Charles Balish was born 15 January 1896 in Beirut, Lebanon. He emigrated to Nova Scotia, settling in Lockeport and married Eva May Knickerson (born 11 November 1900 and died 11 November 1980) of Cape Sable Island. The Balishes ran a general store which may be seen on the 1938 Lockeport Lockout film. Mr. Balish documented events which were important to the growth of his family, his community and his province. Charles Balish died in February 1986.

Donald Roy Wiles (1924-2022), amateur linguist and chemistry professor, was born in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada in August 1924 to Neil Douglas Wiles (1899-1983) and Hilda M. (Vaughan) Wiles (1896-1986). Educated in Amherst, then Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick he earned a Bachelor of Science degree 1946, and Bachelor of Education degree 1947. Before his career in chemistry took him to Norway, the United States, and Western Canada, he spent the summer of 1946 visiting his mother’s family in Martin’s Point, Lunenburg County. Both sides of the family could trace their roots back to the “Foreign Protestants” who first settled Lunenburg. While there he recorded the German language spoken by the elders of that community and wrote down some of the German customs persisting there. After earning his Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States in 1953, he worked at the University of British Columbia 1955-1959, then joined the Chemistry Department faculty at Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario from 1959 until his retirement in September 1990. He continued teaching occasional courses in chemistry until just before his death on July 13, 2022 in Almonte, Ontario.

Mark Edward Simkins (1954-2022) was a freelance photograph journalist and film maker in Halifax, Nova Scotia (NS), Canada and LaHave, Lunenburg County, NS. Born in 1954 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, to military Captain Harold Edward “Ted” and Mary Shirley (Martindale) Simkins, Mark Simkins graduated high school in Peterborough, Ontario in 1973, then studied Journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa, 1974-1975, and Dalhousie University in Halifax 1977-1978. After University he worked as a reporter-photographer for the Truro Daily News 1979-1980, and sold photographs to the Canadian Press 1980-1981, and the Atlantic Bureau of United Press Canada (UPC) 1981-1982 under the name “Mark Simkins Photography”. In 1998 he moved from Halifax to LaHave NS where he sold photographs to local gift shops for re-sale and covered sports and town council meetings for the local newspapers, until 2003. Simkins also worked as a film technician and cinematographer until 2002. He served as president of the Nova Scotia Photographers Cooperative in 1986 and was a member of the Atlantic Filmmakers Coop (AFCOOP) with whom he directed the docu-drama “Mary and the Mayor: the Housing Crisis”, from 1988 to 1990. Mark Simkins died in Halifax NS on November 19, 2022.

David Earle Lewis (1919-1975), short story author and teacher, was born November 15, 1919 in Melvern Square, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia to Earl Gordon Lewis (1893-1964) and Isabel Jean (Laing) Lewis (b.1891). David E. Lewis earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1940 from Acadia University in Wolfville, NS. He worked in the Treasury Branch of the Department of National Defence (Navy) in St. John’s, Newfoundland (1943-1946) before returning to Acadia University to earn his Bachelor of Education in 1950. He received a teaching license for high school in 1951 and was hired by the newly constructed Bridgetown Regional High School in 1954. By 1957 he was living in Montreal, Quebec running his own bookstore, “David Lewis Books”. He returned to Bridgetown, NS and resumed teaching high school Latin and English in 1963, until retirement in 1972. He wrote regular columns for the Bridgetown Monitor newspaper, under titles “Here and There” (1967-1974) and “Bridgetown Scene,” had some short stories published in Maclean’s Magazine (1972), and published a book of humorous short stories titled “A Lover Needs a Guitar” (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1973). David E. Lewis died at home in Bridgetown on October 13, 1975 at age 56.

Rob Richardson, Halifax Explosion survivor, was reportedly attending university in Halifax when the Halifax Explosion occurred on the morning of December 6, 1917. His family lived in Chipman, New Brunswick.

Jean Isabel (Burgess) Kirstine was born in 1917 to Nelsie Winnifred McLeod (1880-1975) and David W. Burgess (1873-1945) in Hanover, Ontario, Canada. She married Gordon McPhail “Mac” Kirstine (1915-2012) in 1940, worked as a school teacher, and raised 5 children in Walkerton, ON. In the 1970s Jean started researching her family history, compiled a genealogy on her mother’s McLeod ancestors from Nova Scotia. She traced her mother’s paternal line from father Jason McLeod (1845-1933) to James Bent McLeod (b.1799) to James McLeod (b.1772) to John McLeod Jr. (1744-1825) of Liverpool, NS who came to Nova Scotia from Scotland in 1762. Jean died in 2007 in Hanover, ON, age 89.

Albert Oy Lee (1952- ), amateur historian and professional photo-journalist, was born in 1952 in Halifax, Nova Scotia to Shew Chuck Lee (1907-1990) and Sui Fa (Kung) Lee. He graduated from New York Institute of Photography and the Germain School of Photography in New York, United States in 1970 and from Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario in 1973. He worked as a freelance photographer in Toronto, New York, Southeast Asia and the Atlantic provinces of Canada. Albert Lee researched his family’s immigration to Canada from Hoi Ping, Guangdong Province, China and became interested in the history of Chinese immigration to the Maritimes. In 1997 he organized an historical exhibit for the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History in Halifax, NS then joined Saint Mary’s University Gorsebrook Research Institute (GRI) as a research associate. He has published articles and given public talks in Halifax and in Vancouver, BC, recorded interviews with community members, and worked with the University of British Columbia Library on a digital exhibit for the internet in 2011-2012.

John Frederick Traugott Gschwind (ca.1748-1827), Hessian army and Nova Scotia militia officer, physician, and office holder, was born circa 1748 in Oberdaubnitz, near Meissen, Saxony (German Democratic Republic). In 1776 he arrived in New York City, United States as part of the Hessian army recruited by the British government to suppress the colonial rebellion. In October 1778, his regiment was transferred to Halifax, Nova Scotia and he became a military surgeon with a civilian medical practice on the side. He married Anna Fletcher (1750-1805) on August 3, 1782 and they had one daughter, also named Anna. When his regiment returned to Europe after the conclusion of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, Gschwind stayed in Halifax. As a reward for his military service, he was granted land in Halifax County in 1784 and 1788. In 1793 he was appointed surgeon of the 2nd Halifax Militia Regiment, promoted to surgeon and physician general of the provincial militia in 1796. He was appointed health officer for the Port of Halifax in 1799, responsible for inspection of incoming ships to prevent the spread of contagious diseases, a post he held until 1825. He died 2 September 1827 in Halifax.

Violet Marian (Currie) Fry (1902-1991), housewife, mother of four, and a survivor of the Halifax Explosion of December 6, 1917, was born August 2, 1902 in Halifax, Nova Scotia to James McLean Currie (1869-1941) and Prudence (Sharpe) Currie (1875-1954). At the time of the Explosion, Violet was 15 years old, living with her parents and seven siblings at 90 North Kline Street where her father owned a dairy and delivered milk by horse and wagon. Violet survived the north end disaster as did her family, and their house became a shelter for many who were homeless. In April 1922 Violet married Wilfred A. “Mick” Fry (1901-1972), a machinist, and they had four children: Douglas, Wallace, Marion and Joyce. Violet died on April 23, 1991 in Halifax.

Jean Hazel (Nickerson) Crook (1920-2011) was born 14 August 1920 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She studied piano and organ at Maritime Academy of Music in Halifax from 1935 to 1941 and began teaching piano at age 16. She was a founding member of the Dartmouth Chapter of the NS Registered Music Teachers Association, was a member of staff at the Academy of Music 1943-1944, organist and choir director for St. Albans Anglican Church in Dartmouth, NS during the 1940s, then for Emmanuel Anglican Church from the 1970s until retirement. She married George W. Crook on 4 September 1948 and had 3 children. She continued to teach piano lessons in her home until the 1990s. She died 21 June 2011, in Dartmouth, NS.