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Engineering professor H.R. Theakston worked at Dalhousie University for 45 years, beginning in 1918 and stopped by his death on 26 August 1963. He was born in Monkton, Vermont, in 1895 to Henry Theakston and Ella Sponagle. They moved to Nova Scotia during his childhood and he was educated at Sydney Academy and at Dalhousie, where he completed an engineering course in 1915. After serving in World War One, he returned to Halifax to complete a two-year engineering diploma at the Nova Scotia Technical College, graduating with the Governor General's Award. In 1921 he was appointed assistant professor of engineering and Engineer in Charge of Building and Grounds at Dalhousie. Promoted to full professor in 1929, he became head of the engineering department in 1949, and in 1951 was named the first Clarence Decatur Howe Professor of Engineering. He was granted an honorary doctorate from the Nova Scotia Technical College in 1954.

Dr. Theakston played an integral role in the physical development of Dalhousie's Studley Campus. He was an active member of the Engineering Institute of Canada, the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia, the American Society for Engineering Education and the Canadian Standards Association. He also served on the Senates of the Nova Scotia Technical College and Dalhousie University. His contributions to Dalhousie are marked by the Dr. H.R. Theakston Memorial Award, presented each year to the student who achieves the highest standing in Engineering Graphics and, more substantially, by the Sexton Campus building named after him.

Brenda Hattie was born in Halifax and raised in the Annapolis Valley and Pictou County. She studied at the University of King's College and Universite Sainte-Anne, where she earned her BA in 1981. Taking classes in psychology and sociology in her early twenties exposed her to feminist theology and led her to question many of her religious beliefs, especially those related to sexual orientation. In 1998 she entered into a same-sex relationship and subsequently left her religious community. In 2000 Brenda moved to Halifax to pursue an MA in Women's Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University. Over the next four years she also volunteered in the queer community as a director for NSRAP, and later as a director for Safe Harbour Metropolitan Community Church, in 2005 winning an award for her service to the LGBTQ community. She was witness to some of the first same-sex marriages in Nova Scotia in October 2005.

She was a research assistant at the Nova Scotia Centre on Aging from 2005-2013, where she worked on a range of projects, including several related to age-friendly communities. Brenda has co-authored a number of reports and given presentations on her work at national and international academic conferences. She has also co-published a number of refereed journal articles. Brenda completed a PhD in Philosophy of Educational Studies in 2018. She continues to teach at Mount Saint Vincent University and is currently researching the work and social lives of the women who worked at the Dartmouth Marine Slips during World War II. Her most recent activism involved advocacy for banning conversion therapy in Nova Scotia. The ban came into effect in 2018.

Gertrude Ann Hamilton was born in 1883 in the small village of Balincar on the west coast of Ireland, one of six children born to William Hamilton and Gertrude Hamilton Kerr: Wilhemina, George, Henry, Gertrude Ann, Angus and Ethel Jean.

She was raised in a close-knit family across from the village mill, which her father ran. As a young woman she worked as a clerk in the nearby town of Sligo, which is where she met her future husband, Archibald Leighton, who was there supervising the building of a new post office. After several years of courting and corresponding, they were engaged to be married. In 1906 Archie moved to the United States to pursue his building career and, shortly after, Gertrude made the journey alone to New York, where they were married before settling in Philadelphia.

In 1908, soon after her son, Alexander, was born, Gertrude contracted typhoid fever. After regaining her health, she took Alec home to Ireland for an extended visit. They returned again in 1914, and Gertrude (“Gussie”) was born. The outbreak of World War One kept them in Ireland until the spring of 1915. Five years later they made another visit, this time staying for a year for the sake of economy. From 1931-1934 she again lived apart from Archie in order to accompany their children to England, where Alec went to Cambridge University and Gussie attended boarding school. These extended family separations were marked by abundant letters back and forth across the Atlantic, as was her move from Ireland to the United States.

Gertrude Leighton died in 1958.

Gertrude (“Gussie”) Leighton was a professor of political science with a specialty in international law and psychiatry. She was born in 1914 in Belfast, Ireland, the daughter of Archibald and Gertrude Leighton. Her mother and brother, Alexander, were visiting family in Ireland when the First World War broke out; due to her pregnancy they were refused passage back to the United States. It was March 1915 before they returned to their home in Narbeth, Pennsylvania, on the Philadelphia Main Line.

Gertrude received her early education at the Phebe Anna Thorne School for Girls, an open air model school within Bryn Mawr College. She returned to Bryn Mawr as an undergraduate, earning a degree in Classical Archeology in 1938. In 1940 she was hired as a lecturer in the English Department at Barnard College, but left in 1942 to enter law school at Yale. She received her JD in 1945. Between 1944 and 1947 she practised law with Carter, Ledyard & Milburn in New York City, then returned to Yale as a lecturer in law, including world law. In 1950 she again returned to Bryn Mawr, where she was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, retiring from her alma mater in 1986 as professor emeritus. From 1959-1961 she lectured in law at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was also appointed as a visiting associate research professor in law and psychiatry from 1961-1965.

Like her parents and brother, Alexander, Gertrude maintained close ties with her Irish relatives. She made extended visits to Ireland in 1920-21 and 1932-34, and during many summers, about which she writes in an unpublished biography. She lived with her longtime partner, Catherine M. Fales, until her death in 1996.

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.

Mrs. Evelyn A. Walton lived in Staplecross, Sussex ca. 1941.

Bryce McMaster was a British war poet. Educated at Oxford University, his collection The Stranger And Other Poems was published by Edward Arnold in 1923.

Vincent Christopher MacDonald was born in 1897 in Mulgrave, Nova Scotia, to Archibald and Clara MacDonald. He was educated at Dalhousie University where he received a BA (1930) and LLB (1920). In 1927 MacDonald married his first wife, Emily O’Connor, with whom he had three children, David, Peter, and Paul. After Emily’s death in 1937, MacDonald married Hilda Durney in 1938 and had two more children, Brian Henry and Alan Hugh.

MacDonald worked as a lawyer, educator, and civil servant. Called to the bars of Nova Scotia and Ontario in 1920 and 1927 respectively, he practiced law in both provinces; worked as a law clerk in the Nova Scotia Legislature; was a research assistant to the Royal Commission on Maritime Claims; served as secretary to Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King in 1927; and lectured in law at Dalhousie from 1920-1926 and Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto from 1929-1930. In 1930 he returned to Dalhousie to teach law and in 1934 became Dean of the Law School. He also served as Assistant Deputy Minister of Labour of Canada from 1942-1944. He remained at Dalhousie until 1950 when he was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. MacDonald worked with numerous boards and commissions throughout his career, and served as an advisor to the Newfoundland government on union with Canada in 1948. He published numerous papers, frequently on topics related to constitutional and labour law, and edited a variety of publications, including the Dominion Law Reports and Canadian Criminal Cases (1924-1934). He also served on the Board of Governors of Dalhousie University and received honorary degrees from St. Francis Xavier, British Columbia, Dalhousie, and Columbia. MacDonald died in 1964.

The Reverend D.B. Blair was born in Strachur on Loch Fyne, Argyleshire, Scotland, to John Blair and Catherine MacGregor. His father was employed as manager of a large sheep farm. Blair received his education at Edinburgh University and was licensed to preach in 1844. Two years later he left Scotland for Barney's River, Pictou County, where he was ordained on 29 October 1846. From 1850-1890 he preached at the Free Church congregation established in Barney's River, which derived from the Garden of Eden, Blue Mountain and Barney's River, and was named "Blair Presbyterian Church" in his honour.

In 1851 he married Mary Sibella of Brolas, Mull, Argyleshire. She died in 1882. They had six children: Anna Margaret, Thomas Chalmers, Laughlan MacLean, John Knox, Ewan Alexander and David Welsh. Blair was considered, in his day, to be the best Gaelic scholar in North America. He died in 1893 and is buried at Laggan, Pictou County.

Norman MacKenzie, better known as Larry, was born in 1894 in Pugwash, Nova Scotia. He was educated at Pictou Academy before moving to Saskatchewan at the age of fifteen to farm with his brothers. In 1913 he entered Dalhousie, where he studied for one year before enlisting in the army. From 1914-1918 he served overseas, returning to Dalhousie to graduate with his BA in 1921 and his LLB in 1923. He received his LLM from Harvard University, where he also won a Carnegie fellowship to study international law at Cambridge.

Following two years as legal advisor to the International Labour Office in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1927 MacKenzie took up a professorial appointment at University of Toronto, where he taught for thirteen years. In 1940 he became president of the University of New Brunswick, and from 1944-1960 he served as president of the University of British Columbia. He was appointed to the Senate from 1966-1969. MacKenzie and his wife, Margaret Thomas (1903–1987), had three children: Bridget, Susan, and Patrick Thomas. He died in 1986.

J.J. (John James) Stewart was a teacher, lawyer, editor, publisher and businessman. He was born 13 May 1844 in East Branch River Philip (Williamsdale), Nova Scotia, son of William Stewart and Sarah Emily Peppard. Educated at his local public school and then at Amherst Academy, Stewart taught and served as headmaster at the Academy until 1870, when he moved to Halifax to study law with Howard Maclean, being called to the bar in 1874.

In 1875 he became one of 88 shareholders of the Morning Herald, Halifax's fledgling Conservative daily. In 1876 he became the paper’s first president and in 1878 its third editor. He left his law practice and in 1883 bought out the majority of shareholders to become the Herald’s first publisher. Following this success, Stewart branched out into banking, rising to the presidency of the Acadia Loan Corporation and the People's Bank of Halifax.

Stewart was a member of the Masons, the Navy League, the Good Templars and the YMCA, but his primary commitments were to the North British Society and the Nova Scotia Historical Society. He was an ardent British imperialist, Canadian nationalist and supporter of Confederation. He devoted much time to the province's Conservative Party and made two unsuccessful bids for election to the provincial assembly.

Stewart died as the result of burns suffered during a fire in his home. His widow, Catherine Olivia MacKay, whom he'd married in 1880, donated his collection of 3,200 books to Dalhousie University Library.

Journalist and poet Kenneth Leslie was born in 1892 to businessman Robert Jamieson and Bertha (Starratt) Leslie in Pictou, Nova Scotia. He was raised and educated in Halifax, where he attended the Arnold School (a one-room private school), and Alexandra School. At age fourteen he entered Dalhousie University and received his BA in 1912. This was followed by one year of study at the Colgate Theological Seminary, an MA at the University of Nebraska (1914), and further graduate studies in philosophy and mysticism at Harvard University. Throughout this time, Leslie developed an appreciation of poetry, socialism and mysticism that would dominate his later life.

On his return to Halifax, Leslie married Elizabeth Moir, daughter of Halifax businessman James Moir. They had four children: Kathleen, Gloria, Rosaleen and Kenneth Alexander (later Alexander Moir). With James Moir’s support, Leslie experimented with a number of unsuccessful business ventures including farming and investment. During this time he also joined an informal Halifax literary group called the Song Fishermen.

Leslie moved to New York City where he experimented with preaching, broadcasting, composing music and acting. He continued to write poetry and was published in The Song Fishermens’ Song Sheet as well as Literary Digest and Scribner’s Magazine. In 1934 he published his first book of poetry, Windward Rock, which coincided with the end of his marriage. Between 1936–1938 Leslie published three more poetry books, including By Stubborn Stars and Other Poems, which won the 1938 Governor General’s Award. He also founded the religious and politically-minded magazine Protestant Digest (later called The Protestant) with his second wife, Marjorie Finlay Hewitt, and the assistance of three Nova Scotians—Ralph (Kelly) Morton, Sanford Archibald and Gerald Richardson. In 1943 Leslie established the Textbook Commission to eliminate anti-Semitic statements in American textbooks, and in 1944 he published an anti-fascist comic book called The Challenger. As publisher and editor of The Protestant, Leslie corresponded with many prominent American political and social figures and became a popular public speaker.

During the late 1940s Leslie's reputation as anti-Catholic and pro-communist began to grow; there were staff problems at The Protestant; and his marriage to Marjorie ended. In 1949 Leslie and his third wife, Cathy, returned to Halifax when Leslie and The Protestant drew criticism from Senator McCarthy for un-American activity. Leslie’s third marriage dissolved shortly after his return to Nova Scotia. He continued to publish The Protestant and successor periodicals from Nova Scotia on a smaller scale until 1972 when his health declined. He also worked sporadically as a taxi driver and teacher while continuing to write and publish poetry. In the early 1960s he married his fourth wife, Nora Steenerson. Kenneth Leslie died in Halifax in 1974.

Murdock Maxwell MacOdrum was born in 1901 in Sydney, Nova Scotia. He graduated with his BA from Dalhousie University in 1923, then went to McGill, where he wrote his Master's thesis on the survival of English and Scottish popular ballads in Nova Scotia. In 1925 he participated in a teacher’s exchange to Glasgow, where he received his DPhil. He continued his studies at Harvard and was later appointed lecturer at the University of Kings College, Dalhousie, and at Queen’s University. In 1935 he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in Sydney, Nova Scotia, where he ministered for four years.

In 1944, after a stint at the Dominion Coal and Steel Company in Sydney, MacOdrum moved to Ottawa to sell war bonds. He was recruited by Carleton College's founder and president, Henry Marshall Tory, to be his executive assistant and eventual successor. MacOdrum became the college's president in 1947, and within a few years had successfully lobbied the Ontario government to award the college a charter and degree-granting powers. He died in 1955.

John Rutherford was born in Shincliffe, England. He emigrated to Albion Mines in Pictou County and served as Inspector of Mines for Nova Scotia from 1865-1872, when he was appointed General Manager and Mining Engineer for the General Mining Association, later the Halifax Company. He had extensive dealings with Albion Mines, Blight Area, Caledonia Coal Mines, and the Style Mining Area. Beginning in the late 1890s, Rutherford sold Styles Mining Company options; his goal was to sell the entirety of the property to a worthy buyer.

Robert Rutherford was John’s only surviving son (George Rutherford died in 1903), and was left in charge of his father's estate in 1913. He continued his father's efforts to sell off the Cumberland Coal Areas until at least 1932.

Eliza Ritchie was a professor, activist and community leader. Born in Halifax in 1856, she graduated from Dalhousie in 1887 with a Bachelor of Letters, and in 1889 was one of the first Canadian women to earn a PhD, from Cornell University, New York. After further studies in Leipzig and Oxford, she taught school in New England from 1890-1900. Ritchie returned to Dalhousie in 1901 to teach philosophy and in 1919 became the first woman to sit on the Board of Governors. She was a founding member of The Dalhousie Review and an occasional contributor. President of the Dalhousie Alumnae Association since 1911, and always an advocate for female students, she was a driving force behind the building of Sherriff Hall in 1922. In 1986 a women's residence was named in her honour. Eliza Ritchie died in Halifax in 1933.

In 2018 Eliza Ritchie was named one of 52 Dalhousie Originals, a list of individuals identified as having made a significant impact on the university and the broader community since Dalhousie's inception in 1818. https://www.dal.ca/about-dal/dalhousie-originals/eliza-ritchie.html