Samuel Benfield Steele was born at Purbrook, Medonte, County Simcoe, Ontario on 5 January 1848 to Captain Elmes Steele and Anne MacIan Macdonald. His father served under Nelson and other Admirals in the Napoleonic Wars, moving to Canada in 1832, with his first wife and family. After the death of his first wife, Captain Steele married Sam's mother, and they had six children, Sam being the eldest.
Published
[Great Britain. War Office]. Manual of Sanitation in its Application to Military Life. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1907. (stamped in several places with: ‘District Officer Commanding Mil’y Dist. No. 13’)