Augusta E. Wolfe was born Augusta E. Croft on 3 January 1851 in West Dublin, Nova Scotia, to farmers Fred and Margaret Croft. In 1886 she married Daniel Edgar Wolfe, a fisherman, with whom she had at least one son, Harold E. Wolfe, who died at sea. She died a widow on 4 July 1939.
William Stairs first established a hardware store in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1810. The business was renamed Wm. Stairs and Son in 1841 when his elder son (W.J.) came into the business; his son John joined the company in 1844. In 1854, when William's son-in-law Robert Morrow became a partner, the business became known as Wm. Stairs, Son and Morrow. By 1865 William Stairs had died, W.J. Stairs had taken over his role, and the business had expanded into shipping. The Dartmouth Rope Works was established as a branch plant in 1869. Wm. Stairs, Son and Morrow was incorporated in 1900, but liquidated and reorganized in 1926. The business expanded to four divisions with offices in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Moncton, New Brunswick. In 1975 the business merged with J.W. Bird and Co. in Fredericton, New Brunswick. N.S. Tractors and Equipment, a former branch of Wm. Stairs, Son and Morrow, is still in operation.
William Stairs (1789-1865), general merchant, established his store in Halifax in 1810. By 1825 business had expanded and William re-located to the corner of George Street and Bedford Row. His son W.J. Stairs (1822-1906) became a partner in 1841 and the firm was named Wm. Stairs and Son, changing to Wm. Stairs and Sons three years later when William's other son John entered the partnership. Its name changed again to Wm. Stairs, Son and Morrow in 1854 when William's son-in-law Robert Morrow joined the firm. At the time of William's death in 1865 when W.J. succeeded him as head of the business, the firm had diversified its product line and branched into the shipping business. By 1880, the firm owned or managed thirty-two vessels. In 1869, the Dartmouth Rope Works factory was established as a branch plant and remained a wholly owned subsidiary until 1892. The firm was incorporated by an Act of the Legislature in 1900 but was liquidated in 1926 with a new company organized under the same corporate name. By 1970, Wm. Stairs, Son and Morrow, in addition to its subsidiaries and its wholesale hardware distributorship, consisted of four divisions and had branch offices in Sydney, N.S. and Moncton, N.B. The most lucrative component of the Stairs group was N.S. Tractors and Equipment, which continues to operate. The firm existed until 1975 when it merged with J.W. Bird and Co. of Fredericton. The former Stairs family firm survives under the name Bird-Stairs, a division of J.W. Bird and Company of Fredericton.
William Stairs (1789-1865), general merchant, established his store in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1810. By 1825 business had expanded and William re-located to the corner of George Street and Bedford Row. His son W.J. Stairs (1822-1906) became a partner in 1841 and the firm was named Wm. Stairs and Son, changing to Wm. Stairs and Sons three years later when William's other son John entered the partnership. Its name changed again to Wm. Stairs, Son and Morrow in 1854 when William's son-in-law Robert Morrow joined the firm. At the time of William's death in 1865 when W.J. succeeded him as head of the business, the firm had diversified its product line and branched into the shipping business. By 1880, the firm owned or managed thirty-two vessels. In 1869, the Dartmouth Rope Works factory was established as a branch plant and remained a wholly owned subsidiary until 1892. The firm was incorporated by an Act of the Legislature in 1900 but was liquidated in 1926 with a new company organized under the same corporate name. By 1970, Wm. Stairs, Son and Morrow, in addition to its subsidiaries and its wholesale hardware distributorship, consisted of four divisions and had branch offices in Sydney, N.S. and Moncton, N.B. The most lucrative component of the Stairs group was N.S. Tractors and Equipment, which continues to operate. The firm existed until 1975 when it merged with J.W. Bird and Co. of Fredericton. The former Stairs family firm survives under the name Bird-Stairs, a division of J.W. Bird and Company of Fredericton.
Rev. John Wiswall was a Church of England clergyman, born in Boston in 1731. He died in 1821 at Wilmot, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. He was married twice: first to Mercy Minot of Brunswick, Maine with whom he had four children, and secondly to Margaret Hutchinson of New Jersey. Wiswall was the minister at Falmouth in New England when the Revolutionary War began. As a Loyalist, he was forced to flee to Boston with his family and he lost his house and property. After a time as the minister for several churches in England and as a Chaplain aboard a British ship, he was sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to Cornwallis Township, Nova Scotia in 1783. He served in this area until his death in 1821.
Jane Barnes Wisdom was a pioneer in the social welfare movement in Canada. She was born March 1, 1884 to Freeman W. and Mary Bell (McQueen) Wisdom in Saint John, New Brunswick, the third of four children. After graduating from McGill University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1907, she worked as ‘visitor on staff’ at the Charity Organization Society of Montreal while living in their University Settlement residence. In June 1910, she attended one of the first diploma courses in social work at the New York School of Philanthropy, an experimental training program affiliated with Columbia University. She returned to Montreal for a brief time, then took employment with the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities 1912-1916 as executive director of 2 districts. In July of 1916 she was recruited by the new Bureau of Social Services of Halifax (also known as the Halifax Welfare Bureau), to be their first permanent “General Secretary” (today’s equivalent of executive director) and served there until 1921. She survived the Halifax Explosion of Dec 6, 1917, and played an active role in the recovery efforts, being seconded to the Halifax Relief Commission as Supervisor of the Rehabilitation Department. In that role, she organized the building of Community Houses for survivors. In 1920 she worked on the Nova Scotia Provincial Commission researching and reporting on Mother’s Allowances, wages and working conditions of women in Nova Scotia factories. In the summer of that year she traveled around the British Isles (United Kingdom). In 1921 she returned to Montreal to earn a graduate degree from the Department of Economics at McGill University. While there, she was part time instructor of social case work in their Department of Social Science and School of Social Work, until 1924. From 1925 to 1939 she worked as executive director for the Women’s Directory of Montreal, a social services agency specializing in the care of single parent families. In 1941 she conducted a study of the social conditions in the coal mining town of Glace Bay, NS for the Canada Welfare Council, working with fellow social worker Charlotte Whitton (later mayor of Ottawa). She stayed in Glace Bay as the town’s first welfare officer and developed their program of social services, from 1941 until retirement in 1952. She retired to Sutherlands River, Pictou County and died June 9, 1975 at the age of 91.
Gil Winham was a political science professor and leading scholar on the political and legal dimensions of international trade negotiations. Born in New York City on 11 May 1938 to Alfred R. Winham and Margery Rankin Post, he served in the United States Navy for three years prior to earning a diploma in international law from the University of Manchester. After completing a doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Winham taught at McMaster University. He joined Dalhousie University in 1975, where he remained until his retirement in 2003. He served as the Director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Study from 1975-1982 and was appointed Eric Dennis Memorial Professorship of Government and Political Science in 1992. His scholarly work and public service led to invitations as a Visiting Researcher to Harvard, Johns Hopkins, the University of Toronto, and El Colegio de Mexico, and to his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He was also a regular instructor and consultant on trade policy simulation courses at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, and a member of dispute settlement panels of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Gil Winham died in Berwick, New Brunswick, on 1 January 2019.
Rachel Elizabeth Cooke was born on 20 October 1900 in Portaupique Mountain, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, to Mitchell Cooke and Margaret Ellen (Giddens) Cooke. Rachel trained to be a registered nurse at the Halifax Children's Hospital, graduating in 1925, and worked much of her life in Truro, NS. She married J. Arthur Wilson and the couple lived in Truro. Wilson was very involved all of her life in the Women's Institute of Nova Scotia, for which she served for a time as President and Treasurer. She was also very involved with the Baptist Church. She died on 9 July 1995.
George Earle Wilson taught history at Dalhousie University from 1919-1969 and served as Dean of Arts and Science from 1945-1955.
Contractor. Frank was the son of Nathaniel Frank and Julia (McLeod) Wilson and was born in Truro, NS. His wife was Lucretia Ross and their two sons were George Willard and Earle Albert. His education was obtained in the Truro Public Schools. As president of Wilson Construction Company, he played a prominent part in rebuilding Halifax after the explosion of 1917. Some of the buildings in Truro which he built were the First United (Presbyterian) Church, Bank of Nova Scotia, the Fire Hall, the Intercolonial Railway Station and the Colchester County Court House on Church Street. He was the first President of the Maritime Amateur Hockey Association. He was a Methodist and was buried in the Robie St. Cemetery, Truro, NS.