Mrs McKewen's maiden name was Marquis. Her father was a teacher, John Marquis.

Ronald Lynton Lawson was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on 6 January 1940. He spent his childhood in Queensland. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours and a PhD (1970) from the University of Queensland Department of History. His doctoral thesis was titled An analysis of Brisbane society in the 1890's. He went to the United States in 1971 on a Fullbright travel grant to do post-doctoral studies with the Bureau of Applied Social Research at Columbia University. He served as a sociology professor at the City of University of New York, a position he held from 1977 to 2009. He is also active in church music as an organist, pianist, singer, choir conductor, and composer.