W.D. Lighthall was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and educated at McGill University (B.A. 1879, B.C.L. 1881, L.L.D. 1921). He practiced law in Montreal (K.C. 1906), and served as Mayor of Westmount, 1900-1902. He was a founder of the Canadian Union of Municipalities and served on the Metropolitan Parks Commission for Greater Montreal and the Historical Monuments Commission. He was founder of the Great War Veterans' Association which was later incorporated into the Royal Canadian Legion. In addition to his public activities, Lighthall actively engaged in historical and literary pursuits. A founder of the Chateau de Ramezay Historical Museum, he was president of the Antiquarian and Numismatic Society and played an important part in the erection of the de Maisonneuve Monument on Place d'Armes. He wrote Sights and Sounds of Montreal (1907) and Montreal After 250 Years (1892). He was a founder of the Society of Canadian Literature and published in 1889 one of the first anthologies of Canadian poetry, Songs of the Great Dominion. In 1902, he was elected to the Royal Society of Canada, and in 1917-1918 served as its president. In 19230 he was elected president of the Canadian Authors' Association. Lighthall developed his own philosophy of virtue and universal goodwill which he explained not only in treatises on ethics and politics such as Sketch of the New Utilitarianism (1887), Canada: A Modern Nation (1904), The Person of Evolution (1930), but also in his fiction including The Young Seigneur (1888), The False Chevalier (1998) and The Master of Life (1908).