William John Eccles was born in Yorkshire, England in 1917 and came to Canada in 1928. He served overseas in the RCAF during World War II before studying at McGill University and the Sorbonne. A well-known historian and former faculty member of the Universities of Manitoba and Alberta, and was professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. He has written several articles and books on Canadian history, with an emphasis on the social history of New France.