Shawinigan Chemicals Ltd. was formed in 1927 through the amalgamation of the Canada Carbide Co. (founded 1911) and the Canadian Electro Products (founded 1916). The fortunes of the parent companies had been made in the manufacture of explosives during the First World War. Both they and Shawinigan Chemicals operated extensive research laboratories which were responsible for fundamental technical advances, for instance in the dry generation of acetylene gas and in the cheap production of acetone and acetic anhydride. In 1969 the company merged with British American Oil and Royalite Oil to form Gulf Oil of Canada.

William D. Shaw was born in 1867 in Montreal, Quebec.

He was a naturalist and devoted student of science. He founded the Montreal Chapter of the Nicholas Agassiz Association. He served as its Secretary and Treasurer, and in 1885, he was appointed General Secretary for Canada. He was also a member of the Council of the Montreal Branch of the Entomological Society of Ontario, a member of the Natural History Society of Montreal, and a member of the Astro-Meteorological Association.

He died at the age of nineteen on June 29, 1886, in Montreal, Quebec.

Rev. William Isaac Shaw was born on April 6, 1841, in Kingston, Ontario.

He was a clergyman. He was educated at Queen's College, Kingston, the Victoria University, Cobourg (B.A., 1861, M.A., and LL.B, 1864), and at McGill University, Montreal (LL.D., 1887). Originally intended to study law, he entered the ministry of the Methodist church in 1864 and was ordained in 1868. He served at several churches in Belleville, Lachine, Hemmingford, and Montreal. In 1873, he assisted in the founding of the Wesleyan Theological College in Montreal and became its instructor. In 1877, he was appointed Professor of Greek, and in 1894, a principal. In 1888, he became a member of the Council of Public Instruction for the Province of Quebec, and in 1890, the Board of Protestant School Commissioners for Montreal. He served as a Vice-President of the Lord's Day Alliance. In 1880, he received an honorary M.A. degree from McGill University.

In 1869, he married Sarah Patterson (1842–1938). He died on March 11, 1911, in Montreal, Quebec.

Thomas Shaw was born in Montréal and graduated in medicine from McGill in 1893. He served as Lecturer in physiology at McGill from 1910 to 1915, and in physiological chemistry from 1915 to 1920. Shaw practiced medicine in Montréal for 36 years, and was connected with the Western Hospital, where he inaugurated the children's ward.

T .P. G. Shaw received his B.A. (1920) and M.A. (1922) degrees in chemistry from McGill. He was a research chemist at Shawinigan Chemicals Ltd., and for one of its predecessor companies, Canadian Electro Products.

Harlan Page Shaw was born on July 31, 1866, in Waterville, Kings County, Nova Scotia.

He was an educator. He received his early education in the schools of Berwick and Horton Collegiate Academy, Nova Scotia. For a while, he managed his father's orchard and farm and spent one year learning woodworking in Worcester, Mass. He passed the Nova Scotia provincial examination for a teacher's licence and became principal and teacher at a primary school. In 1886, he returned to Bridgewater Normal School, graduating in 1890. He was appointed its science teacher, the position he held for forty-six years. While teaching, he continued taking courses in physiography, geology, and chemistry at the Lowel School of Science, M.I.T., Hyannis Summer School, and Harvard. He also taught mineralogy and chemistry at Hyannis Summer School. Active in civic affairs, he was a member of the Bridgewater School Committee and the Town Planning Board. He served as the Superintendent of the Sunday School at Bridgwater Baptist Church. He published several papers, e.g., "A Course in Woodworking", "The Study of Minerals", and "A Course in General Science".

In 1894, he married Nanette Mabel “Nettie” Totman Young. He died on January 16, 1940, in West Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts.