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Margaret Stevenson DeWolfe was a biochemist and Professor of Paediatrics in the Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University. She was born in St. Stephen New Brunswick and received her college education at Acadia University. DeWolfe worked in hospital dietetics and then pursued a research career. She obtained an MA (biochemistry) and PhD in pathologic chemistry from the University of Toronto.

DeWolfe arrived in Halifax in 1964 after serving as a research associate at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. DeWolfe spent 17 years associated with the Atlantic Research Centre for Mental Retardation (ARCMR). She served as Secretary on the Board of Directors for 11 years. DeWolfe retired on June 30, 1981 after a 40-year career in nutrition and biochemistry.

The eldest son of James E. Dickie and Harriet Tupper, Alfred Dickie was born in Upper Stewiacke, Nova Scotia, on 28 March 1860. Dickie was educated at Dalhousie College and went on to become a prominent businessman known for a time as the ‘lumber king’ of Nova Scotia.

After college, Dickie assisted with his father’s businesses; he worked in the general store and lumber business in the Stewiacke area, and in 1886 became secretary of the Stewiacke Valley and Lansdowne Railway Company, of which his father was president. On 8 September 1885 he married Alice Amelia Dickie, his father’s second cousin, with whom he had five children: Rufus, Walter, Aileen, Ethel and Harold. Rufus and Walter would both work for the family business, although Walter eventually left to practise medicine.

Between 1899 and 1904 Dickie established several lumber companies of his own, notably Alfred Dickie Lumber Co. in Lower Stewiacke, and Grand River Pulp and Lumber Co., located in a small trapping community along the shores of the Grand River in central Labrador. A conflict between Quebec surveyors and Dickie's company escalated into a dispute between the Dominion of Canada and the colony of Newfoundland over the Labrador-Quebec boundary. In response, the Imperial Privy Council eventually mapped out the current boundary.

Despite the early rapid expansion experienced by Dickie’s business ventures, which supplied local, national and international lumber markets with a variety of timber products, his business experienced a downturn between 1904 and 1906. Slower markets and difficulties with bankers forced Dickie to reorganize his assets. He sold many of his timber limits; obtained woodlots in Nova Scotia under the names of his wife and son; established new companies such as the Albion Lumber Company; diversified his interests by investing in utility and insurance company stocks, currencies and real estate; and established the Colchester County Steam Ship Company with boats previously used in his lumber business.

In addition to his business enterprises, Dickie had political ambitions and was active in the community. He made several unsuccessful runs for Parliament and served as mayor of Stewiacke for four years. In 1914 Dickie and his family moved to Halifax, where he became active in local charities, boards, clubs and other organizations. Towards the end of his life, chronic health issues affected Dickie's activity. While his longstanding banking problems were resolved and he and his son Rufus formed the Canadian Lumber Company, his time as lumber king had passed. Alfred Dickie died in 1929.

Philippe Djokic was born in St. Max, France, in 1950 to a Yugoslavian father and French mother. In 1952, his family emigrated to the United States. Djokic was a talented violinist and studied with Christine Dethier and Ivan Galamian at the Juilliard School. He went on to win the Fritz Kreisler Prize at Juilliard, the 1975 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibault competition, first prize in the 1977 CBC Talent Festival, and many other competitions and awards.

In 1975, Djokic moved to Nova Scotia with his wife Lynn Stodola, a pianist who he met at Juilliard. Djokic and Stodola’s children are both accomplished musicians as well. Denise Djokic is a cellist and Mark Djokic is a violinist, like his father.

Both Djokic and Stodola joined the music faculty at Dalhousie University and in 1975, president Henry Hicks asked for a loan of $80,000 to allow Djokic to buy an 18th century violin. The following year, Djokic formed the Dalart Trio with pianist William Tritt and cellist William Valleau. The trio was very successful, winning the 1978 Chalmers Foundation Award and raising the profile of music at Dalhousie. The trio split up in 1983 because of demands on the musicians’ careers. Djokic continues to perform locally and internationally with his wife (as the Djokic-Stodola duo), children, brother, and orchestras around the world.

Dockrill Bros. Ltd. was a general furniture repair shop that started in 1917 on Brunswick Street in Halifax Nova Scotia by Arthur B. Dockrill and his partner/brother, Joseph B. Dockrill. The exact date that Dockrill Bros. Ltd. closed down is unknown; however, it is presumed that 1952 was the company’s last year of business.

While in business, Dockrill Bros. Ltd. repaired furniture for business clients and individual clients ranging from cabinets, chairs, mirrors, tables, bed frames, to name a few. As well, Dockrill Bros. Ltd. specialized in repairing anachronistic furniture.

In 1860 George Fulton and his brother William established small water-powered sawmill at Bass River, Colchester County, N.S. for the manufacture of cheap chairs and other lines of furniture. They were fairly successful, and in 1870 William proposed to move the business to Truro; however, George did not agree and instead bought his brother out and continued managing the factory alone. In 1876 as competition increased and more capital was required to support the business, Fulton turned his business into a joint-stock company and obtained letters patent of Incorporation.

Shortly thereafter George Fulton purchased at auction the Acadia Chair Factory established at Portaupique in Colchester County and owned by William Campbell; this factory was soon transferred to Bass River to become part of the establishment organized in 1876, and Fulton began large scale production of chairs under the name Union Furniture and Merchandise Co. Ltd.

At this time the factory’s market was primarily within the Maritime Provinces, but continued to grow, especially with the addition of cane seat chair manufacture which had originated with the Acadia Chair Factory, as well as the innovative introduction of steam power (added to the existing water power structure) which pushed along the work with new vigour. The factory was innovative in that all raw material (maple and birch lumber) was cut from their own 4,000 acre property or that of nearby individuals; the women of Bass River worked to do the caning for chair seats; and through the steam power plan, which used saw dust and waste material for fuel, the company produced little to no waste throughout the manufacturing process. All in all it was one of the most modern production systems in Nova Scotia.

In 1885 the factory was destroyed by fire, but within a year a new factory was constructed and production resumed. The new factory produced exclusively chairs at the outset, with designs originating from England, France, New England, and in-house designer and crafter Isaac Munroe. Later the company also manufactured school desks and chairs for use in universities and colleges. A second fire on November 3, 1892 heavily damaged the factory, and once again the company rebuilt. During this period George Fulton retired (1888) and passed the business on to his son Suther B. Fulton.

In 1903 the company name was changed to Dominion Chair Company Ltd, and the market expanded beyond the Maritimes to include all of Canada, the West Indies, and many British colonies. The company made 30 different types of tables and chairs, including: chairs for halls and lodge rooms; camps and folding chairs; cane-seated chairs; rocking and commode chairs; rocking chairs; and chairs for children; kitchen, office, and school.

Between 1876 and 1894 the factory produced almost 750,000 chairs, and at peak capacity as many as 125,000 chairs were manufactured annually, a number which dwindled over time to between 30,000 and 40,000 per year in the 1970s. At any given time the factory employed 40 – 70 local workers, often men who worked steadily for 10 or more years; in later years some were third-generation employees.

The factory suffered four more fires, in 1909, 1940, 1948, and 1989, as well as an explosion in 1954, and each time the factory was immediately rebuilt and back in operation, with the exception of the 1989 fire which did irreparable damage. Since Suther B. Fulton, the management of the company has passed through various members of the Fulton family: Sommerville Fulton (1899-1902); Edward Fulton (1902-1912); Reuben Starratt (1912-1924); Scott Fulton (1924-1925); P.D. Hill (1925-1926); James S. Creelman (1926-ca. 1955); John Creelman (ca. 1969 - 1970s). The Dominion Chair Company ceased operations in Bass River in 1989; however, the company continues to operate a general store.