Lord Bishop Hibbert Binney was born on August 12, 1819, in Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
He was a Canadian Church of England bishop and the fourth Bishop of Nova Scotia from 1851 to 1887. When his father became rector of Newbury, Berkshire, the family moved to England. He was educated at King's College London and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Worcester College, Oxford in 1842. Hibbert followed his father into the ministry, being ordained deacon by the Bishop of Oxford in 1842. He was also appointed a fellow of Worcester College. In 1844, he received his Master of Arts degree and was appointed tutor in 1846. In 1848, he became bursar of Worcester College. In 1851, Binney was named Bishop of Nova Scotia and was consecrated in London by Archbishop of Canterbury. He raised the level of churchmanship in the diocese from 36,482 in 1851 to 64,410 in 1887. He died on April 30, 1887, in New York.
John H.R. Bird (b. Montréal, 1923; d. Montréal, 2008) attended elementary and secondary schools in Montréal. He graduated with a B. Arch. from McGill University's School of Architecture in 1949. During his studies and for a period afterwards Bird worked for the Montréal firm of Mayerovitch & Bernstein, from 1944 to1951.
In 1951 Bird began a private practice in Montréal. He created his most notable independent work between 1959-1969 in a number of religious buildings for Catholic parishes in Montréal and suburbs (in 1953 Bird converted to Catholicism). In 1969 the architect closed his office to work for various Montréal companies. From 1969-1974 Bird was the architect to the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority, then he moved on to become chief architect for T. Pringle & Son Ltd. between 1974-1977. Bird joined Quésult Ltée., Montréal, as head of the architectural department for Algerian projects from 1977-1979, and then became an architectural consultant in the firm of Jacques Béïque Architecte from 1979-1982. He re-opened a private practice in 1983, and went into semi-retirement in 1994. (Biographical description from Canadian Centre for Architecture, John Bird fonds)
Herbert Stanley Birkett (1864-1942), C.B., V.D., M.D., LL.D., F.R.S.C. (C.), F.A.C.S., received his M.D. from McGill University in 1886. He specialized in otology and laryngology and was associated in practice with Dr. Frank Buller. In 1893, he became Lecturer in Laryngology at McGill and in 1895 he was appointed as Chair in the subject. Birkett was instrumental in developing the departments of Otolaryngology at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) and at McGill University. During World War I, Birkett helped organize and command the No. 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) in France, and became assistant director-general of the Canadian Army Medical Corps earning the rank of Brigadier-General in 1918. From 1914-1921, Birkett was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at McGill and received an honourary degree of LL.D in 1921. Dr. and Mrs. Birkett had one daughter together, named Winifred L. Birkett.
