B-M-D Records & Newspapers in Nova Scotia

In Canada, the province of Nova Scotia is along the eastern shore. It has a very long history and many people originally from the United Kingdom, France and the United States have lived in Nova Scotia over the decades. In fact it was a destination for many Americans who supported the British during the 1770s in the American Revolutionary War and those later who left the US during the American Civil War.

Online now from the Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management department are scanned records covering births, marriages and death records in Nova Scotia. Not all are included, for privacy reasons. The following the records, the dates accessible and the number of records.

Births — 1864-1877, 1908-1911 (about 270,982 records)

Delayed Births — late registrations for individuals born 1830-1911

Marriages — Bonds 1763-1864, registrations 1864-1936 (about 227,262 records)

Deaths — 1864-1877, 1908-1961 plus the City of Halifax from 1890 to 1908 (about 435,143 records)

In the search box, place the surname and any given names. If the surname is less common it is easy to start there. Select the box for births or marriages or death records. You can check all three if you want. Then a general statement of terms and condition of using the online vital statistics service appears. You can click to agree, after which the next screen has the listing of births, then click on the tab for marriages to show that group with the matching surname and then deaths with a different tab.

The names located have the full name that is available, the town and county of the event and the year. When you find of interest click on the button titled ‘View’ and the book, page and number for that record will appear as well as the the scanned image of the document. To enlarge the record for easier viewing, move the arrow under the image to the plus marker to increase the size. On births, look for the child’s surname on the column for the father’s name. Use the arrows left-right and up-down to view sections of the document. On births, besides the birth date and location, the father’s name, his occupation, will be the mother’s maiden name and when and where the couple were married. That is a great collection of information just on births. If you want a hard copy print of the document that can be ordered.

On marriages, the bride and groom, residences, their parents’ names and occupations are included. On any of the early marriage Bond records, hey were used to demonstrate the absence of legal impediments to an intended marriage.For death records, the decease’s name, residence, occupation, cause of death, where they were buried and birth date are part of the record.

For more recent dates on births, marriage or death you can contact the ‘Access Nova Scotia‘.

Another great database is the old newspapers from Nova Scotia. This online site lists those newspapers available and the years, some going back to the mid-1700s. Select a specific newspaper, the year and even a month. A scanned image of that issue for the beginning of the months will appear. Click on an issue and then each page of that paper. Again, an arrow at the bottom of the image can slide to increase the viewing size. The main handicap is there is no search for a surname or keyword. For the archive site itself there is a search in the top right corner which can be helpful.

So for any known or even unknown ancestors in Nova Scotia, check out these sites.

Image:  June 1933 “Tiny Tattler” newspaper.

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