Norman William Alford was born in Croydon, Surrey, England. He obtained a B.A. in English from the University of London in 1962, an M.A. in English from Birbeck College, University of London in 1964, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Texas in 1966. He taught school in Sussex, Ceylon, and Southern Rhodesia during the 1950s and also worked at the Federal Ministry of Education for Rhodesia and Nyasaland from 1961 to 1962. He came to the University of Victoria in 1964, first as a student and later as a professor, and taught in the Department of English. After leaving the University of Victoria, he moved to Mexico in 1984. Throughout his career, Alford has published novels, short stories and scholarly works, including a book about the Rhymers' Club. Some of his stories, including "Allergy" and "Bungalow", have been published in the Malahat Review.

Elsie Marie Allan was born 20 June 1915 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She later moved to Victoria where she worked for B.C. Police, Camosun College, and at the University of Victoria library in the inter-library loans department. Allan was married to Thomas Pennycuick Allan, with whom she had one child, Peter. She died 18 October 2006.

Harold Tuttle Allen was born 22 January 1902 in Montreal. In 1923 he graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts, and in 1926 was ordained by British Columbia Conference. Allen spent his career as a United Church minister, working for over 40 years in lumber mill, coal mining, and urban centers of BC. He was prominent in the New Democratic Party, and developed a widespread reputation as a man always ready to help the underdog. From 1956 to 1962 he served as the Field Secretary for the Lord's Day Alliance, fighting unsuccessfully to uphold the enforcement of the Lord's Day Act. Allen also researched and wrote on religious issues and social change. He was married to Ruby Rhoda Reilly (1903-1983). Allen died 1 November 1982.

Thomas Allen was an Anglican Vicar in Kettering, England.