- INTRODUCTION
The Story Behind Echoes of Empire
Echoes of Empire is a home for my research, publications, and presentations on the philately of British Africa and the Middle East. I’ve long been drawn to the way postage stamps, postal markings, and covers—objects designed for the mundane business of moving mail—end up preserving evidence of empire that official records often smooth over: shifting boundaries, wartime censorship, colonial administration, and the everyday movement of people and correspondence across these vast and varied regions.
Yet philately was never merely incidental to empire; it was one of its working instruments.
Stamps asserted and underpinned the Empire’s sovereignty over newly claimed territory; monarchs’ and governors’ portraits projected imperial authority into every post office and household; and a standardized, revenue-generating postal system helped bind distant colonies and protectorates administratively and economically to London.
This site gathers that work in one place, both as a rigorous scholarly resource for fellow philatelists, postal historians, and researchers, and as a personal record of a collecting life spent following these small, stubborn artifacts wherever they lead.
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Majed Halawi
Majed Halawi is a scholar of Middle Eastern politics and a senior executive in the independent energy sector.
Born in Sierra Leone and raised principally in Lebanon, he pursued his higher education in the United States, earning a PhD in Political Science/International Relations from Columbia University.
territories, people and
history in a unique way. ”
He began his professional career in New York before moving to various parts of the Arab World, most notably Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. Mr Halawi’s principal collecting interests include British Africa and the Arab World.
He is a member of the East Arica Study Circle, the West Africa Study Circle, and the Club de Monte-Carlo, and is a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London.
- THE COLLECTION
Two Volumes.
One Historical Record.
A definitive philatelic record of Sierra Leone from 1786 to 1980, capturing a unique story of empire, people and a nation in transition.
Reserve Grand Award
Two Volumes
Premium clothbound
edition
1786 – 1980
Nearly two centuries of
postal history
SIERRA LEONE
Philately, people & historical
legacy
- POSTAL HISTORY
“ Each stamp is testimony to a particular moment in time. ”
Echoes of Empire looks beyond the stamp itself, revealing the people, places and events preserved through postal history.
1786.
Early correspondence to and from Sierra Leone. Believed to be the earliest letters in private hands.
SIERRA LEONE THROUGH TIME
The beginnings of a postal story.
The Sixpence, first postage stamp of Sierra Leone.
Revenue for Postage.
Some of the rarest stamps of British Empire philately.
The earliest recorded air mail letter from Sierra Leone.
The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
identity.
Nearly two centuries preserved through philately.
Sierra Leone Coat of Arms.
- In His Own Words
A conversation on history, memory and the philatelic legacy of Sierra Leone.
Majed Halawi shares the story behind Echoes of Empire, his passion for philately, and the historical significance of Sierra Leone’s stamps.
History — People — Stamps — A Lasting Legacy
THE STORY LIVES ON.
EXPLORE THE COMPLETE WORK