Richard Adams
Richard Adams was born on 9 May 1920 in Wash Common, near Newbury, Berkshire, England, the son of Lillian Rosa (Button) and Evelyn George Beadon Adams, a doctor. He attended Horris Hill School from 1926 to 1933, and then Bradfield College from 1933 to 1938. In 1938, he went to Worcester College, Oxford, to read Modern History. In July 1940, Adams was called up to join the British Army. He was posted to the Royal Army Service Corps and was selected for the Airborne Company, where he worked as a brigade liaison. He served in Palestine, Europe and the Far East but saw no direct action against either the Germans or the Japanese.
John Adams (merchant)
Adams was born in Boston in either 1672 or 1673 to John and Avis Adams. Growing up as a petty merchant, Adams joined Sir Charles Hobby's New England regiment, participating in the capture of Port-Royal in 1710. Shortly thereafter, Adams settled in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, returning to civilian life. There, he traded manufactured goods with the province's Acadian and Native Americans, and took up the role of a real estate agent and contractor. Adams joined the Executive Council of Nova Scotia on 28 April 1720, holding his position there for 20 years; the records show that few served as long as he did. He also held several other public positions in the province. Adams was appointed a notary public and deputy collector of customs for Annapolis Royal in 1725, and he was commissioned a justice of the peace in March 1727.