Charles John Chester Briscoe was born in 1812 or 1813 in the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean. He was the only son of Charles J. Briscoe, Esq. (before 1796-1830) and spent many years in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. He served as the comptroller of St. Andrews customs until 1847, when he moved to St. John and took on the role of warehouse keeper.

He died on November 14, 1887, in Witney, Oxfordshire, England.

Canadian specialist in 18th-century French books, antiquarian bookseller, and former rare books curator and librarian at the Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa and Bibliothèque nationale du Quebec in Montreal. He is the author of the books, "Impressions" (1999), "The Printing of Handbills in Quebec City, 1764-1800" (1995) and its French version, "L'imprimerie à Québec au XVIIIe siècle: les feuilles volantes et affiches, 1764-1800" (2005).

In 1967, he married Ginette Gauthier (1949–1998). He died on February 3, 2006, in St. Placide, Quebec.

Milton Harvey Brissette was born on October 1, 1843, in Chazy, Clinton County, New York.

He was a wholesale druggist and owner of Harvey Medicine Co. on 455 St. Paul St. in Montreal, Quebec (1869), selling patented remedies, e.g., Dr. Harvey's Anti-bilious Pills and Dr. Harvey's Red Pine cough medicine.

He died on February 27, 1897, in Chazy, Clinton County, New York.

For a century after the American Revolution and the peace of 1783, the military in Canada concerned itself almost exclusively with defence against the United States. During the War of 1812 successful defence against the United States was mostly attributable to the British regular regiments and the Royal Navy. In 1838 the regular garrison of British North America numbered over 13,000 men, but fell off to only about 3,000 in 1855 because of the high cost of maintaining such a force. The Militia Act of 1855 set up a new force of volunteers, not more than 5000 strong, which would be uniformed and armed and would undergo a short period of annual training. This volunteer force is the origin of the modern Canadian Army (Militia). The first Militia Act of the Dominion of Canada, passed in 1868, set up a Department of Militia and Defence and divided the country into military districts.

Founded in 1831, the British Association for the Advancement of Science represented the organized efforts of the British scientific community to transition science from a self-funded endeavour of the wealthy into a government-funded profession central to social and economic development. The organization held an annual meeting in a different city each year, where scientists pioneered the practice of peer review by presenting new ideas and discoveries, debating theories, and publicizing their work. This event attracted most of the prominent UK-based scientists of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In 2009, the BAAS was renamed the British Science Association (BSA). The new organization has built upon the original mission of placing science at the heart of society, culture, and education. It now focuses on increasing the number, diversity, and range of people actively engaged in scientific studies, activities, and developments.