Peter Barrett was born in Keason, Cornwall, England in 1841. He emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1866 to work in the Acadia Coal Mines at Albion Mines in Pictou County. Following his travels to the United States and Ontario, he returned to Albion Mines where he worked for several years. He married Hortense Langille on 16 January 1873. In June 1873, the Barretts moved to Springhill, where Peter worked in the mines. While in Springhill, he acquired some property and became involved in a legal battle which resulted in the loss of all of his property. The Barretts removed to Truro in October 1877, and to Cornwall on 8 November 1877.

Mary Byers and Margaret McBurney have researched and published a number of publications on pre-confederation architecture in Ontario and Nova Scotia, including: Atlantic Hearth: Early Homes and Families of Nova Scotia, (1994); Rural Roots: Pre-Confederation Buildings of the York Region of Ontario, (1979); The Governor's Road: Early Buildings from Mississauga to London; Homesteads: Early Buildings and Families from Kingston to Toronto; and Tavern in the Town: Early Inns and Taverns of Ontario.

Mary Byers and Margaret McBurney have researched and published a number of publications on pre-confederation architecture in Ontario and Nova Scotia, including: Atlantic Hearth: Early Homes and Families of Nova Scotia, (1994); Rural Roots: Pre-Confederation Buildings of the York Region of Ontario, (1979); The Governor's Road: Early Buildings from Mississauga to London; Homesteads: Early Buildings and Families from Kingston to Toronto; and Tavern in the Town: Early Inns and Taverns of Ontario.

John Victor Duncanson was born 25 August 1918 in Windsor, N.S., the son of Adelaide (Aylward) and John Maxner Duncanson. He received a BA from Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario. In 1940, he enlisted in the army and served in the Royal Canadian Medical Corps in both Canada and Europe until July 1946. He then worked in the field of personnel and industrial relations with positions in New Brunswick, Alberta, Quebec and Ontario. His interest in geneaological research developed into the publication of three books: Falmouth - a New England Township in Nova Scotia (1962); Newport, Nova Scotia - a Rhode Island Township (1985); and Rawdon and Douglas: Two Loyalist Townships in Nova Scotia (1989). In 1993 Duncanson was named planter scholar by Acadia University for his research on the New England Planter migration to Nova Scotia. He died at Windsor on 14 January 1999.

Barbara (nee Lucas) Grantmyre was born in Bolton, England in 1908 and lived most of her life in Elmsdale, N.S. Throughout her career she published a number of short stories, articles, novelettes, plays, and three books: Lunar Rogue (1963), A Rose for Minnie Mullet (1964), and The River That Missed the Boat (1975). Many of her stories were used for radio dramas on CBC. She died in 1977.

James Bolton Laidlaw is believed to be the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Laidlaw, merchant and one of the founders of the Universalist Church in Halifax. James married Sarah Sophia Howell, the daughter of Jacob Howell, on 7 October 1862 in Halifax. James worked as a grocer in his father's store and was an active member of the Universalist Church.

Author and journalist Marjorie (Freeman) Major was born in 1900 in Dover Foxcroft, Maine, where she finished her schooling before moving to Canada. She attended Maritime Business College in Halifax and began her writing career in the mid-1930s with a column in the Halifax Mail entitled "Armdale News". She later served as editor of the Halifax Gazette and Commercial News, and was lecturer at the Atlantic School of Journalism beginning in 1962. Major also contributed articles to various national and regional newspapers, journals, and magazines, and authored How Nova Scotia got its tartan (1972), and From the ground ...the story of planting in Nova Scotia (1981).

Preston F. Smith of Barrington Passage, N.S., had a great interest in the history of Barrington Township. In the 1970s, he commissioned Evelyn Richardson and John D. Smith to prepare a history of the township with accompanying sketches. He died in 1991.

Mary Etta Macdonald was born 24 December 1890 in Durham, N.S. She attended Pictou Academy and the Saskatchewan Normal School and received a diploma in Household Economics from Acadia Ladies Seminary in 1924. She was a teacher in Saskatchewan, Massachusetts, and Nova Scotia, author of several published articles, short plays, and poems, and a vocalist. Marietta married B.C. Silver in 1929.