Born in Scotland, Alexander James Christie was educated at the universities of Aberdeen (M.A.) and Edinburgh, where he studied medicine. In 1817 he came to Canada where he combined medicine with farming and journalism. Christie was editor of the Montreal Herald, 1819-1822, and of the Montreal Gazette, 1823-1824. He moved to Bytown, the site now known as Ottawa, in 1826, where in 1836 he brought out the first issue of the weekly Bytown Gazette, of which he remained owner and editor until his death. Christie was in favour of the union of Upper and Lower Canada, with Bytown as its capital, and waged an intensive campaign in support of this issue.

George H. Christie, born in 1852, was the son of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Christie. Dr. George H. Christie graduated with the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University in 1872 and practiced in Lachute, Quebec. He died in 1914.