He was the second son of Lieutenant George Buist of the 10th Bengal Light Calvary and was born at Muttra, Uttar Pradesh, India. After the death of his father at the age of 7, William Fraser Buist was put in the Bengal Military Orphan (Upper) School at Kidderpore, Calcutta along with his older brother where he spent the next eight years there. He along with his mother left India in 1851 and resided at Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland, England where he continued his education. He then attended Madras Academy in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland where he took courses in the Humanities in February of 1852. He met and later married Harriette Dry Farnie of Burntisland, Fife in St. Andrews, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada and shortly after their marriage left for Salto, Banda Oriental, South America which today is known as Uruguay. Buist was a young civil engineer and along with his brother, George, began building the North-Western line which would connect Salto to Santa Rosa. William and Harriette had eight children. In circa 1876-77 the family travelled back to Scotland and resided in St. Andrews until 1882 when they travelled back to South America settling in Buenos Aires, Argentina. By 1891 Harriette Buist was back in Scotland residing with friends in Edinburgh while her husband, William, was in Buenos Aires. This then is the narrative of the life and times of William Fraser Buist.