For the third time since 2017, Rob Leigh has won a Grand Award for his five-frame exhibit exploring the seminal postal history of Upper Canada’s Western District in the first half of the 19th century. Leigh’s latest victory came during BNAPEX 2021 Virtual, the first virtual exhibition of the British North America Philatelic Society (BNAPS), held from Sept. 2-6 via the society’s website, bnaps.org, and Zoom. An Illinois resident who was born in Chatham, Ont., Leigh also won two special BNAPS awards for his exhibit, “The Western District of Upper Canada: the Development of Postal Communications and Postal Markings, 1800-1850.” “It’s an extremely comprehensive story about the early history of a large chunk of Upper Canada – the western part of Upper Canada – from 1800 to 1850,” said chief judge David Piercey, of Edmonton, Alta., one of four judges on the BNAPEX jury. “He’s done an inordinate amount of research to talk about the development of the postal routes and postal communication in those little, far-flung communities in the early parts of the settlement of Ontario.” Continue reading →