PHILIP HARTLING was born at Sheet Harbour, Halifax County in 1952.  He attended public schools at Sheet Harbour, Antigonish, and Dartmouth.  In 1973 he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of King's College and in the following year he received a Bachelor of Education degree from Dalhousie University.

Philip is a member of the Nova Scotia Historical Society and its Genealogy Committee, Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia and its Book Committee, and Heritage Canada.  He is presently researching historic houses along the Eastern Shore for Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia while working as the Microfilm Archivist at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia in Halifax.