Archives
Original records spanning three generations (1891-1966) of a family run general store from Oyster Pond. Records include invoices, receipts, shipping records, account books, ledgers and inventories.
Original attendance registers with a variety of date ranges (1891–1987) from Clam Bay, Clam Harbour, DeBaie’s Cove, East & West Jeddore, East Ship Harbour, Head Jeddore, Jeddore Lakeville, Lake Charlotte, Lakefront Consolidated, Little Harbour, Lower Lakeville, Mooseland, Murphy’s Cove, Mushaboom, Musquodoboit Harbour, North Ship Harbour, Owls Head, Harbourside, Oyster Pond, Robert Jamison, Pleasant Harbour, Popes Harbour, Sheet Harbour, Sheet Harbour - East and West River, Sheet Harbour Passage, Ship Harbour, Spry Bay Elementary, Spry Harbour, Tangier - Advanced, Tangier - Consolidated, Tangier - Primary, and Upper Lakeville. Records not fully complete. Some restrictions apply.
Microfilm and photocopies of births, deaths, marriages and baptisms from most of the Anglican churches serving the Eastern Shore, including Dartmouth Christ Church, Holy Trinity (Tangier), Ship Harbour Parish, St James’, St. John’s, St. Genevieve’s, St. George’s, St. Paul’s, St. Stephen’s. The Centre also has copies of Catholic records from St. Peter’s & Presbyterian records from Reverend James Rosborough. Copy restrictions apply.
Microfilm copies of census records for Halifax County from 1851–1901. Indices to some of these censuses are available in our Library and on our computers.
Original records of the Annabell Siteman Ells fonds (formerly housed at the Nova Scotia Archives) and Microfilm copies of a portion of the records. The collection contains valuable information gathered by Ms. Ells about the communities and families of Ship Harbour and area.
A variety of maps covering the Eastern Shore, including the A.F.Church maps from 1864, the Crown Land Grant Maps, and the Faribault-Fletcher Geological Maps from the turn of the 20th century.
The working files of long time genealogist, Kim Stevens, contains a variety of documents and correspondence arranged in over 245 family folders from Abriel to Zong. The collection also contains over 200 books and periodicals on genealogy and local history. The Research Centre is also the Canadian distributor of all of Mr. Stevens’ Maritime Imprints series of publications on Eastern Shore families and a variety of indices to census, church records, and vital statistics.
A growing collection of self published and working files from family history researchers. Donations of self-published works are welcome. Vertical family files also contain a variety of obituaries published in newspapers over the last century. Obituaries have been copied from the orginal to ensure preservation. Digital listings of all Halifax Chronicle Herald obituaries from 2002 to present.
Transcriptions of many cemeteries are on file as well as tombstone photographs of many local cemeteries. We can also direct visitors to the locations of present and pioneer cemeteries.
A variety of reference books focusing on local histories and genealogies and vertical files containing clippings, histories, sermons, and articles.
A collection of nearly 2000 High Resolution scans of photographs and gathered from community members and descendants further afield. All photographs are searchable and classified by date, surname, location, etc. This is an on-going project, and we welcome new photos for scanning.
Holdings also include many family, business and organizational records including land deeds, grants, wills, indentures, store records, voters lists, assessments, letters, postcards, and other papers generated by the activities of people and organizations along the Eastern Shore.