George Barnston (c1800-1883) was both an important figure in the history of the Hudson’s Bay Company and a reputable Canadian botanist. Friend of the Scottish botanist David Douglas and an early supporter of Professor Macoun, among others, Barnston's personal herbarium includes many plants still in their original packing material. Among these collections are those of other contemporary collectors who gifted their plants to Barnston, such as Frances Simpson's collection of plants from the region of Winnipeg made in the early 1830s.
George's son, James (1831-1858), was a medical doctor with a passion for botany. He was appointed to the newly established Chair of Botany at McGill in 1857. His untimely death a year later cut a promising career short. He had been the fist curator of the McGill College Herbarium and served as the curator of the Montreal Natural History Society.