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Marjory Peters Seeley Rogers was born in Manitoba in 1921. She was educated at St. John's College (B.A. 1942), the University of Manitoba (Dip. in Social Work, 1944) and the University of Chicago School of Social Science Administration (1948). She married (1) Reverend Reg. S.K. Seeley, Provost of Trinity College, in 1955. He was killed in a car accident in which Marjory Seeley was seriously injured in 1957. She married (2) Professor William Rogers in 1976. Marjory Seeley Rogers was founding Principal of Lady Eaton College, Trent University (1968-1976). She was awarded Honorary Degrees by St. John's College (1974) and by Trinity College (1989).

James Roddy was a farmer and landowner in Cavan Township in the early 1900s.

G.M. Roche was a Land Surveyor in Canada West during the mid 1800s.

Peter Robinson was born in New Brunswick in 1785. Actively involved in politics, Robinson was a commissioner of crown lands and served in the Seventh and Eighth Parliaments from 1817 to 1824. In 1823 he was approached through his brother, Sir John Beverley Robinson, Attorney General for Upper Canada, to lead an emigration of 182 families from Ireland to Canada. Most of those emigrants were to settle in the Lanark area of the Ottawa Valley. Two years later he led an additional emigration, and nine over-crowded ships left Cork for Upper Canada. Several people on board were to die before they reached their new homeland. Several of the lists of passengers have survived, and Robinson's table of statistics show that, under his leadership, approximately 2,000 people emigrated to the Peterborough area from Ireland during that time period. In 1827, it was suggested by Frances Stewart, wife of Thomas A. Stewart, that, in honour of Peter Robinson's contribution to the settlement of the area, the name Scott's Plains be changed to Peterborough, meaning "Peter's Borough". Robinson died in 1838. (taken from: LaBranche, Bill. "The Peter Robinson Settlement of 1825" 1975, and Jones, Elwood and Bruce Dyer. The Electric City. Burlington: Windsor Publications, 1987.)

Mark Robinson was Superintendent and Ranger in Algonquin Park between 1908 and 1941. He served as an Army officer with the Canadian Militia during the First World War. He resided in Barrie and Elmvale, Ontario with his wife and Children but spent many months each year in Algonquin Park.

John Beverley Robinson was the second son of John Beverley Robinson, baronet and chief justice of Upper Canada, and Emma Walker. He was married to Mary Jane Hagerman on June 30, 1847 and together they had three sons and two daughters.

After attending Upper Canada College between 1830 and 1836, Robinson became an aide-de-camp to Sir Francis Bond Head during the rebellion. During the years that followed the rebellion he articled with Christopher Alexander Hagerman, whose daughter he married, and later with the firm of James McGill Strachan and John Hillyard Cameron until he was called to the bar in 1844.

In 1851, 1853-54, and 1856-57, Robinson was an alderman for St. Patrick's Ward, and in 1856 Mayor of Toronto. By 1860, as solicitor for the Canada Agency Association, he had successfully negotiated the sale of 439,000 acres in Haliburton County, almost three times the total sales for all other crown land sales for 1860 combined. In 1862 he became president of the Executive Council in the Conservative government of the Cartier-Macdonald administration, but only for a short few months. He was returned to Parliament for Algoma in 1872 until the dissolution. In 1878 he was elected by a large majority to represent West Toronto, a position he held until he was appointed lieutenant-governor in 1880. During the period from 1864-1880 Robinson also served as city solicitor for Toronto.

Robinson served as lieutenant-governor for Ontario from 1880-1887. He retired in 1887 to his Toronto home, Sleepy Hollow. On June 19, 1896 Robinson was invited to speak to a hostile group of Liberals at Massey Music Hall, where he suffered a sudden stroke and died.

Harry M. Robbins was born in 1887, and spent his early years on a farm in Oxford County. He became a career civil servant, and held the post of inspector of prisons and public charities in the Conservative regime of G. Howard Ferguson. He later became Deputy Provincial Secretary and Deputy Hospitals Minister. His civil service career ended abruptly in 1934, with the election of the Hepburn Liberals. Robbins was one of many civil servants who were fired in a general purge of the bureaucracy. Between the years of 1934 and 1939, little is known about his life, but it is generally believed that he was a bank manager in Northern Ontario. In 1939, he went to work for the Ontario Conservative party as its public relations officer, a post which he held with varying degrees of effectiveness until 1961, when he retired. He maintained an active interest in politics until his death in 1970, and he came out of retirement more than once to help local candidates in their bids for election to various offices.

Louis Riel, leader of the North West rebellions of 1870 and 1885, was born at St. Boniface, Manitoba, on October 22, 1844, the son of Louis Riel and Julie Lagimoniere, and the grandson of Jean Baptiste Riel, a native of Berthier, Lower Canada. Louis Riel was educated at the seminary in Montreal, and then returned to the West. In 1869 he became secretary of the Comite national des Metis, an organization formed to resist the establishment of Canadian authority in the North West. Later in the same year he was elected president of the provisional government set up by the rebels. He escaped from the country in August, 1870, on the arrival of the expeditionary force under Colonel Wolseley; but in 1873, and again in 1874, Riel was elected to represent Provencher in the Canadian House of Commons. In 1874, on taking the oath, he was expelled from the House; and in 1875 a warrant of outlawry was issued against him. He took refuge in Montana, and there he remained until, in the summer of 1884, he was invited to return to Canada to organize the half-breeds of the North West Territories so as to obtain redress of their grievances. The outcome of his visit to Canada was the second North West rebellion. On the defeat of the rebels at Batoche, on May 12, 1885, by General Middleton, Riel was captured. He was tried at Regina, in July, on the charge of high treason, was found guilty, and on November 16, 1885, was hanged at the Mounted Police barracks at Regina. (Taken from: The Macmillan Dictionary of Canadian Biography, fourth edition. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1974.)

Aureen Richardson was born 15 August 1931 and lived in Warkworth, Ontario. She married Raymond Richardson and had two sons, Raymond and Richard. She was a school teacher for 36 years, and, for 50 years, beginning in 1949, was a volunteer newspaper reporter for local newspapers on a variety of topics, including coverage of the community, churches, the disabled, local history, seniors' events, and travel. She was responsible for creating local and government interest in the erection of plaques dedicated to J.D. Kelly, St. James Anglican Church (Roseneath, Ontario), Alderville First Nation Reserve, John Weir Foote, Warkworth Cheese Country, and the Richardson archaeological site. Richardson also wrote three books, Weaving on the family loom: an anthology of Northumberland County families, Historic visions of J.D. Kelly, and Warkworth Cheese Country. From 1980 to 1986, she presented a regular four-minute "News of Northumberland" radio segment on CJBQ in Belleville, Ontario. Richardson inherited a rare neurological disease, familial spastic paraplegia, and was an advocate for the disabled throughout her life. She was a leader in Campbellford's "More Able Than Disabled" Club, was a member of the Quinte Writers' Guild and the Ontario Historical Society, and was a regular Elderhostel participant. Aureen Richardson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Trent University in 1974. She died 6 February 2015.

Elias Rendell, son of John Rendell and brother of John Rendell, was born in ca. 1797 and lived in Shaldon, County of Devon, England. Rendell was 15 years old at the time that the apprenticeship agreement was signed.

John Reid (d. 1882), the son of Maria Stewart (sister of Thomas Alexander Stewart) and Robert Reid, was born in Ireland and emigrated to Upper Canada in 1822 with his parents and siblings. He married Frances Hilton (1812-1878) and together they had 6 children. He settled in Douro Township and became a land surveyor in Peterborough County. Reid Street in the City of Peterborough was named after John Reid.

Harold Reid, the creator of this collection is the great-great-grandson of Robert Reid, pioneer settler in Peterborough, Ontario, grandson of Robert Henry Reid and son of Frederick Henry Adolphus Reid.

Elizabeth Ruth Redelmeier is a resident of Port Hope, Ontario.

Fern Alma Rahmel was born in Peterborough in 1914. She attended Peterborough Normal School in 1932-1933 and was editor of the 1932-1933 year book. She taught in elementary and later secondary schools. In 1970 she had been a Peterborough teacher for 20 years with the English Department of the Peterborough Collegiate and Vocational School (PCVS). She was Department Head before she retired. She was also assistant to Gwyn Kinsey, editor of Saturday Night. She was an active participant in theatre and writing. Fern aided Robertson Davies in research while he was editor of the Peterborough Examiner. She wrote children's educational radio plays for CBC. In the 1970 Spring Convocation, Trent University awarded her a honorary Doctor of Laws degree. She was a sustaining member of the Friends of the Bata Library and had been since its inception. She gave talks to the Peterborough Historical Society and published an occasional paper on F.M. de la Fosse, Peterborough's first librarian. Fern Rahmel died 28 November 2009.

Born in 1870 in Quebec, A.G. Racey attended McGill University where he developed an interest in caricature. His cartoons were first published in the Montreal Witness, and later, in the Montreal Star where he worked as cartoonist from 1899 to 1941. Racey is also recognized for his oil and water colour paintings, many of which hang in private collections throughout Canada. Racey died in Montreal on December 21, 1941.

Shirley Quan worked for the Department of Native Affairs as a student volunteer during the summer of 1962. She was sent to Baker Lake in the Northwest Territories. She completed an arctic wild flower project while she was there.

John Edward Proctor was a resident of Brighton, Ontario involved in the lumbering trade in 1869. He was responsible for building and equipping the large schooner "E.R.C. Proctor" and the "Minnie Proctor". J.E. also had a grain elevator and dock which were in use until 1895. He also operated sawmills. (Taken from: "Centennial of the Incorporation of the Village of Brighton, 1859-1959." Brighton: Centennial Book Committee, 1959.)

Richard Prettie owned property in Vernonville, Haldimand Township, Ontario, and may have been a farmer.

Josiah Johnston Preston was born June 7, 1855, as the third son, to James Preston, of American Scots descent and Jane Johnston, of Fermanagh, Ireland. James Preston built one of the first gristmills in Manvers. Josiah was born in the Township of Manvers, County of Durham, Canada West. He had five brothers. He was a grain merchant and in 1887 formed a partnership, called Touchburn & Preston, with Robert Touchburn. Eventually he formed a grain merchanting partnership with his brother Sidney, called Preston Bros. Josiah was deputy reeve and reeve of the Township of Manvers and County Councillor for Division No. 3 in Durham County for 10 years from 1888 to 1897. He was elected 8 times by acclamation. He was elected Warden of the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham by acclamation in 1897. He was appointed clerk of Township of Manvers in 1898 and was holding that office as of 1918. He first returned to the Legislature at the general election of 1902 and was sworn in March 10, 1903 as a member of Provincial Government for Durham East. He was re-elected at the general elections of 1905, 1908 and 1911. He was defeated in the general election of 1919 at age 64. Josiah never married. He belonged to the Anglican church in Bethany and he was an Orangeman and a Mason. He died July 10, 1937. A memorial window was dedicated to Josiah on the west side of St. Paul's Anglican Church in Bethany, Ontario. (Taken from: "The Canadian Parliamentary Guide, 1918." Ottawa: The Mortimer Company Limited, 1918) and (taken from: Carr, Violet M. "The Rolling Hills." Lindsay: The Manvers Township Council, 1967.)

Joseph Powadiuk was a writer and researcher for the federal government. He was interested in the history of Ontario and purchased disparate items from antique shops, auction houses and book stores.

Thomas Wesley Poole, physician and journalist, was educated at Victoria University and received his M.D. in 1856. He practised medicine in Norwood, Canada West; but in 1864 he moved to Peterborough, and became the editor of the Peterborough "Weekly Review". Later he went back to the practice of medicine and practised in Lindsay, Ontario. He died in Lindsay on August 27, 1905. T.W. Poole was the author of "A sketch of the early settlement and subsequent progress of the town of Peterborough. 1867"

Douglas Pimlott was the first Director of the Environmental Studies Program at Innis College (University of Toronto). He is recognized as the originating force behind the Canadian environmental movement and was a specialist in the habits and habitat of the wolf.

William Piercy was a member of the Royal Air Force during World War II.

John Wesley Pierce, father of John Gourley Pierce, was born in 1886 in Eaton, Quebec, the son of Reverend Barry Pierce and Catherine Farnswoth. He attended University of Toronto and was a member of both the Dominion and Ontario Land Surveyors Associations. He was responsible for the definition of the Ontario-Manitoba boundary, begun in 1921 and finally completed by his son in 1947. Until 1932, he worked for the Topographical Survey Branch of the Dominion Department of the Interior and traveled from New Brunswick to the North-West Territories. In 1932 he settled in Peterborough, Ontario and started the survey firm which would become Pierce & Pierce Land Surveyors. (Biographical account supplied by Catherine Cramer).

John Gourley Pierce was a Peterborough land surveyor and the son of John Wesley Pierce, also a land surveyor, and Mable Pierce. He graduated from Queen's University, served with the Royal Canadian Engineers in Italy and Europe during WWII where he won the Military Cross for Valour. On returning from the war, he joined his father's survey firm, which then became Pierce & Pierce Land Surveyors, in Peterborough, Ontario. In 1947 he completed the survey of the Ontario-Manitoba boundary started by his father in the 1920's. He was President of the Ontario Land Surveyors Association. He was also active in the community and earned numerous awards, among them a citation for outstanding contribution by the Ontario Land Surveyors Association, a City of Peterborough Award of Merit, Rotary's Paul Harris Fellowship, a Sir Sandford Fleming College Fellowship in Applied Education, and the Governor General's Caring Canadian Award.