English: John Rae, 1860s, Ridley Family Collection.

Edmund Murney (1811-1861) of Belleville was a member of the Legislative Council for Upper Canada. He married Maria Margaret Breakenridge (1817-1875) and they had 11 children. The two boys both died young and the only surviving children were nine daughters. The oldest daughter, Catharine Mary Murney (1838-1900) married a Belleville physician, Henry Thomas Ridley (1827-1896) and they subsequently moved to Hamilton where he set up his practice. The photograph album was Mrs. Ridley's album. Her daughter Sophia Emily Dix Ridley (1873-1956) married Sydney George Mills (1859-1936) and their grandson donated the album to the Hamilton Public Library.

This photograph shows John Rae, Arctic explorer, who lived in Hamilton from 1856-1859 where his brothers Richard Bempede Johnstone Honeyman and Thomas were in business. John Rae was a founding member and the second president of the Hamilton Association for the Advancement of Literature, Science, and Art.