William Budden Vennor was born in Montreal in 1848. He was the brother of the noted Canadian geologist and ornithologist, Henry George Vennor. William Budden moved to Alberta, where he worked as a bookkeeper and accountant in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Born in Montréal, Henry G. Vennor was educated at the Montreal High School and at McGill University. From 1865 to 1880 he was on the staff of the Geological Survey of Canada. In 1877 he published the first of his Vennor Almanacs in which he ventured to predict the weather. Apart from being a geologist and meteorologist, Vennor was also an ornithologist and his chief work was Our Birds of Prey (Montréal, 1876).

Harriet Ann Hall was born in Montreal on 15 June 1812, the daughter of John Hall and Charlotte Morrison. Her sister Charlotte nicknamed her "Tanny." After the deaths of her parents, she and Charlotte were raised by their aunt and uncle, Benjamin Hall and Harriet Morrison. Harriet married Edward Vennor on 23 September 1834. They had at least four children together: Benjamin William, Elizabeth, Charlotte Ellen (sometimes Charlotte Anne), and Edward. She died in Georgeville, Quebec, on 10 August 1895.