Sorley MacLean
Sorley MacLean was born at Òsgaig on the island of Raasay on 26 October 1911; Scottish Gaelic was his first language. Before he went to school at the age of six, he spoke very little English. He was the second of five sons born to Malcolm (1880–1951) and Christina MacLean (1886–1974). The family owend a small croft and ran a tailoring business, but they later gave up the croft to move to a better house, which proved detrimental to their finances when the Great Depression took a high toll on the tailoring business. His brothers were John Maclean (1910–1970), a schoolteacher and later rector of Oban High School, who was also a piper; Calum Maclean (1915–1960), a noted folklorist and ethnographer; and Alasdair (1918–1999) and Norman (c.1917–c.1980), who became general practitioners. Sorley's two younger sisters, Isobel and Mary, were also schoolteachers. His patronymic was Somhairle mac Chaluim 'ic Chaluim 'ic Iain 'ic Tharmaid 'ic Iain 'ic Tharmaid; he could not trace his genealogy with certainty to the eighth generation.
William N. MacLean
Born in 1907 at Inverness, Nova Scotia, MacLean was a businessman. He married Jane Roberts in 1939. From 1933 to 1945, he was the chief of police for Inverness. He also served a term as mayor of Inverness. MacLean entered provincial politics in a 1962 byelection, winning the seat left vacant following the death of his brother, Roderick MacLean. He was re-elected in the 1963, and 1967 elections, representing the dual-member riding with Progressive Conservative Jim MacLean. In the 1970 election, MacLean was defeated for the second seat by fellow Liberal John Archie MacKenzie. MacLean died at Inverness on August 4, 1997.