White dresses were popular garb for both boy and girl infants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Canada. This dress was believed to have been worn by John Williams as an infant in England or Montreal, to which his family moved when he was very young. He married Lina Hartley in Brockville, Ontario, in June 1943, and joined the Brockville Police after WWII. Later, working for the Ontario Provincial Police, he was stationed in various Ontario centres.