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.
James William Sutherland was born on 8 August 1866, the son of William and Margaret (Grant) Sutherland. He operated the MicMac Quarry on Quarry Island, Pictou County. He supplied grindstones to A.M. Bell & Company Ltd of Halifax, Nova Scotia, as well as significant manufacturers like the Stanley Rule and Level Company of New Britain, Connecticut. He married Jennie Anderson Reid on 23 October 1889. He died on 24 October 1939; the business continued through the efforts of his son-in-law, Guy Chaldecott.
Wallace Robinson MacAskill, professional photographer, was born 1887 at St. Peters, Cape Breton County, N.S., the third son of Angus and Mary (Cunningham) MacAskill. He graduated from the Wade School of Photography in New York in 1907 and opened photographic studios in St. Peters and then Glace Bay before moving to Halifax in 1915. There, he worked for official military photographer W.G. MacLaughlan, and as a printer at Elite Studios from 1916 to 1919. Between 1920 and 1929 he was a photographer with Commercial Photo Service. In 1926, MacAskill married fellow commercial photographer Elva Abriel. In 1929, the Bluenose stamp based on his photograph was issued, and he opened a business under his own name on Barrington Street in Halifax. He became internationally known as a marine photographer and his photographs were used extensively for advertising by the Nova Scotia government. MacAskill published two books, Out of Halifax (1937) and Lure of the Sea (1951). A number of his photographs were also published in Schooner Bluenose by Andrew Merkel (1948). MacAskill was the recipient of numerous awards for his achievements in both photography and yachting, including the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron's Prince of Wales Cup (1932-1934, 1938), Thunderbird Crest Award for marine photography, and fellowship from the Photographers Society of America. He died at his home, "Brigadoon", in Ferguson Cove on 25 January 1956.
Ralph Marsters Loomer was born on 12 May 1905 in Falmouth, Nova Scotia, the son of Handley Wilcox and Eva May (Marsters) Loomer. He was married first to Cloyda Hope Neaves on 16 September 1929 and secondly to Mrs. Avis MacCammon. With assistance from Frank Marriott and others, Loomer organized and operated Avon Greenhouses Limited which became the third largest flower grower in Canada. He was well known on television as the "Avon Valley flower man." Loomer was involved in local cooperatives and agricultural societies, including Nova Scotia Greenhouse Growers Association, 1950s-ca. 1979; Hants Cooperative Limited, 1943-1961; and Producers, Retailers and Consumers Cooperative (PRC), serving as chairman, 1956-1957. He also contributed to the establishment of the Cooperative Snowplow Service in Falmouth, Nova Scotia circa 1974. Loomer was also active in world peace and social democracy issues. He began corresponding with the United States Unitarian Church in the late 1940s and was involved with establishing it in the Maritimes, serving as Executive Secretary, 1952-1961. In the late 1940s, Loomer became involved with the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), serving in various capacities. He ran as the CCF candidate for Colchester-Hants in 1955 and became President of the Nova Scotia Committee of the CCF in 1959, serving in that capacity until the formation of the New Democratic Party on 4 August 1961. He continued working for the party, broadcasting on local radio and making regular television appearances on the "Provincial Affairs" program on CBHT. He also served as a member of the World Federalists of Canada, 1958-late 1970s. He participated in the "Law of the Seas" conferences, 1971-1974, and served as a branch director of the World Federalists of Canada, 1974-1976. Loomer was also President of the Windsor-Falmouth Rotary Club, 1952-1955. He died on 21 February 2003 in Windsor, Nova Scotia.
Isaac Deschamps, né vers 1722 et sans doute d'origine suisse, est arrivé à Halifax, en Nouvelle-Écosse, en 1749. Employé par Joshua Mauger, il fut mis en charge du comptoir de traite de celui-ci en 1754, à Pisiquid (Windsor), où il échangeait avec les Acadiens et les Premières Nations. Deschamps fut nommé truckmaster en 1760 au fort Edward ainsi que juge de paix du comté de Kings. L’année suivante, il fut nommé juge de la Cour inférieure des plaids communs ainsi que magistrat chargé des testaments et successions dans le comté de Kings. Il fut également député du comté d'Annapolis de 1759-1769, du canton de Falmouth de 1761 à 1770, et du canton de Newport de 1770 à 1783. Deschamps occupa la charge de juge en chef suppléant de 1785 à 1790; il fit l'objet d'une enquête concernant la partialité de ses jugements. Il devint en 1799 commissaire de la voirie du comté de Kings. Isaac Deschamps décéda le 11 août 1801 à Windsor.
Writer and novelist Ernest Redmond Buckler was born 19 March 1908 in Dalhousie West, N.S. He received a BA from Dalhousie University in 1929 and an MA in philosophy from the University of Toronto in 1930. For most of his life, he lived at his family's farm near Bridgetown, N.S., where he became interested in writing and published numerous short stories, magazine articles, book reviews, and radio plays. His best known work was his first novel, The Mountain and the Valley (1952). Buckler was the recipient of the Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967, the Order of Canada in 1974, and three honourary doctorates. He died at Bridgetown in March 1984.
Born and raised in Moncton, N.B., Sheva Medjuck received her BA at McGill University and MA and Ph.D. at York University. She has held numerous faculty positions at the Mount St. Vincent University, including associate professor of anthroplogy and sociology, professor, and director of research. She is the author of numerous articles on Jews in Atlantic Canada and topics related to women's studies. She has also served as president of the Atlantic Jewish Council and is an active member of the Canadian Jewish Congress.
Winthrop Pickard Bell was a philosopher, author, and historian. He received a BA in mathematics from Mount Allison University in 1904 and took engineering courses at McGill and Cornell before obtaining an MA from Mount Allison in 1907 and an MA in philosophy from Harvard in 1909. He continued his studies at Cambridge, England, and at Leipzig and Gottingen in Germany. In 1914, he received a Ph.D. from Gottingen. During World War I, Bell was imprisoned in Germany and sent to the civilian prisoner of war camp at Ruhlebeu. Upon his release, he returned to England where he was recruited to work for the British Secret Service. After two years, he returned to Canada due to ill health and began teaching at the University of Toronto. Following a teaching position at Harvard, Bell returned to Nova Scotia and engaged in business until he retired to begin writing. From 1946, he researched and published The "Foreign Protestants" and the Settlement of Nova Scotia (1961). He also served as president of the Nova Scotia Historical Society. Bell was married to Hazel Deinstadt (1889-1966). He died at Chester on 4 April 1965.