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Nova Scotia Vital Statistics from Newspapers

Although considered secondary sources, newspapers are important sources of vital statistics. Information from newspapers is available in a variety of forms. A description of some of ATCHA's relevant holdings follows.

The Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia has published nine volumes titled Nova Scotia Vital Statistics from Newspapers, (ATCHA Call # 929.2, Nov) which cover the following time spans:

  • 1st volume - (1813-1822)
  • 2nd volume - (1823-1828)
  • 3rd volume - (1769-1812)
  • 4th volume - (1829-1834)
  • 5th volume - (1835-1839)
  • 6th volume - (1840-1843)
  • 7th volume - (1844-1847)
  • 8th volume - (1848-1851)
  • 9th volume - (1852-1854)

These publications are somewhat less inclusive than the title suggests, as all the information in them is excerpted from Halifax newspapers only. They are, however, a valuable source of vital statistics, and each volume has both a surname index and an index to ships (name and type).

New Brunswick Vital Statistics from Newspapers

The Vital Statistics Committee of the New Brunswick Genealogical Society published five volumes entitled New Brunswick Vital Statistics from Newspapers. These contain genealogical data extracted from early New Brunswick newspapers. The parameters of the committee's project, begun in 1982, were to record births, marriages and deaths. Other related information such as shipwrecks, drownings, coroner inquests and notices of estate were also included.

This series was printed in a limited edition. When the first three volumes were out of print, the committee's Chair, Daniel F. Johnson, published a 1-volume edition which consolidated the information in Volumes 1-3. This is titled Vital Statistics from New Brunswick Newspapers. Mr. Johnson, of Saint John, NB, went on to publish 15 more volumes (6-20), copies of which are held by ATCHA. Our call # for the series is 929.2, Joh. There are slight variations within the series - the number and type of indexes included, for example - as follows:

  • Vols. 1-3 (1784-1828), Vital Statistics from New Brunswick Newspapers, published by Daniel F. Johnson, Saint John, NB. Includes an index to New Brunswick parishes by county, and an every name index.
  • Vols. 4 (1829-1831) and 5 (1832-1834), New Brunswick Vital Statistics from Newspapers, published by the Vital Statistics Committee of the New Brunswick Genealogical Society, Fredericton, NB. These volumes both have four indexes: place names, ship names, regiments, and every name.

NOTE: All subsequent volumes in this series are titled Vital Statistics from New Brunswick Newspapers and are published by Daniel F. Johnson, Saint John, NB.

  • Vol. 6 (1835-1836) has an index to NB parishes by county and an every name index.
  • Vol. 7 (1837-1838) has an index to NB parishes by county and an every name index.
  • Vol. 8 (1839-1840) has every name, ship name and place name indexes.
  • Vol. 9 (1840-1842) has an index to NB parishes by county and every name, ship name and place name indexes.
  • Vol. 10 (1842-1845) has every name, ship name and place name indexes.
  • Vol. 11 (1845-1847) has every name, ship name and place name indexes.
  • Vol. 12 (1847-1850), Vol. 13 (1850-1852), Vol. 14 (1852-1854), Vol. 15 (1854-1856), Vol. 16 (1856-1857), and Vol. 17 (1857-1859) each have an every name index only.
  • Vol. 18 (1859-1861) has an index to NB parishes by county and an every name index.
  • Vol. 19 (1861-1862) has an every name index and the elector list of 1861 for the East and West side of Saint John Harbour, published in the Saint John Morning Freeman.
  • Vol. 20 (1862-1863) has an index to NB parishes by county, a map of NB showing county lines and main communities, and an every name index.

Yarmouth Herald

Another source of vital statistics from newspapers is the ATCHA generated and maintained card file/index of marriages and deaths from the Yarmouth Herald, 1833-1859. The entries refer by date to microfilmed copies of the newspaper which ATCHA owns. The file cards are ordered alphabetically by surname, and indicate the type of vital statistic and the date of the issue of the newspaper in which the relevant information is located. When the entry is for a marriage, the name of the spouse is also on the card. The information from a sample card follows:

Bethune, Catherine 27 Dec., 1849
Yarmouth Herald
death

The Vanguard

ATCHA has also been maintaining scrapbooks of vital statistics from current issues of the Yarmouth, NS, newspaper, The Vanguard (published twice weekly) from 7 March 1979. These clippings include obituaries, births, weddings, anniversaries, engagements, in memoriams, and so on.

The archives currently has an every name index to all the obituaries 1979-1996, which provides the following information: name, death date (day, month & year), newspaper issue date (day, month & year), book number & page number. In this index, married women are indexed by both maiden and married names. Similar indexes for births and another for marriages, engagements and anniversaries are in progress.

The ATCHA collection also contains a number of scrapbooks compiled by different individuals, which contain a variety of vital statistics. The archives works on indexing this information as time permits.

Methodist Newspapers of the Atlantic Provinces

Other important sources of vital statistics are denominational newspapers published in the Maritimes in the 1800's. Although they dealt with and recorded secular matters, they were strongly affiliated with various religious denominations; consequently, it was the vital statistics for members of these denominations that tended to be reported in these newspapers. The two sets of volumes held by ATCHA, containing vital statistics excerpted from Methodist and Presbyterian newspapers, were both published in very limited numbers.

The earliest newspapers published by the Wesleyan Methodists in the Atlantic Provinces are on deposit in the Maritime Conference Archives, United Church of Canada, located at the Atlantic School of Theology, Franklyn St., Halifax, NS. With the permission of the Maritime Conference Archives Committee and the curator, Ruth and Ross Burgess, Middleton, NS, compiled seven volumes of abstractions of marriage and death notices from original copies of church newspapers still available. ATCHA's call number for the series is 929, .2, Bur, and volume number.

All the volumes in this series are titled Marriage & Death Notices from Methodist Newspapers of the Atlantic Provinces, and they cover the following years:

  • Volume 1: 1828-1851
  • Volume 2: 1852-1853
  • Volume 3: 1854-1855
  • Volume 4: 1856-1857
  • Volume 5: 1858-1860
  • Volume 6: 1861-1862
  • Volume 7: 1863-1864

All the notices, whether marriage or death, in all volumes are arranged alphabetically. They provide a name, event (marriage or death), date, other related information, name of the Methodist newspaper in which the information was found, publication date, volume and number.
For example (from p. 147, Vol. #7):

PARKER Isabella, w/o John Parker
d. 23 August at Aylesford East, in 34th yr.
Dau of Thomas & Dorothy WILTON.
Prov Wesleyan Wed 30 September 1863 Vol 15 #39

Note that the capitalization of a last name within an entry (such as "Wilton" above), indicates a cross-reference entry in the same volume.

ATCHA is able to look up a specific name and provide single copies to researchers. For more extensive searches or listings researchers should contact the original compilers:

Ross and Ruth Burgess
Box 276 Middleton, NS
B0S 1P0

The Presbyterian Witness and Evangelical Advocate

Important information is also to be found in the four-volume set of vital statistics excerpted from The Presbyterian Witness and Evangelical Advocate by J. and S. McCormick, Middleton, NS. These volumes, all titled Vital Statistics, 1848 - 1887, sort the excerpted information alphabetically, as follows:

  • Volume 1, Surnames A - F
  • Volume 2, Surnames G - L
  • Volume 3, Surnames M - Q
  • Volume 4, Surnames R to Z

In their introduction to these volumes, the compilers indicate that The Presbytarian Witness and Evangelical Advocate was first published in Halifax, NS, on 8 January 1848, and continued to be published for seventy years. It was initially connected only with the Free (Presbyterian) Church, although information was not limited to this denomination. In January 1856, Rev. Robert Murray of the Free Church and Charles Robson, Elder of the Presbyterian Church of NS, took over editorship from James Barnes. They enlarged the paper by creating two sections: religious and secular. Usually the vital statistics were placed in the secular section but on occasion they appeared in the religious section. By 1865 the two sections were amalgamated and the newspaper generally consisted of eight pages.

The four-volume index compiled by the McCormicks offers approximately 70,000 extractions of vital statistics, arranged in alphabetical order according to surname, covering a fifty-year period (1848-1887 inclusive). In the case of marriages, the surname of the bride and groom are both indexed, followed by information relevant to the marriage. Births, deaths, and a small number of biographies are also included. In instances where the compilers felt that an entry required clarification, they placed such notes in brackets within the entry.

Some confusion exists with the page numbering of the newspapers, especially with the earlier publications when the religious and secular sections were numbered identically within the same publication volume and number. To clarify such ambiguity, the date, volume number, number of the paper, and the page number have been included in the source section for every entry. When the McCormicks excerpted vital statistics from the religious section, they put an "R" after the page number in the applicable listing. A sample listing follows:

BURGOYNE Ellen Elizabeth D. 25 Oct at Mahone Bay,
d/o James & Mary Burgoyne aged 1 yr. 10 mos. 25 days.
P.W. Sat. 23 Nov 1878, Vol.XXXI No.47, p.376

ATCHA is able to look up a specific name and provide single copies to researchers. For more extensive searches or listings researchers should contact the original compilers:

J. & S. McCormick
Box 431, Middleton, NS
B0S 1P0
CANADA