Passion for philately

Among the 15 members of the East Africa Study Circle (EASC) selected to present a display to the Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) on February 15, 2018 was New York based Elchi Nowrojee. The display marked the 40th anniversary of EASC which is a research organization based in London. Its 160 members study the stamps and postal history of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and their colonial predecessors.
Member of EASC for over three decades and elected member of RPSL last year, Nowrojee’s display was on "The Survey, Construction and Early Operations of the Uganda Railway.” In his explanation he notes that "The Uganda Railway was built during the years 1892 to 1904 and traveled 581 miles from Mombasa on the coast of present day Kenya to Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria. The Railway was built by indentured labor brought from India.”

Elchi Nowrojee

(L) program cover of the event; (r) one anna stamps on 1900 and 1901 mail from Uganda marked to recipients in India

Nowrojee’s display included rare postmarks like "TPO (Travelling Post Office)” and covers illustrating the development of the postal administration along the Railway. Further, his display depicted "communications of the Indian indentured laborers, including Parsis, providing a rare glimpse into their experiences in East Africa through their correspondence with family and friends in India.” Included in his collection was a letter addressed by one Eidha to his uncle Ali Mohamed, Carpenter at Kharian, Punjab from ‘Railhead Uganda Line.’ The sender notes "ticket lagaya (stamp affixed)” to deter pilferage. The railhead was near Elmenteita, 18 miles from Nakuru. Likewise there is another envelope sent to "Dingah, District Gujrat, Punjab, from Ibrahim, Uganda Railway, Department Stores.” To Nowrojee, the Uganda Railway has been of particular interest as his family was a part of these operations since 1896, and his great-grandfather Pherozeshah Nowrojee was a senior locomotive driver on the line from 1900-1933.
Over 200 senior philatelists from 14 different countries viewed the 23 contributions made by 15 EASC members. The other exhibits included stamps, postal history, proofs and essays from several periods in East African philatelic history including British East Africa, Zanzibar (1856-1887), Belgian suzerainty in East Africa, German East Africa, Missionary Activity in Uganda (1895-1899), French Post Office in Zanzibar, East African Air Mails and World War II Evacuee Mails in Tanganyika.
Elchi Nowrojee has nurtured his passion for philately whilst pursuing a law career after earning his juris doctor from Harvard Law School, MPhil in International Relations from Oxford University and BA from Yale College. Currently working for The Carlyle Group as a principal in corporate private equity, he was earlier director and counsel at Credit Suisse where he served as head of Alternative Investments Legal for the Americas. Prior to that he worked for an international law firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton, LLP.