Signing Gallery

Gustav Hamel signing receipt for mail, Hendon

The aviator Gustav Hamel in the cockpit of his aeroplane, signing the official receipt for the mail, just before setting out from Hendon Aerodrome to Windsor on the very first airmail flight. The first aerial mail service took place on 9 September 1911 from Hendon to Windsor and back again, and Hamel was the first pilot to arrive. King George V gave permission for the aeroplanes to land in the grounds of Windsor Castle. During September 1911 the Grahame-White company operated an experimental air mail service for two weeks between Hendon and Windsor. As well commemorating the coronation of King George V, and raising money for charity, the event publicised the possibilities of the aeroplane as a means of transport.

© Mary Evans Picture Library

Signing the Treaty of Peace at Vienaa [sic]

Signing the Treaty of Peace at Vienaa [sic]. Coloured aquatint by J C Stadler after William Heath, published by Thomas Tegg, 1 April 1818. Wellington, with heads of state of Austria, Prussia and Russia. Illustration for a narrative poem by Dr Syntax, 1818. The Duke of Wellington signs the treaty, which was aimed at redrawing the continent's political map after the defeat of Napoleonic France. Across from him sits Tsar Alexander of Russia with King Frederick of Prussia standing to the Tsar?s right. Behind the table stands Marshal Blucher. The treaty was signed on 30 May 1814 and restored the Bourbon monarchy to the French throne and withdrew the nation?s borders to their 1792 locations. The treaty was hugely unpopular in France and helped mobilise support behind Napoleon on his return from exile and resumption of power in March 1815. Date: 1814

© The National Army Museum / Mary Evans Picture Library

WW1 - Treaty of Versailles

WW1 - The Foreign Minister of Germany, Hermann Muller, seen here signing the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty was signed at he Palace of Versailles on 28th June 1919. It was the most important of the treaties of Paris that ended World War I in 1919/1920. The peace treaty was negotiated between U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, British politician David Lloyd George, French Statesman Georges Benjamin Clemenceau and the Italian Prime Minister, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando. They were known as 'The Big Four'. Date: 1919

© Mary Evans Picture Library