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James W. Ryan was a Kentville, N.S. merchant who operated a dry goods store known as 'White Hall.' He was born at Canard, Kings County, N.S. on 30 August 1846. He also served as a town councillor and later mayor of Kentville; 1894-1895 and 1913-1914. James was a lieutenant-colonel and commander of the Kings Canadian Hussars. He married Mary Josephine Rafuse and they had four sons, Walter, Robert, Garnet and Winfield and one daughter, Eva Josephine. James died on 21 December 1922 and Mary died on 4 July 1915.

Their son Robert Holden Ryan was also given the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Canadian Militia. At the outbreak of the South African War he served as a non-commissioned officer with the Kings Canadian Hussars. He served overseas with the Canadian Mounted Rifles. During the Russo-Japanese War he served in Japan as a British attaché. During the First World War he commanded the 6th Canadian Mounted Rifles. Robert drowned near his home in Schenectady, N.Y. on 19 September 1934.

Eva Ryan married James Balch of Kentville.

Walter D'Arcy Ryan was born on 17 April 1870. He was educated at Kentville Academy, Progessor Currey's School, St. Mary's College, Memramcook College and the Royal School of Calvary. As a young man he was closely involved with the local militia. He became a commercial engineer and specialized in illumination and light distribution. His work was based at the Illuminating Engineering Laboratory, of which he was director, of the General Electric Company. He also lectured at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He married Katherine (Haskins) and their children were Robert, Virginia, Caroline and Marion. Walter died at Schenectady, N.Y. on 14 March 1934.

The Pryor family of Halifax, can be compared to the Ritchies, Almons and Johnstons, prominent loyalist Nova Scotia families, to whom they were related. The Pryors enjoyed much commercial success and held important public offices in Nova Scotia. The progenitor of the Pryor family in Halifax was Edward Pryor, a New York merchant and United Empire Loyalist, who emigrated with his family to Halifax in 1783. Subsequent generations of the Pryor family included Edward Sr. (1746-1831), his son, Edward Jr. (1768-1855), and grandson, Edward the third (1800-1873). In the nineteenth century, The Pryor family owned all the lands fronting on the Northwest Arm from Quinpool Road to South Street and various lots along the waterfront in the "south suburbs”. Especially extensive were the properties acquired by Edward Jr., whose residence was known as the “Priory," located on the north side of Jubilee Road. It was destroyed by fire ca. 1870. Edward Jr.'s brother, William (1775-1859), founded the firm of William Pryor and Sons, which, at its height, carried on the largest mercantile business in Halifax, engaged in the West India trade. Edward the third, who had also engaged in commerce, died a wealthy man, with a house and lot on Hollis Street, a wharf, many stocks and shares, and many acres of land along the Shubenacadie Canal, the Eastern Shore, and in Colchester County.

Alex "The Scotchman" MacDonald was a farmer and the postmaster at Glen Alpine, Antigonish County. His grandson, Alexander, was a businessman in Antigonish, who was married to Margaret MacGregor. They had one son.

The Knowles family originated with Henry Knowles, who was born in 1609 in England and came to Boston, and then to Rhode Island, with Roger Williams in 1635. In 1767 the Knowles family moved to Newport, Nova Scotia. In 1865, Thomas Benjamin Knowles (1840-1936) left Nova Scotia to study for the ministry at Bethany College in West Virginia. He remained in the United States and raised a family of nine sons with Cordelia Mary (Baldwin) Knowles. They were subsequently joined by other members of the Knowles family who left Nova Scotia for Ohio.

Gideon White, farmer, merchant and shipowner, was born in 1754 at Plymouth, Mass., the son of Gideon White (1717-1779) and Joanna Howland (1716-1810). He married Deborah Whiteworth (1760-1851) in 1787 and the couple had nine children: Joanna, Miles Whitworth, Deborah Foxcroft, Nathaniel Whitworth, Gideon Consider, Cornelius, John Dean Whitworth, Sarah Whitworth, and Thomas Howland. During the War of Independence he fought for the British cause, and as a result at the end of the war, like many other British supporters, was forced to leave his home. White became an agent for the Port Roseway Associates, a group of men working to organize loyal British-Americans to remove to Port Roseway (presently Shelburne), N.S., where they would receive land and support. Following the Loyalists' arrival at Shelburne in 1783, steps were taken to form a local government. In 1785 White was appointed Deputy Registrar of the Court of Vice-Admiralty, and later elected to represent Barrington Township in the Legislative Assembly from 1790-1793. In 1794 he was appointed Justice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, and one year later, appointed customs collector. White continued to receive government appointments; in 1796 he was appointed seizing officer for Shelburne and Queens County and the following year sheriff. Circa 1812 he was appointed Custos Rotulorum and he also served as Judge of the Court of Probate for Shelburne County from 1823-1832. White died at Shelburne in 1833 and his wife Deborah died in 1851. Several of White's children continued to reside in Shelburne and also received numerous government appointments. Nathaniel Whitworth White (1793-1860) became a lawyer and represented Shelburne Township in the Legislative Assembly from 1826-1827, and was also appointed Registrar of the Court of Chancery and was the Master in the Supreme Court of Judicature from 1855-1860. Cornelius White (1797-1871) was also a lawyer and represented Shelburne County in the Legislative Assembly from 1855-1859, and was appointed Registrar for Shelburne County. Another son, Reverend Thomas Howland White (1806-1898) was the rector of Christ Church for close to sixty years. Some of White's grandchildren and great-grandchildren also became prominent members of the community. Cornelius White (1847-1925), son of Cornelius White and his wife Agnes, was appointed Registrar of Deeds and Probate for Shelburne County. Nathaniel Whitworth White (1837-1917), son of Reverend Thomas Howland White, was a practicing lawyer, and was elected to represent Shelburne County in the Legislative Assembly from 1878-1882 and was elected to represent Shelburne in Parliament from 1891-1896. Nathaniel's grandson, also named Nathaniel Whitworth White (b.1905) also operated a law practice at Shelburne.

Hugh C. Kelley was born in Ireland in 1795. He sailed from Dublin, Ireland to Ingomar, N.S. in 1825. He married Mariah Doane soon after his arrival and they settled in Cape Negro, Shelburne County, N.S. The couple had five children: Abigail, James, Ellenor, Hugh Crossby Jr., and Samuel D. Hugh Sr. was a fisherman by trade. Samuel D. (1840-1902) became a captain, married Jemima Grace, and had several children, including their daughter Nettie who married Lewis A. McLean. Hugh Crossby Jr. (1837-1924) married Barbara Ellen Hagar and they had seven children. Hugh Sr. died in 1848.

Thomas Purney was a New England resident who left in 1784 with his wife Eleanor and son James to settle in Shelburne, N.S. James remained in Shelburne and married Mary Hamilton. The couple had two sons, James and George Alexander, and a daughter Sarah Jane. George married Nina Gordon McKay, and they had a son Charles. Charles married Anastatia Freeman and they had two sons, Arthur Kenneth and Robert Charles.

The Bell family of Halifax, N.S., is descended from the Hon. Hugh Bell (1780-1860), educator, businessman, officeholder, politician and philanthropist. Originally from Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, Hugh Bell came as a child to Nova Scotia after the American Revolutionary War. He married first in 1808 Elizabeth Lane at Halifax and secondly in 1815 Ann Allison at the Mantua estate near Newport, N.S. He was related through his second wife to Charles Frederick Allison, founder of Mount Allison University. Hugh Bell and several of his descendents owned businesses in Halifax. They were strongly involved with the Methodist Church in Nova Scotia and Sackville, N.B.

La famille Doucet trace ses origines aux premièrs jours de la colonisation acadienne à la baie Sainte-Marie. Un des plus illustres fils de cette famille fut Pierre Doucet qui vint s'installer à la Pointe-à-Major en 1775.