Background - Stanley F. Durnin, a Leeward Islands specialist, was one of the early members and a strong supporter of the British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group, successively serving as its vice-president in 1968 and president in 1969-70. After Stan's death at a relatively young age in late 1977, the Group's officers decided to create an award in his memory, to be given annually for the best article published in the Journal.

The Durnin Award was intended both to honor a member who was well liked by everyone and to encourage members at large to write for the Journal. It was initially funded by donations from Group members, including past presidents Gale Raymond and Paul Larsen. The original selection committee included George Bowman, as well as Mark Cassidy, Elaine Durnin (Stan's widow), Ben Ramkissoon and Fred Seifert.

The award was given for three years beginning in 1979 but, apparently because everyone was busy with other matters at the time, was not continued beyond 1981. The early winners were "The Postmarks of Grenada," by Dan Walker (1979); "The Unpaid and Tax Markings of Jamaica," by Reg Lant (1980); and "The Town Cancels of Trinidad and Tobago," by Ben Ramkissoon and Ed Addiss (1981). These articles were serialized in the Journal, and two became early monographs of the BCPSG.

The award appears to have fallen into oblivion in the early 1980s. In 1998, interest in the award was revived and the Group's officers decided to reinstate it in the hope of giving a degree of prestige to the writing of articles for the Journal and spurring would-be authors into action. Recent awards have been given as follows:

1998 "WWII Civil Censorship in the Bahamas," and "WWII Censorship in St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla," by Edward T. Tweddell

1999 "The Development of the British Honduras Airmail Service," by Ian Matheson

2000 "World War II Civil Censorship in St Lucia," by Edward T. Tweddell

2001 "Montserrat Inland Revenue Stamps," by Michael Hamilton

2002 "Linking the Caribbean: The Story of British West Indian Airways (BWIA), 1940-2000," written by Dr Reuben A Ramkissoon

2003 "Registration Labels, handstamps and manuscript endorsements of British Honduras," by Ian Matheson

2004 "British Honduras Miscellaneous handstamps, cachets and other endorsements," by Ian Matheson

2005 "Internal development and the production of domestic mail in British Caribbean Colonies," by Richard Maisel

2006 "The Tobago A14 Handstamps and Their Forgeries," by Thomas Anderson and Edward Barrow

2007."The 1947 One Penny Provisional Overprint of Barbados," by Jerry Hart

2008 "Series on St. Vincent" by Roy Bond

2009 "Anguilla’s Emergency Mail Services 1967-1980" by Dr Reuben A Ramkissoon

2010 "The Airmails of Barbados During World War II" by Jerone R. Hart

2011 "Cayman Islands postal rates, 1936-69" by Graham Booth

2012 David Horry, for his work on Br Honduras TRDs, his research into Roger Wells, and his important article on the GVI postmarks of Dominica.

2013 Hap Pattiz for his two articles on the Grenada and St. Lucia postage dues.

2014 David Horry for his GVI postmarks and Bahamas and Jamaica WWII history articles.

Criteria

In 1979, when the award was created, the eligibility criteria were set as follows:

"Since the BCPSG is primarily a study (research) group, articles indicating originality and original research will be most welcome. In this category can be included articles that clearly point out areas where research is needed.

The Stanley Durnin Memorial Award Committee has formulated the following guide lines for the competition:

1. Any article by a BCPSG member, accepted and published by the Editor, is eligible.
2. Fundamentally, an article should be clear, united, coherent, with emphasis and variety.
3. An article should be developed logically; it should be interesting, indicate research and/or expose or expound information heretofore unpublished, or enlarge on information already published.
4. An article should be syntactically and grammatically correct with no misspelling. (In this connection, errors in grammar and spelling might be overlooked if the article is otherwise outstanding.)"

To this was latter added a fifth criterion:

"5. The article as published must be substantially as originally written by the author. In other words, if the editor has had to rewrite the article, it will not be eligible for the award."

The style and presentation criteria are secondary to the criterion of originality and other substantive aspects, but they are seen as important nonetheless. If the editor is handed a set of manuscript notes of original research but has to write and structure the article from scratch, there is a chance the article will not be considered a serious candidate for the award. In other words, this is both a research and a writing award.

Durnin Award Committee:
Frederick Lutt
Edward Barrow
Keith Moh

The Addiss Award

Background - Edward (Eddie) Addiss was an early member of the Group and was an inveterate researcher, postal historian and writer. He was always willing to teach another member about postal history and share his knowledge freely. After a bout with cancer, he passed away in 1992. His wife, Lee, worked with BCPSG executives to establish a fund to help researchers publish their research work about the West Indies. At the same time an award to be presented annually to a deserving member for lifetime achievement in philatelic writing and research.

ADDISS Award for Lifetime Achievement in Philatelic Writing and Research recipients

ADDISS Award Committee:
Frederick Lutt
Edward Barrow
Keith Moh

The Cooley Award

Background - The Robert J. Cooley Award is awarded for Lifetime Service to the BCPSG. Bob Cooley was a man who started collecting later in life but still managed to form excellent collections. He was an active member of the Group who really appreciated the enjoyment he gleaned from participating in our Group. He also formed lasting friendships through his participation. He funded an annual award in recognition of those who perform long term and faithful service on behalf of the Group. Many talented and dedicated people have shaped the BCPSG and some of the more recent contributors have earned this award.

Recipients

2017 -- Robert Wynstra
2016 -- Charles Freeland
2015 -- Bob Stewart
2014 -- Duane Larson
2013 -- Mary Gleadall
2012 -- John Seidl
2011 -- Barry Friedman
2010 -- Jack Harwood
2009 -- Ed Waterous
2008 -- Tom Giraldi
2007 -- Peter McCann
2006 -- Michel Forand
2005 -- Ben Ramkissoon
2004 -- Paul Larsen
2003 -- Gayle Raymond
2002 -- Jay Fredrick
2001 -- Mark Swetland
2000 -- Fred Seifert

Cooley Award Committee:
Rob Wynstra - Chair
Paul Larsen
Barry Friedman