François-Xavier Vassal de Monviel (Monteil, Montviel) was born on November 4, 1759, in Boucherville, Quebec.

He was a militia and army officer, Justice of the Peace, and landowner. In 1776, he joined the army and took part in the campaigns against the Americans. In 1787, he was granted 500 arpents of land near the seigneury of Beauharnois for his services. He was commissioned a captain in the Royal Canadian Volunteer Regiment in 1797 and served in it until it was disbanded in 1802. In 1807, he was appointed deputy adjutant general of the Lower Canadian militia. After the War of 1812, he retained his office and held it until 1841. For his services during the conflict, he also received 1,200 acres in Frampton Township, and in 1828 he obtained a further 1,200 acres. He received commissions as Justice of the Peace from 1813 to 1828. From 1816 to 1830 he served as a Commissioner for building churches and presbyteries.
Designated in 1950 by the Geographical Survey, Canton of Montviel, located about 70 km east of Matagami, Quebec is named in his honour.

About 1800, he married Marie Marguerite Annance. He died on October 25, 1843, in Charlesbourg, Quebec.

Edwin Varney, also known as Big Dada, was born on October 16, 1942, in New Rochelle, New York.

He is a Canadian writer, critic, publisher, artist, book and stamp designer, public art manager, and labourer. He graduated from Syracuse University (B.A.; M.A.) and came to Vancouver, British Columbia, as a draft evader in 1968. He joined the multimedia artists collaborative group Intermedia and founded Intermedia Press in 1969 as its publishing arm. Between 1969 and 1981, Intermedia Press published 55 books of poetry and 50 novels, short story collections, anthologies, and trade books. He was one of the founding members of the Association of Canadian Publishers and the Literary Press Group. Varney was also founding editor of the Poem Company (1970-1974), a member of the Vancouver Poetry Front (1970-1971), one of Canada's earliest collaborative poetry performance groups, and the founder of the Intermedia Video Band (1970-1972). His interest in sound and concrete poetry led him to explore various innovative approaches to the visual presentation of poetry which found a receptive audience in South America and Europe. His work has appeared in numerous magazines and exhibitions. Varney was the founder of the Vancouver Poetry Co-op (1973-1975), a member of the Vancouver Poetry Quartet (1977-1978), and the Vancouver Surrealist Group (1979-1993). In the 1980s, he became increasingly involved in the visual arts, serving on the organizing committee of Artropolis (1984-2003) and the board of numerous art galleries and arts organizations. He was a founding editor of Bite poetry magazine (1985-1988), and in 1991, he and Carolyn Zonailo founded the Poem Factory (1991-2003). His visual art appeared in over 300 exhibitions in 35 countries. He is the author of several books of poetry, including "Openings" (1969), "Summer Songs" (1971), "Human Nature" (1974), “What the Wind Said” (1991), and “Bird” (2011). He lives in Royston on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Robert Gilbert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart, was born on June 25, 1881, at Wilton House, Farnham, Surrey, England.

He was a British diplomat and author. He was educated at Eton College, where he was a member of the exclusive Eton Society and Captain of the Oppidans. He spent two years in Europe, improving his proficiency in French and German and studying the political systems. In 1902, he entered the Foreign Office and was appointed to the British Embassy in Paris in 1903. He then served at the embassies in Tehran (1907-1909) and Cairo (1909-1911). During the First World War, he was joint head of the contraband department and then head of the Prisoner of War Department under Lord Newton. He was the first secretary at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) and principal private secretary to Lord Curzon (1920–1924) and successive Prime Ministers Stanley Baldwin (1928–1929) and Ramsay MacDonald (1929–1930). From 1930 to 1938, Vansittart was appointed Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, supervising the work of Britain's diplomatic service. Vansittart was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (1906), a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (1920), a Companion of the Order of the Bath (1927), a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (1929), a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (1931), and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (1938). He was sworn into the Privy Council in 1940 and raised to the peerage as Baron Vansittart of Denham in the County of Buckingham in 1941. Vansittart wrote novels, verses, and plays, e.g., “Les Pariahs” (1902), "Collected Poems of Robert Vansittart" (1934), “Dead Heat” (1939), and "Black Record: German Past and Present" (1941). His autobiography, “The Mist Procession”, was published posthumously in 1958.

In 1921, he married Gladys May Heppenheimer (1891–1928), and in 1931, he remarried Sarita Enriqueta Ward (1891–1985). He died on February 14, 1957, in Denham Place, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England.