Charles Parnell Barrington was born in 1770 in Middlesex, England. He married Elizabeth Hayward Budd and the couple had eleven children: Margaret Sibella, Carter, Harriet, Victoria, Christina, Elizabeth Ann, Olivia Mary, John, Sidney William, Henry and Edwin John Carter. Barrington immigrated to Canada where he joined the militia and was stationed first in Quebec and then Charlottetown, P.E.I. He was finally stationed at Sydney, Nova Scotia, holding the position of Captain of the 7th Battalion of the 60th Rifles of Foot. He settled at Sydney Mines in 1817 and brought his family over from England. Barrington died in 1848. Many of the Barrington children and grandchildren remained in Cape Breton. Yorke Henry Ainsley Barrington, son of Edwin, and his son Yorke Cotrill Barrington, became heavily involved in the founding of the Cape Breton coal industry.
Richard Gibbons Jr. was born in 1734 at London, England, the son of Richard and Susannah Gibbons. He received his early education in England. The family first immigrated to Virginia and then Halifax, Nova Scotia. Richard Jr. married Susanna Shepard on 10 May 1783 at Halifax. On 14 May 1765 he was admitted as a solicitor of the Court of Chancery for Nova Scotia. On 31 October 1765, Gibbons was named a clerk for the Inferior Court of Common Pleas. In 1770, he was elected to the Legislature for Barrington Township for one year. Between 1777-1781, he was Solicitor General and in 1781 named Attorney General. On 25 July 1784 Gibbons was named Chief Justice for Cape Breton and he and his family moved to the island. Richard Gibbons Jr. died on 3 August 1794 in a prison at Nantes, France. His son, Richard Gibbons III was Attorney General of Cape Breton and a leading lawyer and separatist. The Gibbons family resided largely around Marion Bridge during the twentieth century.
The Liscombe family settled in Cape Breton in the middle of the nineteenth century. Edward Liscombe (1811-1901), a blacksmith, married Margaret Oliver (1816-1898) in 1838; among their family was Francis "Frank" J. (1847-1926) who married Susan Howie. Frank and Susan Liscombe had five children: Harry Oliver, Rebecca Emily, Olive Margaret, Ella Muriel and Francis Gerald. The family was musical and participated in many musical groups.
Simeon Horn came to Nova Scotia with his widowed mother and family, probably from England, circa. 1802. He settled in the Mira area on Cape Breton Island. The area of land that Horn was granted became known as Hornes Road. On 4 April 1804 he married Mary Noel and the couple had seven children: Samuel Levi, Jane, Mary Ann, Elias, John W., Phillip, and David. Samuel (1805-1877) married Mary LeCrass and the couple had seven children, including Thomas (1882-1976). Thomas married Beatrice Campbell and the couple had five children.
Peter F. Leaver was born in 1773. On 19 January 1806 he married Esther Jones. The couple resided in the Main-a-Dieu, N.S. area and had (at least) three children: Maria, Caroline Frances (1808-1896) and Elizabeth Sarah (1810-1903). Leaver served as a Justice of the Peace and a school teacher in Main-a-Dieu. He died in 1811.
Nicolas Sanson was a French historian and cartographer. Sanson issued the "Postes de France" in 1632 and after publishing several general atlases himself he became the associate of Pierre Mariette, a publisher of prints. In 1692 Hubert Jaillot collected Sanson's maps in an Atlas nouveau.
Antoine de Sartine (1729 – 1801) was born in Barcelona Spain, the son of French financier Antoine Sartine. He studied law in Paris. After graduation he purchased the commission of Criminal Lieutenant of Police and was subsequently ennobled. He was appointed Lieutenant General of Police in 1759. He proved to be a competent and effective city administrator. He earned the 1775 commission of Secretary of State for the Navy and the honorific rank of Minister of State. His influence put the French in a position to aid the American Revolutionaries against the British at the close of the Revolutionary War. It was during his tenure as head of the French Navy that Sartine ordered the creation of numerous updated nautical charts.
James Wyld (1790-1836) and his son, James Wyld junior, were successful London map publishers. Both had also served as a royal geographer. Wyld senior served as geographer to George IV and William IV. He was a founding member of the Royal Geographical Society. In 1812, James Wyld senior introduced lithography into map printing.
Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres was born in 1729. Most scholars believe that JFW DesBarres was born in Basle, Switzerland while others argue he was born in Paris. DesBarres died in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1824.
DesBarres held many careers in the Maritimes including engineer and administrator. He served as captain in the Royal American regiment of Foot, and as Surveyor General of NAC. DesBarres did most of his surveying work between 1763 and 1773.He was the Lieutenant Governor of Cape Breton Island and, later, Prince Edward Island and the founder of Sydney, NS. DesBarres is most famously known for his cartography work and as the author of The Atlantic Neptune, published for the use of the Royal Navy of Great Britain.
Designed as an aid to navigation, The Atlantic Neptune is a large collection of charts and views produced by DesBarres. The Neptune was a collaboration between Samuel Holland and DesBarres (although they did not conduct joint surveys or correspond often). The compilation and editing was done by independently by DesBarres. The Neptune is his most widely known accomplishment and made him famous as a hydrographer.
Herman Moll (1654 – 1732) was a map publisher and engraver based in London and Holland. Moll moved to London in 1678 where he worked as an engraver and eventually set-up his own shop. He published several important atlases late in his career. He died in London in 1732.
Captain Henry Wolsey Bayfield (1795-1885) was born in Kingston Hull, England. At age 11 he entered the Royal Navy. He moved up in rank and served in the Mediterranean, off the coasts of France, Holland, and Spain, in the West Indies, and at Quebec and Halifax before joining the British flotilla on Lake Champlain in October 1814. He became acting lieutenant in Kingston, Upper Canada, on the sloop Star, a vessel employed in the Royal Navy’s surveying service on the Canadian lakes under the command of Captain William Fitz William Owen. Bayfield assisted Owen in the summer of 1816 in the survey of Lake Ontario and the upper St Lawrence from Kingston to the Galop Rapids at Edwardsburg Upper Canada. Bayfield soon became in charge of surveying. Bayfield was promoted commander in 1826. While in England he persuaded the Admiralty that a survey was required of the St Lawrence River and Gulf, to be connected with the chain of surveys from Lake Superior eastward. The Admiralty appointed Bayfield superintendent of the St Lawrence survey in 1827. One of Bayfield’s special concerns was to obtain measurements of the distances between the meridians of Quebec, Halifax, and St John’s. By 1848 Bayfield had surveyed the entire coastline of Prince Edward Island the Northumberland Strait coast of Nova Scotia, and the northeastern extremity of the Gaspé. In the next five years, he concentrated on a survey of Cape Breton Island begun in 1847, the Strait of Canso, Isle Madame, and the Bras d’Or Lake.
Gerard van Keulen was the son of Johannes van Keulen, a Dutch cartographer who started a publishing and book selling business in 1681. Gerard took over control of the firm in 1714 and continued to add to the company's vast body of cartographic work.
Joseph Bernard, marquis de Chabert was a French naval officer, geographer and astronomer. He was commissioned in 1750 to go to North America to correct the maps of the coasts of Acadia, Isle Royale and Newfoundland. It was during this trip that Bernard visited Louisbourg and established an observatory. He documented his findings in the publication "Voyage fait par order du Roi en 1750 et 1751".
Thomas Kitchin was an engraver and map-maker from Southwark, England. Kitchin was apprenticed to Emanuel Bowen in 1732 and in 1773 appointed royal hydrographer to King George III. He produced John Elphinstone's map of Scotland (1746), Geographia Scotia (1749), and The Small English Atlas (1749) with Thomas Jefferys. The Large English Atlas (with Bowen 1749–60) was an attempt to cover England at large scale. He produced 170 maps for the London Magazine (1747–83). He died in St Albans in 1784.
Donald J. MacKenzie was born at Milton, N.S. in 1895. He received his early education in Glace Bay and later at Sydney Academy. He studied medicine at Dalhousie University and graduated in 1918. From 1918 to 1920 he served with the R.C.A.M.C. In 1920 he established a general practice at Louisbourg. In 1921 he received the Rockerfeller International Scholarship and studied at John Hopkins and McGill Universities from 1921-1922. From 1922 to 1926 he taught bacteriology and pathology at Dalhousie University. He was appointed director of the Public Health Laborotory, a position he held from 1926-1962. Throughout his career in was involved in numerous professional organizations, including the Halifax Medical Society and the Royal College of Physicians. He retired to Mira Gut in 1962.
Archie MacIntyre was born 23 May 1903, the son of Archie and Elizabeth (Wilson) MacIntyre. He married Catherine MacDonald in 1933 and they had at least one child, Joan. MacIntyre was a coal miner and in his retirement did a considerable amount of work educating children about early coal mining conditions.
John Archy MacDonald was born at Washabuckt, N.S., the son of Allan and Sarah (MacNeil) MacDonald. He married Mary Agnes MacKinnon and the couple had eleven children: Leonard, Mary, Joseph Allan, Sylvester, Mildred, Hector, Cecilia, Collette, Martin, Leo and Christina. MacDonald operated a general store at Iona, Nova Scotia. During World War I, he served as a Lieutenant in the Canadian Army and prior to the war he served in the local militia. He represented the district of Iona on the Municipal Council of the County of Victoria for many years. In 1929 he removed to Dartmouth and in 1934 to Halifax. MacDonald was a member of the Canadian Martyr's Parish and of the Holy Name Society. He was also Chairman of the Mother's Allowance Commission until his death.
Sir Donald Cameron MacDonald, KSG, was born in Mull River in 1872. A barrister by profession, MacDonald served first as treasurer of the county of Inverness until 1910 when he was appointed inspector of customs. In 1928 he was named a Knight of St. Gregory by Pope Pius X1. He was a Gaelic scholar and was active in community affairs, particularly the Knights of Columbus, Red Cross, and Victory Loan drives. MacDonald died in 1948.
Daniel J. MacKay was the son of John and Jane (MacDonald) MacKay of Port Hood, Nova Scotia. He married and had (at least) six children: Josephine, J. Campbell, Elizabeth, Alphonsus, Mary Campbell and Colin. He served as Inverness County Court Clerk and Postmaster from 1901 until his death in 1921.
Roderick A. Johnston was a resident of Bridgeport, Nova Scotia. He married Mary Ann Stewart and the couple had at least one child, John Joseph. Johnston was a miner in the Bridgeport area and for a short time he worked in the Harbour Pitt, Little Glace Bay. Johnston died on 1 January 1915.
Harold W. MacKenzie (known usually as Harry) was born at Beaverton, Ontario in 1895. Between 1902 and 1913 he attended public schools at Beaverton. In 1913 he joined a survey crew in Cornwall. In 1916 MacKenzie joined the army and served with the 1st Battalion of the Canadian Royal Troops in France during World War I. Following the war he was employed working on the Welland Canal until 1925 when he removed to the Maritimes where he supervised the dredging of numerous harbours, building of the Dartmouth Ferry Docks, and other construction projects. In 1951 he was appointed Resident Engineer for the Canso Causeway project. He held this position until 1957, when the navigation lock and swing bridge portion of the project was completed.
Alexander Lauder Hay was born in Scotland, circa 1887. He emigrated to Glace Bay, Nova Scotia in 1900. For several years Hay worked in local coal mines, before enrolling in a Pittsburg institute where he earned a degree in mining engineering. Hay returned to Nova Scotia and worked as a mining engineer for the British Empire Steel Corporation and Dominion Steel and Coal Company. He also wrote several books on mining. Hay died in 1939.
James William Maddin was born at Westville, Nova Scotia in 1874. Maddin attended Pictou Academy. He apprenticed and worked as a journeyman machinist for the Intercolonial Coal and Mining Company. He later earned a law degree from Dalhousie University and established a law practice at Sydney, Nova Scotia, specializing in criminal law. Maddin married Maude MacDonald and the couple had five children: Warrena, Agnes, Olive, Jean and William-Langile. During World War I he served with the 185th Battalion, earning the rank of major. He served as a Member of Parliament, representing Cape Breton South and later appointed Stipendary Magistrate. Maddin died in 1961.
John George Brooks Lynch was born in 1885 at Almonte, Ont. In 1909 he married a Miss Butler and the couple had four children: John, Dennis, Betty and Maurice. He later remarried to Betty MacAskill. Lynch and his second wife had two children: Kevin and George. In 1906 Lynch graduated from McGill University medical school and was appointed to the medical staff of Dominion Iron and Steel Company in Sydney, N.S. around 1909. Lynch died in 1973.
Antonio Zatta was a prominent Italian map publisher of the late 18th and early 19th century. His firm, based in Venice, produced maps that mark an important transition from 18th to 19th century cartographic styles. He updates and redefines the traditional title cartouche by replacing the mythic elements common to the 17th and 18th century with more representative images. His most important work is the four volume Atlante novissim.
George Mercer Dawson was born in Pictou and lived in Nova Scotia. In 1868–69 Dawson attended McGill College. He next attended the Royal School of Mines in London, England. The school was organized and staffed by the Geological Survey of Great Britain to promote along scientific lines the development of the mineral wealth of Britain and its colonies. Dawson gained intensive training there in, natural history, palaeontology, chemistry, mining and metallurgy, and applied mechanics, from some of the best authorities in these fields. In the summer of 1872 he contracted with several businessmen to assay coal and iron ores in Nova Scotia and taught chemistry at Morrin College, Quebec. When a position became available on the Geological Survey of Canada that year Dawson served as naturalist and geologist on the international boundary survey from Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, becoming assistant director in 1883. In geology and geography Dawson offered an outstanding contribution to the primary task of mapping and naming surface features in complex terrain. He included systematic ethnological inventories in his geological surveys, intending his reports on native peoples to advise government in the formulation of policy. His Sketches of the past and present condition of the Indians of Canada (1879) surveyed the distribution and declining numbers of aboriginal peoples in the light of the apparent inevitability of political dominion in the west by European Canadians.
Thomas Jefferys was an accomplished cartographer and engraver. Jefferys apprenticed to Emmanuel Bowen and engraved many maps found in the popular "Gentleman's Magazine". He contributed well known maps to "The American Atlas", and many of these maps continued to be published and republished by the Sayer and Bennet firm after his death.
The St. Rita's Nursing School was established in 1924 and operated until 1933. It was re-established in 1955 at the 162-bed location opened in 1955 at the corner of Kings Road and Churchill Drive, overlooking Sydney harbour.
Dr. Rev. Jan Huntjens was associate professor of theology at the College of Cape Breton, Sydney, Nova Scotia from 1968 to 1978.
John William Howie was born in Cape Breton, the son of Alexander and Catherine (Blackett) Howie. His first wife was Rebecca Archibald. He was remarried after her death to Harriet Amelia Addy of Aylesford, Kings County on 23 September 1875. The couple had four children: Susan Kate, Emily Jane, Lavinia Ella and Fredrick. Howie was ordained as a Methodist preacher on 1 July 1861. He served as the first minister of the Gabarus, Gull Cove, Fourchu and later on Louisbourg circuit of the Methodist Church. Howie died ca. 1910.
Roderick J. MacNeil was a carriage maker from Big Pond, Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia who founded his business ca. 1890.
He was a 17th-century Dutch cartographer. He published the influential nautical atlas the Zee-Atlas and the pilot guide Zee-Fakkel
Richard Gridley was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a soldier and military engineer who served for the British Army during the French and Indian Wars. He was involved in the 1745 and 1758 sieges of Louisbourg.
Duncan S. Morrison was born at Catalone, Nova Scotia in 1878. He married Kate MacKinnon of Mira Ferry ca. 1903. Following her death in 1937, he married Charlotte Emeline Brehaut in 1938. He served in the South African War and retained his interest in military affairs after World War 1. He was an Officer Commanding 9th Coy F. C., Corps of Canadian Engineers (Militia) from 1929 to 1936. Morrison was a professional engineer, employed by Dominion Steel and Coal Company, Towns of New Waterford and Glace Bay and the City of Sydney. He was active in civil affairs and promoted credit unions and cooperatives as well as a junior college for Sydney. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) and the Scottish Society in Cape Breton. He was a member of the United Church and served in various official capacities. Morrison died in 1944.
John Smith Hart was born in 1874 at Port Hood, Nova Scotia. He married and had three sons: Lew, Lee and Lorne. For many years he operated a general store, which was founded by his father, at Port Hood. He left Port Hood for several years to seek gold in the Klondike. When he returned to Port Hood, Hart began raising silver foxes and patented a number of inventions. Some of his inventions included a device for preserving fishermen's bait, diving suits, automatic railroad crossing signals, a windmill for sawing wood, and a plane that would eject the passenger if it was hit by a bomb. Hart died in 1964.
William G. Fraser was a former inspector in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He retired to Baddeck, Nova Scotia.
Michael Dwyer was born on 4 February 1877 at Parks Town, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, the son of Patrick and Bridget (Doyle) Dwyer. The family immigrated to Nova Scotia in 1884 and he received his early education in New Glasgow and later trained as a mechanical engineer. He married Beatrice Sutherland Campbell. Dwyer was employed as Works Superintendent at the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company until 1922 when he was named President and General Manager, a position he retained until 1938. He also served as president of Indian Cove Coal Company from 1922 to 1932. Dwyer was elected mayor of Sydney Mines from 1926-1932. In 1933 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly, where he represented Cape Breton Centre until 1938. During this period Dwyer also acted as Minister of Mines and Public Works and of Labour. In 1939 he became president and general manager of the Nova Scotia Steel Company, receiving an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1946. From 1949-1950 he served as mayor of New Glasgow. In his free time, Dwyer researched the history of coal, steel, railroads, shipping and other matters of historical interest. Dwyer died on 28 December 1953 at New Glasgow.
Gordon Elman was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia in 1902. He operated a successful automobile business in Sydney for many years and was the majority stockholder in the Community Hotel Company which operated the Isle Royale Hotel. Elman's community involvement covered a wide range - he was President of Temple Sons of Israel, Past District Governor, President of the Board of Trade, President of the Sydney Rotary Club, President of the Innkeepers Guild of Nova Scotia and President of the Maritime Automobile Dealers Association. Mr. Elman was a Third-Degree Mason, a Shriner and served on the Board of Directors of Canada Permanent Trust Company, the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) and served as Sydney alderman. He died in 1972.
Michael Kelly was born in 1887 and worked in various mines in Cape Breton between 1900 and 1952.
The Huntington family of Mira River, Nova Scotia were of Planter descent. Caleb Adolphus Huntington was the son of John and Ruth (Martell) Huntington and born at Mira River, 6 May 1833. He married on 15 January 1862 Emily Francis Gesner, who was the daughter of Gibbs Henry and Elizabeth (Hill) Gesner, born 1 May 1837. The couple had six children: Henrietta Evelina (b. 6 February 1870), Henry Gesner, Hubert, Hortense, Marian, and Francis. The family were members of the Baptist church and resided at Huntington where they operated a farm and Caleb served as a Justice of the Peace for more than forty years. Henrietta married Phillip Ingouville Gibbons 4 Oct. 1903 and the couple had ten children: Emily Gesner, Allen (died at birth), Richard Napoleon, Henry Hubert, Mary Martin, Portia Ingouville, Ruth Eveline, Gertrude, Caleb Phillip and Jetta Marion (b. 2 Sept. 1914). Henrietta died in 1943. Her daughter Jetta married John MacDonald and the couple resided at Marion Bridge.
Angus Cyprian Day was born at Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, in 1893. He was married to Hilda Day. Following employment with various Cape Breton coal mines, he joined the staff of the Municipality of the County of Cape Breton where he served as clerk-treasurer until retirement in 1968. He was state treasurer of the Knights of Columbus and served with the Catholic Charities Association and the Cape Breton Mental Health Centre. Day was also an avid genealogist who researched Nova Scotian families. He was Justice of the Peace for Cape Breton County from 1936 until his death in 1974.
Archibald Beaton was a resident of Mabou Mines, Nova Scotia.