William Weir was born on October 28, 1823, in Angus, Scotland.

He was a businessman, newspaper publisher, and author. He was educated in Scotland, and in 1842, he moved to Canada to live with an uncle, a brewer and distiller in Lachute, Quebec. He taught in nearby Chatham Township and then moved to Saint-Laurent, where he worked as a bookkeeper. In 1847, Weir established himself as a commission merchant in Montreal. He became an exchange broker in 1849 and then a salesman of leather goods in 1852. In 1857, he left for Toronto and published the Canadian Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review. When the magazines discontinued in 1859, Weir returned to Montreal and re-established himself as a broker. In the mid-1880s, he formed a firm W. Weir and Sons, which functioned until 1899. Weir served as Secretary of both the Association for the Promotion of Canadian Industry and the Tariff Board Reform Association. He was also a Government Agent for the Exportation of American Silver Coin. As a result of the closing of his private Banque Ville-Marie in 1899, he was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail. In 1903, he published the account of his life, "Sixty Years in Canada.”

In 1849, he married Elizabeth Somerville (1831–1896), and in 1903, he remarried Eunice Clark Barnes Scoville (1829–1919). He died on March 25, 1905, in Ottawa, Ontario.

William Alexander Weir was born on October 15, 1858, in Montreal, Quebec, brother of Robert Stanley Weir (1856-1926), a judge and author of the English lyrics for "O Canada."

He was a Quebec lawyer, politician, and judge. He was educated at the High School of Montreal, McGill University (B.C.L., 1881), and was called to the Bar of Quebec in 1881. He contributed articles to The Montreal Star (1880–1881) and the Argenteuil County News (1895–1897). Weir published several special editions of Quebec Civil Codes and served as Secretary of the Royal Commission to revise the Code of Civil Procedure in 1897. In 1897, Weir was elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the riding of Argenteuil, representing the Liberal Party of Quebec until 1910. He also served as Minister without Portfolio (1903), Speaker (1905–1906), Minister of Public Works and Labour (1906–1907), and Provincial Treasurer (1907–1910). When he got appointed a judge for the Quebec Superior Court in 1910, Weir resigned his MLA seat. He finished his career becoming a Montreal District Court judge in 1923.

In 1885, he married Adelaide Jane Sayers Stewart (1865–1939). He died on October 22, 1929, in London, England.

Robert Stanley Weir was born on November 15, 1856, in Hamilton, Ontario.

He was a judge, writer, and poet, famous for writing the English lyrics to "O Canada," the national anthem of Canada. Weir attended McGill Normal School, and at the age of 19, he was appointed principal of Sherbrooke Street School, one of the largest Montreal public schools. He graduated from McGill University (B.C.L, 1880; D.C.L, 1897) and began practicing law in Montreal, focusing on the municipal questions. In 1898, he was one of the advocates appointed to revise the charter of the City of Montreal. In 1899, he was appointed Recorder for Montreal. Weir also taught liturgics and jurisprudence in the Congregational College of Canada, affiliated with McGill University. He later served as a municipal court judge and was considered an expert on the historical aspects of municipal law. In 1908, Weir wrote English lyrics for "O Canada" while at his summer home in Cedarville to honour the 300th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. He served as Vice-President of the Parks & Playgrounds Association in 1922. In 1923, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1926, he was appointed a judge for the Exchequer Court of Canada.

In 1882, he married Margaret Alexander Douglas (1863–1933). He died on August 20, 1926, in Cedarville, Lac Memphremagog, Quebec.