Archibald William (A.W) Ponton was born in Belleville, Ontario, January 25th 1859, the son of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Ponton and Mary Francis Ponton (nee Patterson). Ponton had five siblings; one brother and four sisters. His youth was spent in Belleville, where he attended the local grammar school. Ponton suffered from hearing loss, first losing his hearing at the age of 16. During this time he was studying for his preliminaries to become a professional land surveyor (P.L.S), eventually passing his P.L.S exam in April 1880.

In May 1880, Ponton took on an apprenticeship with Ontario land surveyor Thomas O. Bolger. Between 1880 and 1883, Ponton was employed on the Grand Trunk Railway with the Dominion government, working between Belleville and Toronto. In 1883, Ponton was appointed as a Surveyor for the Department of Indian Affairs under the Dominion Government. He held this position for twenty years, spending fifteen of those based out of Regina, and five based out of Ottawa. While living in Regina in 1892, Ponton married Mary Irvine. Over the course of his career with the Department of Indian Affairs, he was responsible for the survey and subdivision of reservation lands in western Canada and northern portions of the United States, including the North Dakota Turtle Mountain reservation.

In 1904, Ponton accepted a position as a surveyor and engineer for the District of Macleod, where he remained two years, after which he was again employed by the Dominion Government. Ponton passed away in Edmonton on January 20th, 1915, aged 55, after succumbing to a two-year struggle with stomach cancer. He was survived by his wife and four children, two of whom, Archibald Irvine and Isabel, were serving overseas in the war effort at the time of his death.