Ascension Island stamps mark 300th Anniversary of the Death of William Dampier

Four new Ascension Island stamps mark the 300th Anniversary of the Death of William Dampier, the first Englishman to explore parts of Australia and the first person to circumnavigate the world three times.

Born the son of a Somerset farmer Dampier sailed to Newfoundland and the East Indies while still a boy.

He returned to England penniless but with his journals and in 1697 published A New Voyage Round the World, an account of his adventures, extensive travels and pursuit of knowledge whilst joining with privateers and pirates between 1679 and 1691. A further publication, A Discourse of Trade-winds, Breezes, Storms Seasons of the Year, Tides and Currents of the Torrid Zone throughout the World in 1699 was of long lasting benefit to mariners. However it was the New Voyage that proved to be a literary sensation.

Dampier was provided with HMS Roebuck, an armed three-masted vessel, 96 feet long, with a beam of 25 feet and a crew of 50 men. The expedition set out on 14 January 1699, making landfall on the Australian continent in August at the place he subsequently named Sharks Bay on the mid-west coast.

There he he collected many plants, shells and other specimens and began producing the first known detailed record of Australian flora and fauna, producing detailed descriptions of all he encountered.

Dampier has also been described as Australia's first natural historian.

Technical details:

Designer: Robin Carter
Printer: BDT International Security Printing Ltd
Process: Stochastic Lithography
Stamp size: 28.45 x 42.58mm
Perforation: 14 per 2cms
Layout: 10
Release date: 1 December, 2015
Production Co-ordination: Creative Direction (Worldwide) Ltd

Keep up to date with the latest stamps from around the world with the 'New Stamps' listings in every issue of Stamp & Coin Mart magazine.