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Perry Borden was born in Tiverton, Rhode Island on November 9, 1738, the son of Samuel Borden and Peace Mumford) Borden. His father was one of the surveyors hired by the Nova Scotia Government in 1760 and he was a grantee in the Township of Cornwallis. After his return to New England, Samuel gave his grant to his son, Perry, who became the progenitor of the family in Kings County. Perry Borden was married twice, in 1761 to Emma Perry/Percy(?) and in 1767 to Mary Ells/Ellis(?), with two sons in the first family and nine in the second. His descendants included his great-grandsons, Sir Robert Borden and Sir Frederick Borden. He died on January 27, 1805.

William Coates Borrett, author, historian and broadcaster, was born in Dartmouth, N.S. in 1894. He was educated at royal military schools in Canada and Cowbridge Grammer School in Wales. He served with the Canadian Armed Forces in both World Wars. Early in his career he was a pioneer in radio broadcasting, establishing the first commercial station in Nova Scotia in 1926 (CHNS). He was managing director until 1956 when he became vice-president of the Maritime Broadcasting Company. As an author and historian he was known for several books based on "Tales Told Under the Town Clock," a series of talks on CHNS Radio, Halifax, in the 1940s and 1950s. He was also an amateur painter of historic landmarks such as the Old Town Clock. After his retirement from broadcasting he became commandant of the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires (Nova Scotia Division) and was also appointed by the Canadian government to oversee the restoration of Citadel Hill. He was honorary superintendent of the National Historic Park until 1962, supervising the early reconstruction and encouraging the opening of the Army and Navy Museums in the casemates and a branch of the Nova Scotia Museum in the Cavalier Barracks. In 1969 the Canadian government presented him with a certificate of recognition for his contribution to the work of the national historic sites programme. He died in 1983.

John George Bourinot was born 24 October 1836 in Sydney, N.S., and attended Trinity College in Toronto. He was the co-founder and editor of the Evening Reporter in Halifax and reporter on the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly, 1860-1867. In Ottawa, he served as shorthand writer to the Senate, 1868-1873; assistant clerk of the House of Commons, 1873-1880; and chief clerk of the House of Commons, 1880-1902. Bourinot also held various positions in the Royal Society of Canada, 1882-1902, and was the author of several books and articles on Canadian history and the government and history of Nova Scotia. His best-known works include Parliamentary Procedure and Practice in the Dominion of Canada (1884), and A Manual of the Constitutional History of Canada... (1894). He was awarded a CMG in 1890, a KCMG in 1898, and honourary degrees from almost all Canadian universities. He died in 1902.

The gold mine in the Oldham district near Enfield, Nova Scotia was a business interest of the Brennan family of Prince Edward Island. It was started in 1903 by William A. Brennan under the name Oldham Sterling Gold Company Ltd (1903-ca1916). W.A. Brennan had purchased the land from J.E. Hardman of Oldham, NS and from Frederick Taylor of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States near the end of Nova Scotia’s second “gold rush” 1895 to 1903. He also established an ore crushing mill on the site for his use and the use of other miners in the area. Oldham Sterling Gold Co. enjoyed some early success mining gold 1907 to 1912. After W.A.’s death in 1916, the Oldham property was inherited by his 2 sons Arthur and Victor and wife Rosara. Lacking the financial means to actively mine the property themselves, the Brennans looked for investors. Their first investor was Charles Spearman, a mining engineer from Montreal, who mined the district under the name Acadia Gold Mines Ltd. (1926-ca1932). It may have also operated under the name Acadia Metals Ltd. for a short time. When Spearman was unable to meet expenses and payroll for the miners, the company went bankrupt and the property reverted back to the Brennans. After several attempts to attract new investors, Arthur Brennan sold it to George Reynolds of New York, United States, and another Montreal-based group of investors under the name Avon Gold Mines Ltd. in 1935 (1935-1955). This company was active until about 1943 when labour shortages and equipment restrictions brought on by the Second World War (1939-1945) made operating the mine unprofitable. It never recovered in the post-war era and ownership again reverted back to the Brennan family. By 1955, Arthur’s son William “Bill” Brennan sold off the remaining equipment and all mining operations ceased.

John Brett is a Nova Scotia filmmaker who has spent over 20 years making films and videos that are in one way or another tied to the sea. In his most personal work, he often shoots, edits and writes as well as being producer/director. Among his many titles are the much acclaimed feature-length documentary Sea of Slaughter, based on Farley Mowat's bestselling book of the same name. Brett's work has received many major awards and has been seen on television around the world. He lives in Nova Scotia and his National Film Board credits include: Rivers to the Sea (1989) and The Voyage of the 7 Girls (2001), both of which he directed. He was co-editor of John Walker's 2008 film Passages.

George Brinley was the fifth and youngest son of Col. Francis Brinley of Roxbury, Massachusetts. He married Mary Wentworth (1743-1819) on 29 October 1765. He was forced to leave the United States with his brother Thomas when they were proscribed as Loyalists by the state in 1778. During that same year George and his wife, Mary, moved to Nova Scotia. His wife's sister was Lady Frances Wentworth, wife of the Governor of Nova Scotia, Sir John Wentworth (1737-1820). In 1797, he was appointed Commissary-General for His Majesty's Forces in British North America, holding the office until at least 1808. He died at Halifax in 1809.

Photojournalist Bob Brooks was born in 1927 at Watertown, Conn. After completing his education in the United States, Brooks moved to Yarmouth, N.S. in September 1949. In 1957 he established a commercial photography firm, Bob Brooks Illustrative Photography. His work appeared in Time Life, The Star Weekly, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, McCall's, Harper's, Maclean's, Chatelaine, The London Times, Paris Match and National Geographic, as well as 26 other publications. He was on retainer for The Star Weekly (Toronto) for eight years (1960 to 1968) but concurrently held other major commercial accounts. These included the Halifax Herald Ltd., for whom he covered events in western Nova Scotia. After The Star Weekly closed in 1969, he managed race tracks in Yarmouth and Halifax, and in Barrie, Ont., and supplemented his income by doing freelance photography. Brooks returned to full-time photography in 1972, working on contract for the Nova Scotia Communications and Information Center and joining its permanent staff at Halifax in October 1974. He remained there until his retirement in April 1992. Brooks received over forty international photography awards, which included Master of Photographic Arts (the highest award in Canada for professional photographers) in 1988, the Award of Excellence from the Maritime Professional Photographers Association, and the Art Directors' Award for Canada three times. He was a member of the American Society of Magazine Photographers, the Maritime Professional Photographers Association and the Professional Photographers of Canada. He was one of the original photographers who joined Image Bank International of New York in 1974. Brooks died in September 1999 and is buried in Yarmouth.

Chester "Chet" Brown was a native of Wollaston, Massachusetts, who arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 10 December 1917.

John Brown was born on February 1, 1771 at Draffan in the Parish of Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, the sixth son of John Brown and Margaret (Hamilton) Brown. He first sailed for North America in March of 1794. He lived and worked in New York, Newark and Philadelphia before returning to Scotland in 1796. In 1799 he married a widow, Janet Balfour. Between 1801 and 1813 he was employed as a foreman/book-keeper for manufacturing or mercantile businesses in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1813 he sailed to Halifax under engagement for Mr. MacWirter but was unable to find a suitable location for a store. He subsequently met Capt. Theophilus Crosby of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, who suggested a partnership. After 1814 John Brown carried on this business solely on his own. His wife and sons came to Nova Scotia in 1815 and they all settled in the Yarmouth area. He retired and transferred ownership of his business to his son, Stayley Brown, in 1824 and then with his wife retired to their farm, "Draffan," situated at the head of Lake Hebron. His wife died on April 12, 1844 and John Brown died on April 24, 1863.

Richard Henry Brown was born in Sydney, N.S., the eldest son of Richard and Sibella (Barrington) Brown. He studied at Harvard University from 1860 to 1861 and returned to Sydney where he succeeded his father as general manager of Sydney Mines, retiring in 1901. He was also an amateur photographer and artist. Brown married Barbara Davison (1842-1898) in Pictou, 1864. Their five children were all born at Sydney Mines: twins Margaret (1866-1961) and Elizabeth (1866-1951), Annie (1869-1918), Richard (1872-1928), and Lillian (1878-1967).

Born in Lowther, England, Richard Brown (1805-1882) trained as a mining engineer in the coal mines belonging to Viscount Lowther. In 1825 he was sent to examine and report on the coal mines in Cape Breton, N.S. Brown became general manager of Sydney Mines at Sydney, N.S., where he met and married Sibella Margaret Barrington (1808-1880), daughter of Captain Charles and Elizabeth Barrington, in 1834. They had six children: Margaret Sibella (1836-1854), Richard Henry (1837-1920), Charles Barrington (1839-1917), David Edward (1841-1906), Henry Yorke Lyell (1843-1928), and Sibella Harriott (1847-1911). Brown retired from the mine in 1864 and returned to England. He was succeeded by his son Richard Henry, who served as general manager until 1901. Richard Henry married Barbara Davison (1842-1898) in Pictou, 1864. Their five children were all born at Sydney Mines: twins Margaret (1866-1961) and Elizabeth (1866-1951), Annie (1869-1918), Richard (1872-1928), and Lillian (1878-1967).

Elizabeth Olive Roberta Browne was born on 17 April 1897 at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, the daughter of Rev. Robert M. and Leila J. (Murphy) Browne. She was a former director of the Junior Red Cross. She died in Windsor, Nova Scotia, on 23 December 1984 and was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Charles Ernest Bryant was born circa 1885 near Sheerness, Kent, England the son of Charles and Frances Priscilla Bryant. He immigrated to Canada as a young man working with Furness Withy Lines in Halifax, Nova Scotia, an international liner ship company with head offices in London, United Kingdom. He married Daisy Hutcheson on 3 June 1909 in Newport Landing, Nova Scotia. They had two children: Ian and Norma and lived in Halifax. Norma married into the Stairs family. He died on 11 May 1969 and was buried in Fairview Cemetery.

John MacLennan Buchanan was born on 22 April 1931 in Sydney, N.S. He graduated from Sydney Academy and later attended Mount Allison University where he received a B.Sc. and Engineering Certificate in 1954. He then studied metallurgy at the Nova Scotia Technical College and law at Dalhousie University. He received an LLB in 1958 and began practicing law in Halifax. He entered politics in 1967 and was elected for the Progressive Conservatives in the new provincial riding of Halifax Atlantic. He was re-elected in the general elections from 1970 to 1988. From September 1969 to October 1970 he served as minister of fisheries and public works. On 6 March 1971 he was elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. After winning the general election of September 1978, Buchanan was sworn in as premier on 5 October 1978. On 17 April 1982 he became a member of Privy Council along with other Canadian premiers who had participated in negotiations for repatriation of the Canadian constitution. He resigned as premier in September 1990 when he was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Buchanan was the recipient of numerous awards and honours including five honourary degrees from Nova Scotia institutions. He married Mavis Forsyth of Bear River in 1954 and they had five children.

Gunter Peter Buchta was born in Plauen, Germany, on 26 April 1924. Following a leg wound on the Russian front during the Second World War he used dancing as therapy to rehabilitate his leg. Dancing was to become a lifelong passion. He and his wife immigrated to Canada in 1950 and that same year he was invited to organize the ballroom dance department at the Maritime Conservatory of Music. In 1951 he founded the Corte Club and the Ballroom Dancing Club of Halifax. The square dancers became known as the Buchta Dancers and from 1954 to 1971 performed weekly on the Don Messer Show. In 1975 Buchta was appointed executive director of Dance Nova Scotia (DANS). He served as the first head of the ballroom branch of the Canadian Dance Teachers' Association, was the first Canadian to hold a fellowship from the Dance Teachers' Association of Great Britain and was a founder of the Canadian Championship for Ballroom Dancing. He also served as a judge both nationally and internationally. He died in Halifax on 3 July 1997.

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.

William Hall Buckley (1874-1950) was born at Guysborough, N.S., son of James Buckley, merchant, and his wife Mary (Scott). William Buckley learned watchmaking at Waltham factory, Boston, Mass., and opened a watchmaking and jewellery store, Guysborough, 1894. He married, 1897, Effie M. Hadley of Guysborough. They had nine children, three of whom, Mary Abigail, Edith Willena, and Walter Guy, participated with their father to some degree in a photography business out of the jewellery store. Another son, Carman, became a professional photographer at Antigonish. William Buckley sold his photographs and "real photo" postcards, many of the latter by Walter and Mary as well as a few by Edith. He also had photographs published as postcards by Nerlich and Co., Toronto. Buckley became an optometrist, as did his son Walter, who ran the family business with his father. Walter Buckley revived the family's postcard business, having photographs from 1931-1952 printed by Thatcher Winger Associates. He sold the store in 1968, but continued as an optician out of his home until 1980.

Douglas George Buckley was born on January 16, 1891, in Guysborough, Nova Scotia. His parents were George Edward Buckley and Cecil Mary Pearson. After completing high school, Douglas left Nova Scotia for Toronto where he worked as a cashier for the Sun Life Assurance Company. When war broke out, Douglas enlisted with the rest of his Argonaut Rowing Club. He was stationed in Flanders, Belgium, with the 19th Battalion in 1915 until he was badly injured early in 1916. In the trenches, part of a sandbag wall fell on him causing severe damage to his left wrist. The injury became badly infected, leaving his left wrist and hand mostly immobilised. This was later diagnosed as septic arthritis. He was medically discharged from the army because of the injury, although he did spend nearly the full year in France and England in various hospitals convalescing. Douglas returned to Canada in December 1916 and was officially medically discharged form the army on October 31, 1917. He was able to return to in employment at Sun Life Assurance in Toronto, but never regained full use of his wrist. In December 1917, he married Mabel Louise Hall, and the couple went onto have three children. Both their twins, Margaret and Elizabeth, and son, Douglas George Jr., served in the Second World War. Douglas passed away in 1967, ten years after his wife Mabel.

Dr. George Edward Buckley practiced as a physician in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia for 69 years. Buckley was born in 1847 in Sydney, N.S. the son of Rev. James Buckley (originally from Ireland) and Abigail (Brown) Buckley. His brother was Albert Hall Buckley (1862-1957), a Halifax druggist and his nephew was William Hall Buckley (1874-1950) a Guysborough jeweler and photographer. Buckley attended Sackville Academy and College in New Brunswick before studying under Dr. Samuel Muir of Truro, NS, for eighteen months. Buckley graduated from the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1867. In the same year he moved to the town of Guysborough where his parents were living and began practicing medicine. In 1872 Dr. Buckley married Eva Georgina Campbell of Guysborough, she later died in 1877. One of their children was Abigail Georgina Buckley (1874-1961) who married John Alexander Tory (1868-1950). Dr. Buckley's second marriage was to Celia Mary Pearson of Montreal in 1879 and they had four children. Dr. Buckley was known to be a traveling doctor, but a hip injury in May 1927 caused him to stop all travel, but continued the practice in his home until May 1936. Buckley was a member of the Canadian Medical Association and an honorary member of the Nova Scotia Medical Society. He died in Guysborough in July 31, 1936 at the age of 89.

Gary Clayton Burrill was born in 1955 at Woodstock, N.B. The son of a United Church minister, he grew up in various communities throughout the Maritimes. Burrill graduated from Queen's University in 1978 with an MA in history. He held the position of managing editor of New Maritimes as well as contributing a number of articles to the journal and serving on its board of directors. He taught sociology at Mount Saint Vincent University, Saint Mary's University, and the Maritime School of Social Work. In 1992 Burrill was ordained as a minister in the United Church of Canada and became minister in Upper Musquodoboit. He was co-editor of the book People, Resources, and Power (1987) with Ian MacKay and also authored Away: Maritimers in Massachusetts, Ontario and Alberta (1992).

Alex Busby was born on 10 April 1960. He was educated at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Cooper Union in New York and at the Banff Arts Centre. He began working in film making in 1988 with the Atlantic Filmmakers Co-operative. He has also worked with the National Film Board. He has worked in a number of roles in production and post-production as both a film director and producer. He was responsible for the Genie nominated production 'Folk Art Found Me' in 1993. This short documentary won twelve awards in North America after its release.

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.

James Malcolm Cameron was born in New Glasgow, N.S. in 1913. In the 1930s he began his career in journalism as a proof-reader with the New Glasgow Evening News, and later became a reporter and city editor. From 1939 to 1946 he served in Canada and overseas with the Royal Canadian Artillery. From 1946 to 1952 he was editor and publisher of the Eastern Chronicle. In 1953 he was founder and manager of CKEC radio station. Cameron sold his publishing and broadcasting interests in 1964 and moved to Ottawa, where he served as a member of the Canadian Pension Commission. From 1977 to 1979 he sat on the Pension Review Board. He retired to New Glasgow where he died in 1995.

John Campbell, originally from Argyllshire, Scotland, arrived in Pictou, N.S., in 1821 and relocated to Cape Breton before 1838. He served as lighthouse superintendent of St. Paul Island ca. 1843 and was appointed superintendent of the "humane establishment" for shipwrecks on the island in 1846. In 1874, John's son, Samuel Cunard Campbell, was appointed superintendent of St. Paul Island and was succeeded by his own son, John Malcolm Campbell, ca.1893.

Robert Henry Campbell was born at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 3 August 1915, the son of Ross Douglas and Lily Alice (Wier) Campbell. He was educated at public schools in Dartmouth and Halifax. He attended Dalhousie University, graduating with a BA in 1936, a Diploma of Education in 1937, and a MA in History in 1939. He first taught at a private school in Stanstead, Quebec, for a year before returning to Nova Scotia to continue his career. He married Doris Jollymore in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, in July 1941, and they had one daughter, Margaret. He was associated with the Lunenburg school board for 36 years as a teacher, vice-principal and finally as supervisor of schools for 10 years, retiring in 1977. He was an elder of the Central United Church; a Director of Pine Hill Divinity Hall, Halifax; of Fishermen's Memorial Hospital, Lunenburg; of Lunenburg Heritage Society; and of the Lunenburg Academy Foundation. He was also a member of the Lunenburg Board of Trade and the Curling Club. He was an accomplished amateur photographer, gardener, and craftsman. He died in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia on 27 March 1983 and was buried in Hillcrest Cemetery.