Michael Shane Bird (June 6, 1941-October 27, 2003) was a professor, researcher, and writer who specialized in fine arts, in particular Canadian folk and fraktur, and film studies. Born in Belle Plaine, Iowa to Arthur Bird and Katherine McHugh, he attained his PhD from the University of Iowa before moving to Waterloo to teach at Renison University College. Bird taught at Renison for 34 years in both fine arts and religious studies, two topics that he also researched and wrote extensively on. He was particularly interested in religious themes in cinema, including the works of Ingmar Bergman, and Canadian folk and fraktur art. He wrote, or co-wrote, some of the first compendiums on folk art and furniture in Canada. He also wrote on fraktur art in the Pennsylvania German style, and on fraktur found in Waterloo region. On top of writing, he curated a number of exhibits in Waterloo and elsewhere on folk and fraktur art. He was closely connected with the Joseph Schneider Haus, where he gave many talks, curated exhibits, and ultimately donated to the bulk of his Canadian folk art collection.
Bird married Joan Welch in 1966 with whom he had two children. In 1979 he married Terry Kobayashi who was a frequent collaborator of his on writing on Canadian folk art, and in collecting the same. In 1992 he married Susan Hyde and in 1994 they adopted a child from China. Bird and Hyde researched and wrote a number of texts including a book on wooden churches of Cape Breton. Bird died of heart failure on October 27, 2003.

Born December 10, 1876, Charles Lawrence Bishop was a journalist who was appointed to the senate of Canada in 1945 by William Lyon Mackenzie King. He died September 28, 1966.

Pearlie Bishop was born in 1876 in Cambridge, daughter of a wholesale grocer who managed the firm Halleck & Bond. She began a nursing career circa 1900 and acted as a nurse in the First World War, being Commandant of the Huntley V.A.D. Hospital in Cambridge, as well as being in charge of the Air Raid Squad and sugar distribution to Cambridgeshire hospitals. She was also a nurse in the Second World, being attached to the Women's Volunteer Service. For her war work she was awarded a MBE. She died in 1962 in Cambridge.

Conrad Bitzer was a lawyer and politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as mayor of Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario in 1892. Bitzer was born in Preston, Ontario, the son of immigrants from Germany. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1881 and set up practice in Berlin, the first German-speaking lawyer to practice in the area. He was a member of the local Board of Trade. Bitzer was nominated as the Liberal candidate for the Waterloo North seat in the Canadian House of Commons for the 1900 general election, but withdrew before the election date.

Martha Louise Black, Canadian politician and second woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons, was born in Chicago on February 24, 1866. She attended St. Mary's College in Notre Dame Indiana. In 1877 Black married Will Purdy and together they had two sons, Warren and Donald. She and Purdy had plans to joint the Klondike gold rush in 1899 but Purdy backed out and instead moved to Hawaii, leaving her to travel to the Klondike via the Chilkoot Pass in 1898 with her brother. In January of 1899 she stopped in Dawson City to give birth to her and Purdy's third son Lyman. She then returned briefly to Chicago before going again to the Klondike in 1900 where she would live for 54 years. Here she earned money by staking gold mining claims and running a sawmill and iron ore crushing plant. In 1904 Black met and married George Black, Commissioner of the Yukon from 1912-1916.

In 1921 Black was elected to the House of Commons and was speaker of the house from 1930-1935. She ran in the federal election and was elected in the Yukon riding as an Independent Conservative in 1935, taking over for her ailing husband. Black was also involved in a variety of social and charity organizations including supporting IODE, the Victorian Order of Nurses, and as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of England.

In 1938 Black published the book "My Seventy Years" an autobiography, which was later updated as "My Ninety Years." She was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1946 for her social and cultural contributions to the Yukon. She died in Whitehorse on October 31, 1957.

Born to suffragists Lucy Stone and Henry Browne Blackwell, Elizabeth Stone Blackwell was an American suffragist, journalist and human rights advocate. Her mother was one of the founders of the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) and her aunt Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to obtain a medical degree in the United States.
After graduating from Boston University, Blackwell began working for her parent's paper Woman's Journal and took over primary editing responsibility after the death of her mother in 1893. In 1890 she was instrumental in reuniting the two competing American suffrage groups, the AWSA and the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) into the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
She was also a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, founded the Society of Friends of Russian Freedom, and was heavily involved in humanitarian work in Armenia. Blackwell died in 1950 at the age of 92.

Doris Bolender was born to Reverend William Blackburn Moyer (January 24, 1892-August 5, 1955) and Olive Irene Shantz (August 11, 1893-August 18, 1981) in Kitchener, Ontario on June 17, 1922. She was raised alongside her four siblings; William Glen Moyer, Ella Mae Moyer, Marjorie Evangeline Funk (January 11, 1917-March 1, 2003), and Ruby Jane Sider (1919-February 4, 2011).

In 1945, Doris married Gordon John Bolender and together they had three children; Mark Bolender, David Bolender, and Merla Bolender.

From 1946-1960, Doris served as a nurse alongside Gordon who worked as a teacher in Nigeria with the United Missionary Society (the forerunner of EMCC World Partners).

Doris died on November 3, 2011.

Gordon was born in 1920.

In 1945, Gordon married Doris Elaine Moyer and together they had three children; Mark Bolender, David Bolender, and Merla Bolender.

From 1946-1960, Gordon worked as a teacher and Doris served as a nurse in Nigeria with the United Missionary Society (the forerunner of EMCC World Partners).

Gordon died on February 13, 2002.

Marie-Rosalie (Rosa) Bonheur was a French artist known for her paintings of animals and her realist style. Born to a family of artists, Rosa's mother was a pianist and her father was landscape painter Oscar-Raymond Bonheur. Three of Rosa's siblings would also go on to become artists. At the age of 12 Rosa began her training as an artist under the tutelage of father, after a series of failed attempts at school and a seamstress apprentice. She was commissioned by the French government in 1849 and this lead to her first successful work. She continued to paint primarily animals in landscapes and exhibited at places including the Chicago Worl's Fair of 1893. Queen Victoria highly admired her work and she was very popular in England. Rosa spent the majority of her life living in her home Chateau de By where she was able to keep animals. Rosa died in 1899 and is buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery with her long term partner Nathalie Micas.

Bookhout began working at the Kitchener-Waterloo Record in May of 1955. He was offered the position after submitting photos of two major fires that occurred on the same day, one at the Chicken Nest restaurant on King Street in Kitchener, and the other at the Granite Club, also in Kitchener.. He was awarded the National Newspaper Award for feature photography in 1985 for a photo of two Mennonite girls playing on a swing. Gerry's interest in photography began when he was a boy. At age 12, Gerry built himself a darkroom by following the instructions in a Kodak manual. Bookhout retired from the Record in 1992 and died August 29, 2007.

Carl A. Borgstrom, landscape architect, was born March 30, 1886 in Backa, Sweden. In 1928-1929, while with Wilson, Bunnell & Borgstrom, he designed the rock garden for the entrance to the City of Hamilton. This garden, in what had been a gravel pit, is now part of the Royal Botanical Gardens. In 1934, he was one of the founders of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and Town Planners. He died April 13, 1951 in Meadowvale, Ontario.

B.M. Bower (1871-1940) was an American western author who wrote novels, short stories and screenplays about the American frontier, often featuring the Flying U Ranch in Montana. Her husband, Bertrand Sinclair (1881-1972) also wrote American western novels, as well as those set in British Columbia where he settled.

Adam Bowlby (1792-1883) was born in 1792 to Richard Bowlby, and wife Elizabeth Hawksworth. Adam moved to Upper Canada in 1815 to live with his uncle Thomas Bowlby, the first Bowlby family member to come to Upper Canada and here Adam set up a gristmill. After a few years manufacturing tools and implements for farmers, Adam purchased a small parcel of 450 acres in Townsend around the time of his marriage, in 1819, to Elizabeth Sovereign of New Jersey. The farm was built up over a period of 21 years to approximately 3,000 acres. During this 21 year period Adam and Elizabeth had six children: Alfred Bowlby in 1820, William Bowlby in 1822, David Sovereign Bowlby in 1828, Mary Ursula Bowlby Powell in 1830, Ward Hamilton Bowlby, in 1834, John Wedgewood Bowlby in 1837. During this time Adam served as magistrate and district councilor, treasurer of the Masonic Lodge and Captain of the Waterford Company during the rebellions of 1837-38. Adam eventually left his farm to son William (the only farmer in the family) and settled in Berlin (Kitchener) where he died in 1883 at the age of 91.

Alfred Bowlby (1820-1915) was born August 26, 1820 in New Jersey, USA, the eldest son of Adam and Elizabeth. He grew up largely on the family farm in Townsend and began receiving an education at home from an early age. He, along with his brothers, was taught to read from the New Testament and was taught multiplication by his mother. He began formal schooling at the age of nine and would eventually go on to study medicine at Columbia, graduating in 1945. After a failed attempt to continue his studies at University of Toronto due to religious difference, he studied another two years at McGill. In 1846 he finally opened his own practice in Waterford. In 1854 at the age of 34 Alfred married 22 year old Margaret (Mary) Chrysler (1831-1917) of Ancaster, Upper Canada. The two would go on to have eight children together and live in Townsend for the rest of their lives. Alfred continued to practice medicine until his death in 1915 at the age of 95. Margaret passed in 1917 at the age of 86.

David Shannon Bowlby was born in Berlin (Kitchener) Ontario January 24, 1874. He attended the University of Toronto graduating with a B.A. in 1895, and an LL.B. in 1896. In 1893 he received his call to the Bar. He was appointed Crown Attorney for Waterloo County in 1917. Bowlby died October 11, 1938.

David Sovereign Bowlby was born September 5th, 1826 to Adam Bowlby and Elizabeth Sovereign Bowlby. He was born on the family farm in Townsend, and, like his brothers began to be educated from an early age. He attended Upper Canada College, University of Toronto, Toronto School of Medicine and ultimately the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, graduating in 1853. In October of the same year he moved to Berlin (Kitchener) to temporarily fill in for his cousin Dr. J.W. Sovereign, and ended up staying on indefinitely. He also took on the role of County Jail surgeon, and coroner for many years. Besides his medical practice he was heavily involved in the community being a member of the village council, and on the Board of Trustees of Berlin High School as well as being warden and delegate to the synod for St. John’s Anglican Church. In 1856 David Sovereign married 18 year old Martha Esther Murphy (1837-1925) of Montreal and brought her to Berlin. Together they had five children: Janie Elizabeth Bowlby Clement in 1859, Emma Allen Bowlby Boyd in 1862, George Herbert Bowlby in 1855, Grace Bowlby Fennell in 1871, and David Shannon Bowlby in 1873.

In his later years David Sovereign suffered from bronchial troubles and died in 1903 while in Sicily on a trip to improve his breathing. Martha Esther Murphy lived for another 22 years in the family home in Berlin. Martha was extremely active in social and philanthropic organizations in Berlin including as a founding member of the Kitchener and Waterloo Ladies Hospital Auxiliary, organist of St. John’s Anglican Church, and first regent of the Princess of Wales chapter, Daughters of the Empire. Martha died unexpectedly at the age of 88 after her dressing gown caught fire from the gas heater in her home.

George Herbert Bowlby was born July 16, 1865 to David Sovereign Bowlby and Martha Esther Murphy Bowlby in Berlin (Kitchener), Ontario. Educated in Berlin at both the elementary and high school, he studied briefly at St. Jerome College before obtaining a medical degree at the Toronto University. After obtaining his degree he became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in London and also was a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians. As a youth he was heavily involved in sports, playing soccer and cricket. At the onset of WWI he joined the Army Medical Corps of the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force, became a Captain and was appointed Assistant Director of Medical Services. In 1894 at the age of 28 he married 22 year old Blanche Alexandrine (Adine) Seagram (1871-1919), the daughter of Joseph Emm Seagram, founder of Seagram Distilleries.

In 1917 while serving in WWI, George was walking the ground of Bath military hospital, where he was working, and fell off a cliff. He was found dead at the bottom of the cliff and was cremated in Bath. Adine was overseas at the time as well, volunteering for the Red Cross. After the death of her husband, Adine stayed on with the Red Cross for another year until she was forced to return to Berlin to look after her ill father. On July 19th, 1919 Adine was riding in a car with her brother Capt. Tom Seagram and her niece. The car was involved in a collision with another vehicle and Adine died of the injuries she sustained.

Martha Esther Bowlby (nee Murphy) was born July 23, 1836 in Montreal, Quebec. She came to Berlin (now Kitchener) in 1854, where she married Dr. David Sovereign Bowlby in 1856. An active member of the community, Bowlby was the first secretary treasurer of the Kitchener-Waterloo Ladies' Hospital Auxiliary, was a member of the St. John's Anglican Church, and served at one time as the first regent of the Princes of Wales chapter of the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire. She died in 1925 after being badly burned in an accident at her home. Bowlby was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery alongside her husband, who died in Rome, Italy in 1904.

Ward Hamilton Bowlby (1834-1917) was born October 4th, 1834 to Adam Bowlby and Elizabeth Sovereign Bowlby. Like his siblings, Ward went to school originally at Upper Canada College and eventually to Toronto University where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in 1856 and a Masters of Arts in 1857. He obtained a Bachelor of Law in 1858 obtaining the first University gold medal in law awarded to Toronto University. In May of the same year he was admitted to the bar and moved to Berlin (now Kitchener). He founded the law firm Bowlby, Colquhoun and Clement with his brother-in-law E.P. Clement and F. Colquhoun. He would practice in this firm until 1903 when he retired from active practice. Bowlby was appointed King’s Council, as well as holding the positions of Crown Attorney and Clerk of the Peace of Waterloo County, a member of the Town and County Council, reeve of Berlin, and a member of the public school board.

Besides his law practice Bowlby also invested in many Canadian companies including Canadian Pacific and Merchant’s Bank. In 1861, at the age of 27, he married 22 year old Lissie Hespeler Bowlby (1839-1920), daughter of one of the founders of the Waterloo area, Jacob Hespeler. The couple lived in Jacob Hespeler’s now historic home from 1870-1877. The couple had one daughter, Annie Hespeler Bowlby Perley, who married an M.P. and who died in London, England after a sudden illness in 1910. Ward died in 1917 after a period of illness, and Lissie died in 1920.

Arthur Bowman was born on August 5, 1865.

He worked as a civil engineer and resided at Mahan, Pennsylvania.

Hervey Bowman was born on September 30, 1873.

Isaac L. Bowman was born to John B. Baumann and Nancy Baumann (nee Bechtel) near Freeport, Ontario on May 23, 1830.

He worked as a teacher in the public schools in Ontario. Around 1860-1861, Isaac was appointed inspector of public schools. He held this position until 1871. He then worked surveying land. He also served as the Treasurer of the Township of Waterloo.

Issac was a member of the United Brethren in Christ, of which body he was a local minister.

On December 25, 1862, he married Elizabeth Meyers (b. May 17, 1844) and together they had four sons. The family resided in Berlin, Ontario.

Isaac died of paralysis February 3, 1893.

Joseph B. Bowman was born October 3, 1837, oldest child of Samuel B. Bauman and Elizabeth Bauman. He married Nancy Huber on December 25, 1866. He died from tuberculosis on November 3, 1871 and is buried in Blair, Ontario.

Emma Allen Bowlby Boyd was born August 17, 1862 and died January 25, 1897.

James Boyd was born ca. 1910. He was made a Lieutenant with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1927. He became an orthodontist in Waterloo, Ontario. James Boyd married Mildred Eidt, widow of Dr. Thoman Burton Feick, sometime after Feick's death in 1956. James Boyd died sometime after 1965.

Sue Bradnam was a photographer at the Kitchener-Waterloo Record in 1981.