Lindsey Page Winterbotham was born on 14 April 1887 in North Adelaide, South Australia. He studied medicine, graduating from University of Melbourne in 1908. He worked as a medical practitioner in Brisbane. Winterbotham lectured in medical ethics at the University of Queensland from the 1920s to 1957, and was patron of the university's medical society from 1943 to 1944.

In 1938 Winterbotham began collecting anthropological, ethnological and archaeological objects. In 1948 Winterbotham, H.J. Wilkinson and F. S. Coliver established the Anthropological Society of Queensland. Winterbotham was the Society's first honorary secretary, a vice -president, and president.

In early 1948 he donated his collection of nearly 1000 artefacts to the University of Queensland (UQ). UQ took nearly a year and a half to decide to accept Winterbotham's collection and then was faced with the problems of housing and curation. Until mid-1957 most of the collection was placed into Winterbotham's suburban home. The entire collection was finally housed at the St Lucia campus and an Ethnology (later Anthropology) Museum was established in 1959, with him as honorary curator.

He died on 26 February 1960 in South Brisbane.

William McKenzie, known as Willie McKenzie or by his Aboriginal name Gaiarbau (sometimes spelt Gairabau), was born in Kilcoy, Queensland. He belonged to the Darwarbada people of the Jinibara tribe. In the early 1930s, Gaiarbau contributed to anthropological research led by Caroline Kelly at the Barambah Aboriginal Settlement (now Cherbourg). During the 1950s, he collaborated with medical practitioner and anthropologist Lindsey Winterbotham, helping to document aspects of local Aboriginal culture. Through this work, Gaiarbau became the first Aboriginal person to be recognised as a cultural authority by the University of Queensland. He is also depicted in one of the grotesques in the University of Queensland's Great Court. He died in a Salvation Army Home in Brisbane on 24 June 1968.