Nova Scotia Parish Registers: LAC and Héritage

This past week I've been following the guidance of the various Public Health officials to stay at home and only go out for essential trips only. Due to that, and with the Library and Archives Canada building in Ottawa closed to the public where I'd normally go to review Thematic Guide 1206 to Parish Registers, I've been creating my own indexes from the various Parish Registers microfilms held by LAC and now freely made available online via the Héritage project.

I started with the Ontario Parish Registers and continued with the New Brunswick Parish Registers. Now it is Nova Scotia's turn. However, I didn't just come across Nova Scotia records in these digitized reels but also some parish records for New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Ontario are hidden within.

For those not familiar with the Héritage site, this is not a genealogy site like Ancestry, Findmypast, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, or other commonly used sites by family historians and genealogists. Instead, Héritage is probably more along the lines of a repository of digitized microfilm reels. Instead of typing in the name of a person when searching you focus on the descriptions of the material found in the catalogues. To help you out a bit in using the site please read my post "Old School" Research With a Modern Twist.

There are not all of the microfilms that Library and Archives Canada has for Nova Scotia Parish Registers. Only the C, H, and T series have been digitized and made available on Héritage. There are also the M series microfilms that are available only at LAC.

Many of the microfilms contain typed or handwritten transcriptions of the original records but there are a few volumes that have images from the original books. Even though in the index I often use B, M, D as abbreviations, remember that these are parish registers and are typically Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials. Also, my apologizes to my French speaking friend for I didn't include the accents where applicable. There are also a few "strange" microfilms in the mix that don't appear, at least at first glance, to have anything to do with parish registers and those are the shipping registers.

The indexes below are not generally found at the beginning of the digitized reels of microfilm but have been created (any typos are my fault) from reviewing the description pages at the start of the various sections or from looking at the details at the bottom of most of the pages.

Description of M.G. 9, B 8, volume 23 from microfilm C-3026 on Héritage.

C-1346

• MG 14 B 11-1 (1b) - Nova Scotia Town Records Annapolis Town Meetings 1790-1853
• MG 14 B 11-1 (1a) - Nova Scotia Town Records Annapolis Grand Jury 1786-1800
• MG 14 B 11-1 (18a, b) - Nova Scotia Town Records Windsor Town Meetings 1799-1845
• MG 14 B 11-1 (17) - Nova Scotia Town Records Wilmot 1749-1894 BMD, Ear Marks, General Sessions

C-1449

• MG 9 C2-10 (2) - Registre de la paroisse Ste-Anne de Restigouche, 1759-95
• MG 10 B 11-2-1 Vol 1 - Nova Scotia Church Records - Acadia - Divers Registres, 1755-1799

H-1806

• MG 9 A 11-18, File 4 - Shediac Cape, New Brunswick: St. Martin's-in-the-Woods (Anglican) Church, Dundas and Wellington Parish Register 1868-1874
• MG 9 B 8-15 - Milton, Nova Scotia: The Milton Baptist Church of Queens County, 1821-1870
• MG 9 B 9-22 - Douglas Township, Nova Scotia, 1799-1880
• MG 9 B 9-24 - Horton Township, Nova Scotia: Douglas E. Eagles Collection, Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths 1751-1895; The Churches and Cemeteries of Horton Township (1974)
• MG 17 D 1 - Moravian Brethren: Labrador Missions (selections only), Church Books of Marriage Registrations, 1904-1933
• MG 23 D 1 - Chipman, Ward, senior and junior (selections only)
• Volume 72 - Notebook 5
• Register of the Parish of Woodstock, BMD 1791-1816
• Register of the Parish of Northampton, BMD 1792-1815
• Register of the Parish of Queensborough, BMD 1792-1814
• Register of the Parish of Prince William, BMD 1792-1815
• Roll of Communicants in Dibblee's Mission: Woodstock, 1803-1820; Northampton, 1803-1819; Prince William, 1803-1820
• Old Tombstone Recordings, Annapolis, NS, D 1720, 1740; Digby, NS, 1810-1849, Kingston, NB, D 1793-1873, St. Stephen, NB, (Old Christ Church Burial Ground) D 1816-1824, St John, NB (Old Fernhill Cemetery), D 1787, 1812; Woodstock, NB, D 1838, 1853
• Volume 73 - Notebook 10
• Trinity Church, Kingston, NB - Memorials in the Church and Epitaphs in the Churchyard
• Volume 74 - Notebook 24
• Registre de la mission de Ste-Anne-d'Ekoupaheg, en la Riviere St-Jean, comte d'York (mission catholique) BMD 1767-1768
• Volume 75 - Notebook 41: L. Allison's Graveyard Book, ca. 1890-1895, of New Brunswick Cemeteries, mainly in Kings County
• Sussex Burial Ground
• [Tisdale, Lyon]
• William Watson
• Charles Anderson's Burial Ground
• J.R.S.
• [From Alexander Currie]
• Fredericton
• Lower Penobsquis Burial Ground
• Lower Sussex Cemetery, Presbyterian Church
• Roman Catholic Cemetery. Ward's Creek
• Salisbury
• New Cemetery, Salisbury
• Milliken
• Hampton
• Smith's Creek (John King)
• Old Triangular Burial Ground [Coates, Kent Co]
• By Smith's Creek Meetings House
• James W. Nowlan's Burial Ground
• Lester Burial Ground
• Apohaqui Episcopal Cemetery
• St. John Rual Cemetery
• Volume 78 - Notebook 78
• Register of the Rev. John Beardsley, S.P.G. missionary at Maugerville, Burton, etc., NB : B 1787-1803, M 1787-1803, D 1788-1801
• Register of the Rev. Richard S. Clarke, First Rector at Gagetown : BM 1786-1792
• Ten receipts to John Beardsley, 1773-1776
• Statistics of the Rev. John Beardsley's Baptisms at Maugerville, 1785-1802

C-1869

• MG 9 B 8 Vol 12-1 - Nova Scotia Church Records - Registres de la paroisse St-Charles des Mines a la Grand Pre, baptisms 1707-1748
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 12-2 - Nova Scotia Church Records - Registres de la paroisse St-Charles des Mines a la Grand Pre, baptisms 1707-1748 [continued]
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 12-3 - Nova Scotia Church Records - Registres de la paroisse St-Charles des Mines a la Grand Pre, marriages 1709-1748
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 12-4 - Nova Scotia Church Records - Registres de la paroisse St-Charles des Mines a la Grand Pre, burials 1709-1748
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 24-1 - Nova Scotia Church Records - Registre de Port Royal 1708-1728, Tome 1

C-1870

• MG 9 B 8 Vol 24-1 - Nova Scotia Church Records - Registre de Port Royal 1708-1728, Tome 1 [continued]
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 24-2 - Nova Scotia Church Records - Registres des baptemes, mariages et sepultures pour la paroisse de St-Jean Baptiste a Annapolis Royal dans la Novelle Ecosse on Acadie
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 24-3 - Nova Scotia Church Records - Registres des baptemes, mariages et sepultures pour la paroisse de St-Jean Baptiste a Annapolis Royal dans la Novelle Ecosse on Acadie

C-2103

• MG 12 A 1 Vol 413 - Shipping Register - Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia [continued]
• MG 12 A 1 Vol 449 - Shipping Register - Baddeck, Nova Scotia

C-2573

• Registres de l'Etat civil de Louisbourg, 1754-1756
• Registres de l'Etat civil de Louisbourg, 1756-1758
• Ile Royale - Hopital de Louisbourg 1756-1757
• Etat Civil - Canada - Ile Royale - Laurent le Bec, La Baleine, Port au Basque, Havre St Esprit, 1715-1756
• Canada - Ile Royale - Havre St Esprit 1728-1737 - Lorembec
• Lorembec - Port au Basque 1740

C-3021

• FM 9 B 8 Vol 1 - Acadie et Gaspesie, 1679-1686, 1751-1757. Registres de l'etat-civil. Catholique
• Cote de st. Ange 1680
• Beaubassin 1679-1686
• A la Riviere St. Jean, Jemsek 1681
• A la Riviere des Mines 1684
• Aux Mines 1686
• Peticoudiac er Chipody 1755-1756
• Missions de Nouveau-Brunswick 1755-1757
• Pabos 1751-1757
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 2 - Annapolis, 1835-1854, Methodist register of baptisms and marriages
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 3 - Annapolis, St. Luke's Anglican, 1782-1817, B 1782-1817, M 1782-1794, 1807-1817, D 1808-1817
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 3 - Annapolis, register of marriages at Clements, Granville and Dalhousie, 1806, 1813, 1817-1834
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 3 - Annapolis, parish of Annapolis, register of baptisms, 1833-1888
• MG 9 B 9 Vol 4 - Aylesford, Nova Scotia, St. Mary's, Anglican, register of baptisms, 1817-1861
• MG 9 B 9 Vol 6 - Chester, Nova Scotia, St. Stephen's Anglican, register of baptisms, 1762-1841
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 7 - Register of Clements, Annapolis County, 1841-1911, Anglican,  1841-1873, M 1841-1911
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 8 - Cornwallis, Baptist Church, register of marriages, 1801-1821
• MG 9 B 9 Vol 9 - Cornwallis, Methodist Church, register of baptisms, 1814-1827
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 10 - Cornwallis, St. John's Anglican, parish register, 1783-1920, B 1783-1902, M 1783-1911, D 1830-1920
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 13-2 - Register of the parish of Granville, Anglican, 1790-1879, B 1790-1801, M 1790-1801, 1814-1879
• MG 9 B 9 Vol 13-3 - Register of the parish of Granville, Anglican, 1790-1918, B 1790-1801, 1829-1918, M 1790-1801, 1814-1882, D 1828-1918

C-3022

• MG 9 B 9 Vol 13-3 - Register of the parish of Granville, Anglican, 1790-1918, B 1790-1801, 1829-1918, M 1790-1801, 1814-1882, D 1828-1918 [continued]
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 14 - Horton, St. John's, Anglican, register of baptisms, 1823-1876
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 16 - Liverpool, Methodist Church, register of baptisms, 1796-1889 and marriages, 1816-1886
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 17 - Liverpool, Trinity Church, Anglican, 1819-1869, B 1819-1869, M 1820-1869, D 1821-1869
• MG 9 B 9 Vol 18 - Londonderry, St. Paul's, Anglican, 1873-1889, BM 1873-1889, D 1874-1889
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 19 - Lunenburg, Baptist Church, register of baptisms and births, 1802-1872, marriages, 1819-1856, burials, 1817-1858
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 20 - Lunenburg, Methodist Church, register of baptisms, 1815-1837 and marriages, 1815-1836
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 21 - Lunenburg, Dutch Reformed (Presbyterian), B 1770-1819, 1837-1870, M 1770-1818, 1837-1855, D 1771-1818, 1837-1854
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 22 - Lunenburg, St. John's, Anglican, register of baptisms, marriages and burials, 1752-1869

C-3026

• MG 9 B 8 Vol 23 - Mahone Bay, St. James, Anglican, register of baptisms, marriages and burials, 1844-1870
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 25 - Rawdon, St. Paul's, Anglican, The register contacts entries cfor the Parish of St. James, Newport and Douglas, B 1793, 1809, 1815-1880, M 1814-1889, D 1815-1920
• FM 9 B 8 Vol 26 - Baie-Ste-Marie, Nouvelle-Ecosse, registre des baptemes, des mariages, et des sepultures de la paroisse Ste-Marie, catholique, 1799-1801
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 27-2 - Shelburne, Christ Church, Anglican, register of baptisms, marriages and burials, 1783-1869
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 28 - Sydney, Cape-Breton, St. George's, Anglican, Register of baptisms, marriages and burials, 1785-1813
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 29-1 - Wilmot, register of the parishes of Wilmot, Aylesford and Bridgetown, Anglican, B 1789-1832, M 1790-1832, D 1790-1900
• MG 9 B 8 Vol 29-2 - Wilmot, register of the parishes of Wilmot, Aylesford and Bridgetown, Anglican, 1789-1909
• MG 9 B 9-1 Vol 3 - Annapolis, town register of births, marriages and deaths, 1747, 1774-1874, 1884
• MG 9 B 9-1 Vol 4 - Annapolis, town register of births, marriages and deaths, 1747, 1774-1874, 1884
• MG 9 B 9-1 - Nova Scotia Local Records, Annapolis, Births, Marriages, Deaths, 1747, 1774-1874, 1884

C-3027

• MG 9 B 9-3 - Chester, 1762-1830, records kept by the town consisting of the "Publishments" of births, marriages and deaths
• MG 9 B 9-4 Vol 2 - Cornwallis, record of births, marriages and deaths, 1720-1885
• MG 9 B 9-5 Vol 2 - Falmouth, town record of births, marriages and deaths, 1747-1825
• MG 9 B 9-6 Vol 1 - Granville, town register of births, marriages, deaths and ear marks, 1720-1881
• MG 9 B 9-6 Vol 2 - Granville, town register of births, marriages and deaths, 1720-1881
• MG 9 B 9-7 - Horton, town register of births, marriages and deaths, 1751-1895
• MG 9 B 9-11 Part 1 - Newport, township register of births, marriages and deaths, 1752-1858
• MG 9 B 9-12 - Onslow, town register of births, marriages and deaths, 1761-1896
• MG 9 B 9-15 - Truro, town register of births, marriages and deaths, 1761-1851
• FM 9 C 8-1 - Prince Edward Island, Rustico, Saint Augustin de, catholique, Registres des baptemes, mariages et sepultures, 1812-1824

C-3028

• FM 9 C 8-1 - Prince Edward Island, Rustico, Saint Augustin de, catholique, Registres des baptemes, mariages et sepultures, 1812-1824 [continued]
• MG 9 C 8-5 - Prince Edward Island, Belfast, St. John's, Presbyterian Church, Register of baptisms, 1823-1849. The register also contains some baptismal records of Cape Breton and Nova Scotia
• MG 9 D 7-3 Vol 1 - Ontario, Cornwall, Trinity Church, Anglican, Register of baptisms, 1803-1846
• MG 9 D 7-3 Vol 2 - Ontario, Cornwall, Trinity Church, Anglican, Register of marriages, 1803-1845
• MG 9 D 7-3 Vol 3 - Ontario, Cornwall, Trinity Church, Anglican, Register of burials, 1813-1846
• MG 9 D 7-4 - Ontario, Dundas, certificates of marriages performed by license by the Rev. Andrew Bell at Dundas, Ancester and West Flamboro 1848-1852 and at L'Orignal, 1854-1856
• MG 9 D 7-5 - Ontario, Fort Hope, District of Patricia, register of the Anglican Church, baptisms and burials, 1895-1899, marriages 1895-1896
• MG 9 D 7-7 - Ontario, Glengarry, St. Raphael's, Roman Catholic, register of baptisms, marriages and burials, 1805-1831

C-3111

• MG 1 Series 22 Vol 406 part 1 - Archives des Colonies, Serie G 1 - Etat civil, Louisbourg, Ile Royale, naissances 1722-1728, Mariages 1722-1728, Deces 1722-1728
• MG 1 Series 22 Vol 406 part 2 - Archives des Colonies, Serie G 1 - Etat civil, Louisbourg, Louisbourg 1728-1738
• MG 1 Series 22 Vol 406 part 3 - Archives des Colonies, Serie G 1 - Etat civil, Louisbourg, Louisbourg 1728-1738 [continued]
• MG 1 Series 22 Vol 407 part 1 - Archives des Colonies, Serie G 1 - Etat civil, Louisbourg, Ile Royale, Louisbourg 1738-1742
• MG 1 Series 22 Vol 407 part 2 - Archives des Colonies, Serie G 1 - Etat civil, Louisbourg, Louisbourg 1742-1745

C-3112

• MG 1 Series 22 Vol 407 part 2 - Archives des Colonies, Serie G 1 - Etat civil, Louisbourg, Louisbourg 1742-1745 [continued]
• MG 1 Series 22 Vol 408 part 1 - Archives des Colonies, Serie G 1 - Etat civil, Louisbourg, Ile Royale, Louisbourg 1746-1752
• MG 1 Series 22 Vol 408 part 2 - Archives des Colonies, Serie G 1 - Etat civil, Louisbourg, Isle Royale, Louisbourg 1752-1754

C-3175

• RG 12 A 1 Vol 6 - Shipping Registers - Guysboro, Nova Scotia
• RG 12 A 1 Vol 7 - Shipping Registers - Guysboro, Nova Scotia
• RG 12 A 1 Vol 8A - Shipping Registers - Guysboro, Nova Scotia
• RG 12 A 1 Vol 8 - Shipping Registers - Guysboro, Nova Scotia
• RG 12 A 1 Vol 100 - Shipping Registers - Yartmouth, Nova Scotia
• RG 12 A 1 Vol 101 - Shipping Registers - Yartmouth, Nova Scotia

I hope that you find these table of contents/descriptions of some use in your genealogy and family history research.

Overview of Canadian On-line Civil Vital Records (BMDs)

One of the common questions I see being asked by new researchers is where do they find birth, marriage or death registration for their ancestors. What many fail to realize is that the concept of a civil registration document for the birth, marriage and death of a person is a fairly modern concept so we need to know when the governments started keeping those vital records. Of course, even though the government says they started requiring civil registrations commencing on a given date it may have taken several years (or even a decade or two) before all areas of the province actually started to comply with the law. A researcher also needs to keep in mind the privacy restrictions imposed on the records. Any records after a certain date may only be available to the person named in the document OR their direct next-of-kin.

But all is not lost if an event occurred before the province kept civil vital records. During the time before civil registration we can look for church records (baptisms, marriages and burials), newspaper announcements, military records and family bibles.

Below are some of the various online sources for finding the Canadian civil birth, marriage and death documents for your ancestors. Some sites are just indexes, others have the images available but you can't easily download them, some cost money to access the images, and finally some provinces have made the images available for download for free.



Newfoundland and Labrador - Newfoundland's Grand Banks Vital Statistics

Although vital records for Newfoundland and Labrador have been kept since 1891, a majority of records prior to 1948 were copies of church registers. The Newfoundland's Grand Banks Vital Statistics page has transcriptions from many of those church registers.

Prince Edward Island - Public Archives and Records Office

• Births: Civil registration didn't start until 1906 and the birth registrations are under a 120 year privacy restriction so birth certificates are not online.
• Baptisms: up to about 1923
• Marriages: Licenses 1787-1933 and Marriage Bonds 1849-1902
• Deaths: prior to 1906

Nova Scotia - Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics

• Births: 1864-1877, 1908-1913 plus delayed registrations for births between 1830-1913
• Marriages: bonds from 1763-1864 and registrations 1864-1938 
• Deaths: 1864-1877, 1908-1963 plus the City of Halifax for between 1890-1908

New Brunswick - Vital Statistics from Government Records

• Births
• Late Registration of Births: County Series: 1869-1901
• Late Registration of Births: 1810-1918
• County Birth Registers: 1800-1913
• Provincial Registrations of Births: 1898-1918
• Marriages: 1847-1964
• Deaths
• County Death Registers: 1885-1921 
• Provincial Returns of Deaths: 1815-1919
• Death Certificates: 1920-1964

 Quebec

Quebec is unusual in the sense that there was no separation between church and state until fairly recently when it came to registrations. It wasn't until 1994 that the government of Quebec kept separate vital records. Prior to then, the province had the churches send copies of the registers to the government archives. The Drouin collection is the best source for baptisms, marriages and burials. This collection is available on Ancestry in "Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967" or via Institut généalogique Drouin.

Ontario - Ancestry's Ontario, Canada Vital Records: Births, Marriages and Deaths collection

• Births: 1869-1913
• Marriages: 1801-1928 (with gaps prior to July 1, 1869)
• Deaths: 1869-1938, deaths overseas from 1939-1947 

Manitoba - Genealogy Searches for Unrestricted Records

• Births: 1882-1913
• Marriages: 1882-1933
• Deaths: 1882- 1943

Saskatchewan - Genealogy Index Searches

• Births: 1878-1913
• Deaths: 1878-1917

Alberta

Alberta is another special case. Prior to 1905 Alberta was part of the Northwest Territories. Some of these records may be available though the Alberta Family Histories Society Resources page.

British Columbia - BC Archives - Genealogy

• Births: 1854-1903, baptisms between 1836-1888
• Marriages: 1872-1934, colonial marriages between 1859-1872
• Deaths: 1872-1991

Tip: Know when records were started to be kept by governments so you don't search for documents that don't exist.