William Diaper was born in Ardleigh, England on 11 November 1820. His parents died when he was young and at the age of 16, he left England for Hobart Town on board the Joshua Carroll, using the alias John Jackson. He spent the remainder of his life as a beachcomber, living in, and travelling around, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and neighbouring countries. He worked on whaling boats, as a trader of bech-de-mer, turtle shell and other small commodities, as a translator (he spoke many languages), a sugar plantation overseer and a pig farmer, amongst other things. Diaper had many wives and claims to have fathered 38 children, resulting in 99 grandchildren. There is no formal record of his death but it is believed he died on 4 March 1891 at Mare in the Loyalty Islands.

John C. Dorrence (pseudonym James Hartley) was an independent foreign affairs consultant and analyst. Specialised in the affairs of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands during much of his career in the United States Foreign Service (1956-1989). Died 1991.

Captain William Driver was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in the USA. He went to sea at the age of 14, and made his first voyage to Fiji, looking for beche-de-mer, in September, 1872, in the ship Clay under Captain Benjamin Vanderford. He spent 49 months in the South Seas beche-de-mer trade before returning to Salem. Given command of the Charles Doggett, he sailed for the Pacific again in January, 1831. He remained at sea until 1837 when he retired to Nashville, Tennessee.

Ellestan Joyce Dusting OBE attended Canberra High School and growing up was active in the Brownies, Guides and Rangers. Her involvement with the Guiding movement continued throughout her life, holding the positions of Guide Commissioner in Canberra and in 1970 she was elected President of the Trefoil Guild in Canberra. In 1954, Dusting served as an official for the Commonwealth Royal visit of Queen Elizabeth II. Dusting went on to serve with the Commonwealth Public Service Board and as private secretary to Sir Paul Hasluck, Australian Minister for External Territories. In the 1980s, Dusting served as Vice President, then Honorary President, of The Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association (PPSEAWA).

George Herbert Eastman ran the London Missionary Society (LMS) Mission in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 1913-1918. Between 1918 and 1947, he ran the LMS Gilbert Islands [Kiribati] Mission, based at Rongorongo on Beru island. In 1949, Eastman and his wife Winifred (nee Grimwade, married 1914) retired to Swanage in Dorset, England.

Born in Queensland, Australia, educated in Aotearoa/New Zealand. In the 1890s, Ellis became an employee of the Pacific Islands Company Ltd of London, which was involved in the guano industry on islands in the Coral Sea and the Phoenix Group (Kiribati). In 1900, he became curious about a rock which was used as a doorstop in the Sydney office of his company and this led to the discovery of the phosphate deposits on Ocean Island and Nauru. He was a prominent figure in the Pacific Phosphate Company Ltd in 1902. After the phosphate company was bought out by the British, Australian and New Zealand governments after World War I, Ellis became commissioner for New Zealand on the British Phosphate Commission, which was established to exploit the phosphate deposits on Ocean Island and Nauru. He was the author of three books, Ocean Island and Nauru (1936), Adventuring in Coral Seas (1937), and Mid-Pacific Outpost (1946).