One resource I've started to see used more by those with roots in Nova Scotia is Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867 that was compiled by Col. Leonard H. Smith Jr. and Norma H. Smith and published in 1994 by the Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. We are fortunate that this two volume collection has been available since 2007 on Ancestry so that we can review the books at home if you have an Ancestry subscription.
The easiest way to find the two volumes on Ancestry is via a search of the Card Catalogue. Just search for the title" "Nova Scotia Immigrants". Alternately, the links below point to the collection on Ancestry.ca.
The inclination by almost of us is to jump in and start searching for the names of our ancestors. However, don't do that, at least not yet.
First of all, visit the title page and the following page and record the details about the volumes. This will help you out later when you create your source citiations1. Next, read the page with the Abbreviations. Most of the abbreviations we may be used to but some, like "Sr." and "Jr.", might have a context that you aren't familiar with. Both of these sections can be found at the beginning of the volumes. Also, take a moment to read the preface and introduction since those sections explain why this two volume set came into existence.
However, there are two very important sections that you will need to consult once you do find your ancestors mentioned in the books and those are the Bibliographies. These sections will help you to decipher where the compilers found the information.
On with the searching!
Here is an example of one such entry I found for Mary Cantfield2.
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| Col. Leonard H. Smith Jr. and Norma H. Smith, compilers, Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867, 2 vols.(Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogy Publishing Co., Inc., 1994); digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Jun May 2020), 2:46. |
As we can see, there is quite a bit of information that has been abstracted. We learn that Mary Cantfield is the daughter of Denis Cantfield and Catherine Ryan and the family was of County Kilkenny, Ireland. She married Richard Dunphy in Halifax on 29 Nov 1839. The "q.v." reminds us we need to look up the entry for Richard Dunphy in the volume.
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| Col. Leonard H. Smith Jr. and Norma H. Smith, compilers, Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867, 2 vols.(Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogy Publishing Co., Inc., 1994); digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Jun May 2020), 2:84. |
In doing so we learn that Richard Dunphy is the son of Patrick Dunphy and Mary Moran and the family was of County Kilkenny, Ireland .
Yet where did the compilers find this information. That is in the parenthesis at the end, the "(34:129)". To figure that out we need to refer to the bibliographies I mentioned before.
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| Col. Leonard H. Smith Jr. and Norma H. Smith, compilers, Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867, 2 vols.(Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogy Publishing Co., Inc., 1994); digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Jun May 2020), 2:258. |
Here we see that the information came from an article "Some Irish Immigrant Weddings in Nova Scotia 1834-1840" by Terrence M. Punch in the 8th edition, issue 2, of The Irish Ancestor published in 1976.
Using PERSI, the PERiodical Source Index, found on Findmypast I was able to find the details about the article and the publication but, after much searching, no online edition was easily available. But that's OK. A check of Worldcat pointed me to Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa where I could view The Irish Ancestor. In the pre-COVID-19 days I would have hopped on the bus since I reside in the same city and gone to LAC to read the article with the details extracted found on page 129. Now, it is a bit more of a challenge.
What other clue is there?
How about that the information came "from records at Catholic archdiocese at Halifax"?
Well a flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia is out of the question for me at this time. Maybe there are some Catholic Church records online. On Ancestry that might be in the "Acadia, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1757-1946" collection. However, I didn't see any records from Halifax listed.
So my next go to site is FamilySearch and their catalog. A search for "Canada, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Halifax" as a place revealed a list of 14 church collections. One specifically caught my attention, that of the "Parish registers, 1830-1969" for the Catholic Church of Saint. Mary's Basilica. Right time period and correct religion. Looking at the various entries I noticed that some were indexed but all were viewable from the comfort of home.
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| Screen capture of the catalog listing for Marriages, 1830-1873 from the Parish registers, 1830-1969 of Saint Mary's Basilica (Halifax, Nova Scotia). |
That digitized microfilm isn't name indexed but that's OK, I have had plenty of practice looking through microfilms. After a bit of bouncing around the images on that digitized reel I came across this:
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| "Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBC2-9JV?cc=1925428&wc=M6PF-CWL%3A219772701%2C219796201%2C219809001%2C219901401 : 21 May 2014), Halifax > Halifax > Catholic St Mary's Basilica > Marriages 1830-1843 > image 192 of 262; Catholic Church and Church of England parishes, Nova Scotia. |
All the details in the abstract can now be confirmed by looking at the entry from the parish register plus we know now the names of the witnesses.
It is important to keep in mind that most items listed in the bibliographies may not be available online. This is where your to-do list becomes important. Such is the case for my Starr line of Nova Scotia.
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| Col. Leonard H. Smith Jr. and Norma H. Smith, compilers, Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867, 2 vols.(Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogy Publishing Co., Inc., 1994); digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 Jun May 2020), 1:486. |
Joseph Starr, the son of Samuel Starr and Abigail Leffingwell, is of interest to me due to him being in Connecticut at the start of the United States of America War of Independence and supposedly escaping back to Nova Scotia after refusing to serve in the Connecticut militia. So I'm always looking for information about him and his exploits.
Here I learn that the source of the information is on page 238 in the Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly, volume 7, issue 3 published on September 1977 in the article "The History of the Nova Scotia Apple Industry". There is also information in the same article about his mother and father. Although I can purchase a copy, since I'm in no rush, I'm going to wait until Library and Archives Canada is open to the public and read the article there.
A few things to take away from this little exercise:
- When using compiled collections take the time to follow the chain of sources to locate the original documents. Sometimes you may be pleasantly surprised at what you find. Sometimes it is new information not included in the abstract; other times it might be a whole new collection of documents.
- If looking at a baptism, marriage, or burial in a church parish register, take a look around for other events recorded that may pertain to your family. If a marriage, check for a baptism occurring within a few years time. You might come across a child you weren't aware of.
- Not everything is online. But it never hurts to check.
- To-do lists will help you remember what you need to sooner or later to look up. If your to-do list gets long enough you might even plan a holiday to a place that has the archive or library that houses the books or collections you want to review. While your family is out enjoy the sights you can be a time traveller and travel into the past.
1. Remember those? Your source citations help you remember where you found the information and helps others that may use your work to also know where you found those nuggets about your ancestors.
2. I have no relationship, that I know of, to the Cantfield family. It is just an example that I've helped find the source of the information for someone posting a query on a Facebook genealogy group.
Thanks for the hint about using Ancestry vs. Ancestry,ca. The problem is that it takes the Ancestry World to view Canadian items. The search shows that the names of interest are there but only in an small view of the page so one cannot look at the whole entry.
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