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Henry Barton Dawson was born on June 8, 1821, in Gosberton, Lincolnshire, England.

He was an editor, historian, journalist, and antiquarian bookseller. He immigrated to New York City with his parents in 1834. His interest in literary pursuits was stimulated by his brief employment in a publishing and book-selling house in Ithaca, N.Y. From 1839 to 1856 he pursued a business career in New York City and became involved in social reform movements and politics. His concern with the perils of strong drink led him to a short stint as editor of the pro-temperance The Crystal Font and Rechabite Recorder in 1847. His reputation as a historian began to form in the late 1850s with the publication of several historical essays and of his first book, “Battles of the United States by Sea and Land” (1858). In 1863, he published an edition of The Federalist creating controversy with James A. Hamilton and John Jay. He owned and edited the Historical Magazine from 1866 to 1876. His interest in local history led him to complete his most famous work, "Westchester County, New York during the American Revolution" which appeared in 1886 in J.T. Scharf's “History of Westchester County”.

In 1845, he married Catherine Martling (1821–1897). He died on May 23, 1889, in Westchester, New York.

Howard Le Rossignol Dawson was born in 1895, attended the Academy in Westmount, entered McGill University in 1914 receiving a B.A. in 1918 and graduating as Doctor of Medicine in 1921. While at McGill, he was an active member of Epsilon Phi and became Secretary of the Medical Undergraduate Society. He then practised at the Royal Victoria Hospital and obtained a position as Assistant Demonstrator in McGill’s Pathology Department (1923-1924). In 1924 Howard Dawson was appointed Assistant Resident in the Department of Surgery of Yale University’s School of Medicine, but soon returned to Montreal and the Royal Victoria Hospital. He once again obtained the position of Assistant Demonstrator at McGill from 1927 to 1936, this time in the Department of Surgery, and continued to teach there until 1959, rising to the ranks of Demonstrator in 1936, Lecturer in 1939 and Assistant Professor in 1942. He also maintained a private practice and served as medical advisor to the Royal Trust Company from 1937 to 1960. He died in 1979. Howard Dawson’s cousin, Stephen Arthur Dawson, attended McGill, served in the 9th Canadian Field Ambulance, trained in the Naval Air Service and then was killed in France in 1918 while flying for the Royal Air Force. Dawson’s friend Ross Kerr, also a Royal Air Force pilot, was killed in 1917.

James Dawson was a Scottish immigrant to Pictou, Nova Scotia. Born in 1789 in Overtown, Banffshire, Scotland, he emigrated to Canada in 1811. He married Mary Rankine over Lonerig, Scotland, in 1818. Their son, John William (called William) became a well-known Canadian geologist and McGill University principal. At one time a successful merchant, shipowner, stationer, and shopkeeper, James Dawson found himself in severe financial difficulty due to a depression in the mid-1820s and accidents to several of his boats. Archival records attest to several investment attempts. Despite his failure as an investor, James Dawson re-established himself as a successful bookseller, stationer, and printer by the 1840s. A devout Presbyterian, James Dawson was involved with various Bible and Christian missionary societies, as well as the temperance movement.

William Dawson, geologist, educator and Principal of McGill University (1855-1893) was an important scientific figure in nineteenth-century Canada, and one of the few of truly international stature. Born and educated in Pictou, Nova Scotia, he early showed a predilection for geology and palaeontology, and began collecting fossil plants from the coal fields in the Pictou area. During a period of study in Edinburgh in 1840-1841, he formed important friendships with Sir Charles Lyell, one of the pioneers of modern geology and with William Logan, shortly to become the first director of the Geological Survey of Canada. On his return to Nova Scotia, he began to publish and lecture on scientific topics. An appointment as Nova Scotia's first Superintendent of Education (1850-1853) entailed the extensive travel which enabled him to gather material for his Acadian Geology. In 1854, in the midst of his unsuccessful application for the chair of Natural History at Edinburgh, Dawson was offered the Principalship of McGill. He found the University on the verge of financial collapse. By a combination of scientific and entrepreneurial talents, he established it on a very sound footing and stamped it with a particularly scientific character. As a scientific educator, Dawson was highly progressive, and introduced a wide range of subjects into the undergraduate curriculum. His belief in the alliance of scientific and commercial concerns, seconded by the financial support of Sir William Macdonald, launched McGill's innovative programmes in applied sciences. However, on the question of the higher education of women, his stance against co-education generated much controversy. In his early years at McGill, Dawson taught almost all the sciences; later, as Logan Professor, he could concentrate on his main fields of geology and palaeontology. His early researches in the Maritimes leaned towards palaeobotany, but were also closely connected with iron and coal mining. Following the move to Montréal, his interests shifted to the Laurentian region and fossil fauna; he was deeply embroiled in the controversy over Eozoon canadense, whose zoological origins he championed. Apart from his extensive scholarly writings, Dawson published many popular works, particularly on the relations of science and religion. He himself was deeply fundamentalist and a vigorous opponent of Darwinism. As time passed, Dawson's research yielded to his involvement in scientific administration. He was the first president of the Royal Society of Canada (1882), the first to serve as president of both the American (1882-3) and the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1886), and a fellow of numerous other learned societies. He was knighted in 1884, following the Montréal meeting of the BAAS which he organized. Dawson married a young Margaret Ann Young Mercer, whom he met in Scotland and brought over to Canada, in 1848. The couple had six children, with five surviving to adulthood.