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Authority record
Lomas family
2022.006 · Family · 1927-2012

Alton Anderson Lomas was born 29 March 1927 in Halifax, Nova Scotia to Alton Inkerman Lomas, manager of the Henry Birks & Sons store, and Mary Forbes (Anderson) Lomas, a schoolteacher from a prominent family in Sherbrooke, NS. One year later, Aleah Henderson Palmer was born 8 June 1928 in Boston, Massachusetts, to businessman Ingham Wright Palmer and Maude (Henderson) Palmer. The Palmers were Canadian, and returned to Canada in 1933, settling in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. In 1948, Alton (Al) and Aleah met as undergraduate students with a mutual interest in History, and the couple wed in 1949. 
Al and Aleah lived in Halifax and Windsor, Nova Scotia, as well as Borden, Ontario, until Al was appointed to the Canadian Foreign Trade Commissioner Service in 1953. From 1953-1982, Al worked as Vice-Consul and Assistant Commissioner at the Canadian Government Trade Commission in Detroit, Michigan; Trade Commissioner at the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico; Trade Commissioner and Commercial Secretary of the Canadian Embassy in Brussels, Belgium; Trade Commissioner, Canadian Consulate General and Canadian Delegate to the United Nations Development Program in New York City, New York; Senior Assistant to the Deputy Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce in Ottawa, ON; Assistant Deputy Minister at Nova Scotia Department of Development, then Secretary to the Council of Maritime Premiers in Halifax, NS; and Senior Trade Officer and Minister of the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, China.  
After Al Lomas retired from government service, he and Aleah moved to Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia, where they dedicated themselves to community service. In 1983, Aleah became Librarian and Storytime Leader at Sherbrooke Library, and in the 1990s, she reported on local news for CBC radio. She was also appointed to serve on the Historic Sherbrooke Restoration Commission. Al and Aleah collected extensive research on the Municipality of St. Mary’s with the intention of publishing a historical account of the area. The couple had two children, and five grandchildren. After Al Lomas passed away 17 June, 2000, Aleah continued her volunteer work. She was awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Heritage Award and the Sir John Coape Sherbrooke Heritage Award in 2004. In 2005, Aleah married Murray Anderson, and they remained together until Aleah passed away on 18 August 2012.

Murdoch family
Family · 1825-1949

William A. Murdoch (1825-1915) of Sherbrooke, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, married Maria Nickerson (1825-1911) and together they had seven children: Emma (1854-1917); Alexander (1856-1922); William J. (1858-1923); George (1860-1934); Anna (1862-1946); Gordon (1865-1949); and Charles (1867-1949). The family played an important role in transportation history along the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. During the late 19th century through to the 1920s, the family of master mariners owned and captained the coastal steamships "Wilfred C." and "S.S. Dufferin," which offered passenger and freight services between Halifax and Sherbrooke, stopping in the communities Port Dufferin, Harrigan Cove, Moser River, Ecum Secum, Marie Joseph, Liscomb, and Sonora, before heading up the river to Sherbrooke.

Three of William A. Murdoch's sons, William J., George, and Charles became master mariners that captained the S.S. Dufferin.