The North Atlantic Coast Fisheries Arbitration settled an economic dispute between Canada, the United States, and Great Britain over fishing rights. The dispute centered on the interpretation of several treaties granting American citizens special fishing rights in Canadian and Newfoundland waters. The dispute began in 1905 when Newfoundland introduced new regulations which restricted the fishing rights of American citizens and were enacted and enforced without notice to the Americans. The three countries were unable to settle the issue on their own so they agreed to take the case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. On September 7, 1910, the tribunal ruled that while Canada and Newfoundland had sovereignty over the waters in question, the reasonableness of any new regulations must be allowed to be challenged by the United States. All three countries were pleased with the ruling of the tribunal. Using the ruling, the three countries were able to agree to a new treaty, which was signed in 1912. The new treaty stipulated that at the end of the fishing season, Canada was required to notify the Americans of any new fishing regulations for the following season. The United States was given a set number of days to object to these new regulations. If they filed an objection, a commission would decide if the new regulations were reasonable. If the Americans did not object, then the new regulations were presumed to be reasonable and in effect.

John Munro (“Jack”) Lydiard attended the University of Saskatchewan between 1926 and 1930, earning a B.Sc. in 1930. During his college years, Jack was an avid photographer and was dedicated to student athletics. As a math teacher at Bedford Road Collegiate in Saskatoon, he also took on coaching duties for the (then) Bedford Road Redmen football team (now the Bedford Road Redhawks). In 1948, he became the founding president of the Saskatoon High Schools Athletics Association, and in 1949 he brokered an arrangement with the Saskatoon Hilltops Football Club to create the Saskatoon Track and Field Club. He later moved to Vancouver where he wrote the Grade 13 math textbook that was used throughout British Columbia, beginning in 1965. In retirement, he travelled throughout South America, Africa, and Asia. Jack Lydiard died on May 2, 1981.

Jessie Flora Cattanach was born in Laggan, Ontario, on November 10, 1839, the daughter of Donald Cattanach (1799-1883) and Flora MacKenzie (1813-1893). Her maternal grandmother, Annie MacDonald (1777-1849) emigrated from Skye, Scotland, in 1831; the Cattanach family Bible was in Gaelic. Jessie married Arthur Wellington Ross on July 30, 1873. Arthur Wellington Ross and Jessie Flora Ross divided much of their time between Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. They had three children: John, Donald, and Gertrude. (Gertrude was born in 1880 but died the following year.) Although her husband’s career would have provided Jessie with occasion to meet many of the people who signed her album, she must have been remarkably engaging to have persuaded so many individuals to sign. Family members suggest that, a diarist herself, Jessie understood the importance of recording names of interesting people she met during those formative years of Canada’s expansion west. Moreover, she appears to have encouraged her son and his wife to do the same; and her grandson and his wife continued the practice. Donald Aynsley Ross’ son, Arthur Dwight Ross, was an Air Commodore, wounded in action during World War II; he received the George Cross. He later became Aide-de-Camp for Alexander of Tunis when he was Governor General; his career, like that of his grandfather, enabled him to meet prominent individuals of his time. Jessie Flora Ross died on December 1, 1937.

Donald Aynsley Ross, the second son of Arthur Wellington Ross and Jessie Flora (Cattanach) Ross, was born in Winnipeg on September 26, 1877. He attended Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto. He became a mining engineer in British Columbia; and from 1900-1906, was a locating engineer for the Canadian Northern Railway, during which time he oversaw construction of the Pinawa Channel Dam on the Winnipeg River. In 1906, he formed an architectural partnership with Ralph B. Pratt. Ross died in Winnipeg on April 1, 1956.

Leonard Rutledge Woolsey was born in Penzance, Saskatchewan in 1922 to Hulbert and Barbara Woolsey. Leonard Woolsey served in the Navy during World War Two and was a member of the crew of the HMCS Athabaskan, which was disabled by a German air attack in August 1943. He also served at sea on the HMCS Chaudiere. He received a commission, ending the war attached to the Royal Navy as a Fleet Air Arm Fighter Controller. After the war, Woolsey attended the University of Saskatchewan where he graduated from Mechanical Engineering in 1949. He worked as a senior executive with Gulf Oil. Leonard Woolsey died in 2008.

Barbara (Mitchell) Woolsey was born in 1898. Barbara immigrated to Canada from Scotland in 1906. She married Hulbert Woolsey in 1915 and together they farmed at Penzance, Saskatchewan. Barbara and Hulbert had two daughters and ten sons. Barbara was an active member of the United Church and the Ladies Auxliary to the Legion. Her husband died in 1968. She moved to Regina in 1971 to enter a nursing home. She died in 1981.

Douglas Schmeiser was born on May 22, 1934 in Bruno, Saskatchewan. He earned a BA (1954) and LLB (1956) from the University of Saskatchewan, and both a LLM (1958) and SJD (1963) from the University of Michigan. He was hired by the University of Saskatchewan as a special lecturer in 1956, and began teaching full-time in 1961. He was promoted to full professor in 1968. From 1964-1974, he served as director of graduate legal studies in the College of Law, and as Dean from 1974-1977. In 1995, he was named Professor Emeritus. Schmeiser is author of numerous books, including "Civil Liberties in Canada" (1964), "Cases and Comments on Criminal Law" (1st edition 1966; 5th edition 1985), "Cases on Canadian Civil Liberties" (1971), "The Native Offender and the Law" (1974), and "The Independence of Provincial Court Judges: A Public Trust" (1996). He has served as a constitutional consultant for various provincial governments, and internationally, as a consultant and advisor on law reform, constitutional and other legal matters to various governments. Among numerous other positions he has served as Director, Canadian Council for Human Rights; president of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers; and from 1982-1987 he served as chair of the Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan. His community service has included various positions with the Saskatoon United Appeal; trustee with the Saskatoon Catholic School Board; and a member of the executive for the University of Saskatchewan Retirees Association. He has been named an honourary life member of the Saskatoon United Way; honourary president of Nature Saskatchewan; and has received the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal for service to the legal community; the Distinguished Alumnus Award from St. Thomas More College, and in 2010 was given the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, the province’s highest honour. He passed away April 28, 2018.