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Terence James Stannus Gray was born in Felixstowe, Suffolk, England on 14 September 1895. He was raised on an estate in the Gog Magog Hills outside Cambridge, England and educated at Ascham St Vincent's School, Eastbourne, Eton and Oxford University. Early in life he pursued an interest in Egyptology which culminated in the publication of two books on ancient Egyptian history and culture in 1923. In 1926, Gray, with no previous practical theatrical experience, opened the Cambridge Festival Theatre as an experimental playhouse. After he had apparently exhausted his interest in the theatre, his thoughts turned towards philosophy and metaphysics. This led to a period of travel throughout Asia. Between the years 1958 and 1974 eight books and articles in various periodicals appeared under the pseudonym "Wei Wu Wei". In the later part of his life he lived with his second wife, the Georgian princess Natalie Margaret Imeretinsky, in Monaco and became interested in Georgian history.

Gray maintained his family's racehorses in England and Ireland and in 1957 his horse Zarathrustra won the Ascot Gold Cup, ridden by jockey Lester Piggott in the first of his eleven wins of that race.

Raleigh Ashlin (Peter) Skelton was born in 1906 in Plymouth. He served as the Assistant Keeper of the Department of Printed Books of the British Museum from 1931 to 1953, with a break for military service from 1939 to 1945, and as Deputy Keeper from 1953 to 1967. He began work in the Map Room of the British Museum upon his return from military service in 1945 and in 1950 became the Superintendent, in which post he continued until his retirement in 1967. He died in a car crash in 1970.