Dr. William James Giles was born in 1864 in Quebec. He was a dentist, and lived at 43 Windsor Avenue in Westmount. In 1909, he married Ada Eliza Almour (1892-1967). He died in 1922 in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Geologist and mining consultant J.E. Gill was born in British Columbia. He received his B.Sc. in mining engineering from McGill in 1921 and his Ph.D. from Princeton in 1925. In 1929 he joined the teaching staff of the Department of Geology; in 1957 he was named Dawson Professor of Geology, and he retired in 1969 as Emeritus Professor. Besides teaching, Gill consulted for the firm of W.F. James on mining problems, and served as an advisor to federal and provincial mining ministries. His special field of research was gold and he was instrumental in discovering deposits in Labrador, Québec, and Peru. An outcome of his double interest in teaching and mining discoveries was the Master's programme in mineral exploration which he organized at McGill.

Gillespie, Moffatt & Company was the largest wholesale dry goods importing and exporting house in Montreal. It was founded in 1816 by Robert Gillespie, George Moffatt, and several other partners, including Samuel Gerrard, Jasper Tough, and John Jamieson. George Moffatt was the principal associate overseeing the business in Montreal. By the early 1820s, Robert Gillespie managed the business in London. The firm also acted as an agent for the London-based Phoenix Assurance Company. By 1842 partners of Gillespie, Moffatt, and Company in Quebec, Toronto, and London provided important links with the major commercial centres of Canada, Britain, and the West Indies. Robert Gillespie retired from the business in 1856 and George Moffatt in 1865. They were replaced as directors by Alexander T. Pattinson, who ran the Montreal business, and James B. Greenshields, who managed the London business. The company changed its name in 1886.