Historian Jean Garner specialises in New Zealand social history. She has previously written a biography of Sir John Hall, By His Own Merits. With Letters to Grace, her ambition of writing about the domestic side of Hall's life has been achieved. She has written essays on Charlotte Godley, and social issues in 19th-century Canterbury. She has also contributed to The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. In her other working life, she co-ordinates support for students with disabilities at Lincoln University. Kate Foster is a great grand-daughter of Rose and John Hall. She and her husband Richard live at Terrace Station, Hororata where Rose and John lived and from where some of these letters were written. As keeper of the family stories, Kate was so excited when the package of letters arrived that she worked until the early hours over countless nights to decipher and type up their contents. Terrace Station homestead is now vested in the Terrace Station Charitable Trust, and groups are welcome to visit by prior arrangement.