum opus was The Encyclopaedia of British Empire Postage Stamps which he never quite finished but which stands as a monument to his life's work.