Sir John Alexander Macdonald was born on January 11, 1815, in Glasgow, Scotland.

He was the first prime minister of Canada (1867–1873, 1878–1891). In 1820, his family immigrated to Kingston, Ontario. He attended the Midland District Grammar School (1827–1828) and also a private co-educational school. In 1830, he began to article in the office of a Kingston lawyer George Mackenzie and in 1832, he was entrusted with the management of his branch office in Napanee. In 1835, he opened his own firm in Kingston and was called to the bar in 1836. As a lawyer, he quickly attracted public attention, mainly by taking on a number of difficult and even sensational cases. He was also an active businessman involved in land development and speculation. After the British Parliament united Upper and Lower Canada as Canada West (now Ontario) and Canada East (now Quebec) in the Act of Union of 1840, Macdonald was elected to the assembly of the Province of Canada as a Conservative for Kingston in 1844. In 1846, he was made a Queen's Counsel. His first experience as a cabinet member was in 1847–1848. In 1854, he became Attorney General for Upper Canada, a position he held until 1867 except for periods in 1858 and 1862–1864. He became prime minister of the Province of Canada in 1857. He worked at promoting the British America League, designed to unify Canada and strengthen its ties to Great Britain. In June 1864, Macdonald and Cartier joined with their chief opponent, George Brown, in order to further the scheme of the confederation of British North America. After conferences in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, in Quebec, and in London, the British North America Act was passed (1867), creating the Dominion of Canada, and Macdonald became its first leader. He was created Knight Commander of the Bath (KCB) in recognition of his services to the British Empire. Under his leadership, the dominion quickly expanded to include the provinces of Manitoba (1870), British Columbia (1871), and Prince Edward Island (1873). The Pacific Scandal of 1873, in which the government was accused of taking bribes in regard to the Pacific railway contract, forced Macdonald to resign, but he returned as prime minister five years later and served until his death. He was awarded honorary degrees from Queen's University at Kingston (1863), University of Oxford (1865), and University of Toronto (1889).

In 1843, he married Isabella Clark (1809-1857) and in 1867, he married Lady Agnes Bernard (1836-1920). He died on June 6, 1891, in Ottawa, Ontario.

Premier of the Province of Canada from 1862 to 1864. The first Premier of Ontario from 1867 to 1871.

John Macdonald was a soldier in the British Army who enlisted in 1796. He was a trusted assistant to the 1st Duke of Wellington, and was appointed Adjutant-General to the Forces in July 1830. He was awarded the C.B. (1815), K.C.B. (1827), and GCB (1847).

Major Margaret Clothilde MacDonald was born on February 15, 1873, in Bailey's Brook, Nova Scotia.

She was a Canadian military nurse born into a wealthy Catholic family. She attended Mount Saint Vincent Academy in Halifax and Charity Hospital Training School in New York, where she studied nursing. After her graduation in 1895, MacDonald went to Panama to assist as a nurse during the construction of the Panama Canal. She served as a military nurse aboard the military ship Relief during the Spanish-American War in 1898. She also served as a nurse during the South African War in 1900, where she was one of the first females to receive a military commission. After her return to Canada, she was named the Head of the Nursing Service of the Canadian Army Medical Corps. MacDonald moved to Britain to learn from their military nursing program, focusing more on leadership and working to make a change for women. She was the first woman to receive the title of Matron in Chief in the British Empire for her leadership during World War I. In 1920, after many years of nursing, MacDonald retired, returning to her hometown of Bailey's Brook, Nova Scotia, where she died on September 7, 1948.

Dr. Purdy Alvin MacDonald, a native of New Brunswick, graduated from McGill University in Medicine in 1906. Soon after graduation he began practice in Halifax. While he considered himself a general practitioner he gave special attention to surgery and obstetrics. Dr. MacDonald was a member of the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Superintendent of Dalhousie University for many years. He was also a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. (Canadian Medical Association Journal, v. 62, pg. 100, 1950.