Born in Montreal in 1878, William Willoughby Francis was named after his mother's cousin, Sir William Osler. As Osler's namesake, and also his godson, Francis decided to pursue a medical degree and graduated in 1902 from Johns Hopkins University. After interning at the Royal Victoria Hospital and spending time in Europe to pursue post-graduate studies, Francis started his own practice in Montreal in 1906. He was also appointed Demonstrator in Pathology at McGill University under the direction of Dr. Maude Abbott. For some time, Francis served as Secretary-Treasurer and Assistant Editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. His career was briefly interrupted when he fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis, and he was admitted to St. Agathe Sanatorium where he regained his health in 1911. During World War One, Francis went overseas with No.3 Canadian General Hospital. After the war, Francis remained in Europe and took a position in Geneva as Assistant Editor – eventually Editor – of the International Journal of Public Health. Upon the death Sir William Osler in 1919, Francis relocated to Oxford where he began cataloguing Osler's extensive collection of books that had been bequeathed to McGill University. Francis was the principal editor of the Bibliotheca Osleriana with the help of co-editors Archibald Malloch and Reginald Hill. The Osler Library of the History of Medicine opened its doors at McGill University in 1929 and Francis served as the library's dedicated librarian until his death in 1959.

In 1921, W. W. Francis married Hilda Colley and they had one daughter who was born in Oxford, Marian Francis Kelen (1922-2014). The family spent nearly seven years living in England while Francis catalogued Osler's bequest. Upon completion of the work, the family returned to Montreal with eighty-six large packing cases of books. Marian Francis pursued a medical degree and graduated from McGill in 1945 with an M.D.C.M. It was at McGill where she met her husband, and fellow medical student, Andrew Kelen. Upon graduation, Andrew, who was part of the ROTC (Regular Officers' Training Corps), was stationed in London and elsewhere in western Europe with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps until the end of the Second World War (1944-1945). After Andrew was discharged from the RCAMC and returned home, Marian and Andrew were married (1946) and pursued residencies at the Montreal General Hospital, Royal Victoria Hospital, and the former Montreal Homeopathic Hospital (later Queen Elizabeth Hospital of Montreal) before practicing medicine at the Ormstown Medical Centre in southern Quebec. Marian and Andrew Kelen had five children together: Michael (born 1948), Sari, Steve, Susan, and Wendy. Marian Kelen stopped practicing medicine for 18 years while raising the growing family.

George Keith was born on December 29, 1779, in Netherthird, Scotland, and died on January 22, 1859, in Aberdeen, Scotland. His parents were James Keith and Isabella Bruce. With his younger brother James, Keith travelled to North America in 1799 as an apprentice for Forsyth, Richardson and Company, a partner in the New North West Company (sometimes called the XY Company). Keith married an Indigenous woman named Nanette, the daughter of James Sutherland, a clerk for the North West Company. Between 1807 and 1838, they had six daughters and three sons, and in 1844, before sailing for Scotland, he formalized his marriage by Christian rite to protect the interests of his family. He served in the Athabasca country until 1806, where he joined the North West Company after its merge with the New North West Company. From 1806 to 1815, Keith was stationed in the Mackenzie River department, where he worked under John George McTavish and then under Simon McTavish, becoming a partner in the North West Company in 1813. In letters addressed to Roderick McKenzie (1761-1844, fur trader), Keith described in detail the geography around his post on the Liard River, and after 1810, the geography of the west end of Great Bear Lake and the Mackenzie River. He also recorded his observations on the Athapaskan peoples. From 1816 to 1821, Keith served at Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, on Lake Athabasca, assuming charge of the Athabasca department in 1817. Following the coalition between the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1821, Keith was named chief factor and given charge of the English (upper Churchill) River district, based in Île-à-la-Crosse (Saskatchewan). After his leave of absence in 1826 and 1827, he was placed in command of the Lake Superior district, based in Michipicoten (now known as Michipicoten River, Ontario). Except for another furlough in 1832 to 1833, he remained at his post until 1835, when he was transferred to Moose Factory (Ontario). Keith returned to Michipicoten for a period between 1839 and 1843, before taking a two-year leave of absence and then retiring to Scotland in 1845.