angus walters was born in lunenburg, nova scotia, a fishing community, located on the south shore of nova scotia. he was one of twelve children of adelaide (lohnes) and captain frederick elias walters, a fisherman and captain of the schooner "nyanza". at age fourteen, in 1895, walters started his career as a fisherman on his father's boat. he started as a "throater" where he was responsible for grabbing fish, cutting their throats and slicing the belly down to the tail. his career also led him to learning about life at sea as a "header" and a "doryman." walters sailed on his father's ship for two years until it sank off the magdalen islands.