Janet Carnochan was born in 1839 in Stamford, C.W, ( Canada West ) and educated in Niagara. She was the principal of the Public School for six years and teacher in the high school for twenty-two years. She was secretary of the Public Library, the oldest in Ontario, for thirty-five years. She was foundress of the Niagara Historical Society and its president until her death. She was the curator of the Memorial Museum and author of the History of Niagara and many pamphlets on local historical subjects.