William Gall was born in Ipswich in 1867. He joined the public service in 1885, beginning in the Colonial Secretary's Department. He transferred to the Audit Office in 1894, and then to the Home Secretary's Department in 1903 In 1913, he was appointed Under-Secretary for Home Affairs and Protector of Aborigines. Gall was Acting Comptroller-General of Prisons from 1926. He retired in 1934. He was a speculative investor and was interested in Queensland history.

Cecil Hadgraft was born 8 June 1904 at Melbourne, brought up at Rockhampton, winning an open scholarship to the University of Queensland at 16 years of age. Cecil Hadgraft was a senior lecturer and reader in the English Department at the University of Queensland. He was a prominent Australian literary critic and historian.