Top 3 Nova Scotia Genealogy Web Sites

Top 3 Nova Scotia
Genealogy Web Sites
This tutorial highlights three Nova Scotia related websites that feature genealogical resources of
interest to patrons researching their family history. You can introduce these websites to
beginner genealogists, or use to find answers to information questions. It is recommended that
you use the Mozilla Firefox Internet browser for this tutorial.
1.
Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics
www.novascotiagenealogy.com
In 2007, the Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management (NSARM) launched the online Nova
Scotia Historical Vital Statistics. Not only is there a searchable index, but each record is
digitized and available for viewing. Certified copies of the records may be ordered directly from
the website. This marks the first time that provincial vital statistics anywhere in Canada are
available on the Internet. The database is updated annually when the Nova Scotia government
releases new records to NSARM.
Figure 1
Top 3 Genealogy Web Sites
February, 2009
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
Vital statistics--birth, marriage and death records--are key sources of information for family
historians. Beyond establishing birth, marriage and death dates, you may find:
•
Parents and grandparents names
•
Place of birth
•
Occupation
•
Age
•
Place of residence
•
Cause of death
•
Other family members
By law, citizens are required to report significant life events to the provincial government. Laws
also dictate when this information may be released to NSARM and the general public. Please
note that reporting was inconsistent or had completely stopped by 1908, so there are still gaps
in these records.
The following records currently available through the Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics
website:
Figure 2
“Delayed births” means that the registration of an individual’s birth occurred many years after
the event. Often the person was an adult seeking proper identification for marriage or travel
purposes.
“Bonds” is a declaration between two people who are betrothed, but it does not guarantee that a
marriage, in fact, took place.
For any birth, marriage and death records later than the above dates, refer patrons to office of
the Vital Statistics, Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations office at
www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/vstat/.
Top 3 Genealogy Web Sites
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
Try This
A patron is searching for information on his ancestor, John Collier.
1. Enter the surname “Collier” and “John” in the appropriate search fields.
You may also uncheck these boxes to limit search
by the type of record
Figure 3
2. Click the search button.
3. Before viewing the search results, you will need to accept the User Agreement statement by
pressing the “I agree” button:
Figure 4
Click here
Top 3 Genealogy Web Sites
Use scroll bar to find
bottom of page
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
4. The results should be similar to this:
Click here to see 6
death records
Click
here to
order
copies
Figure 5
Click here to see 4
marriage records
Click here to view digitized
record
Birth records will always be displayed first.
If you have more than one result, your patron will have to go through the different records to
determine which name corresponds to his ancestor. It is not uncommon over the years for
different people to have the same name.
To view the digitized record, click on the “view” button.
Note: If no digital image of the record loads in the display field, you will need to download the
Viewpoint Media Player. A link to the software is located at the bottom on the display field. If
you have still have trouble, try changing your Internet browser to Internet Explorer.
This will take only a few minutes to download. Follow the step-by-step instructions. You should
not have to reboot your computer.
The print functions on this web site are disabled, so patrons will have to copy the information by
hand or order a paper copy directly from NSARM.
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5. Click “view” to see the digital copy of the record. There is usually more than one entry in the
register, so use the page and entry number to locate the birth record for John Frederick Collier.
John Frederick Collier will be found on this
page and line number
Page
Number
Figure 6
Must have this
downloaded onto
computer to see
record
Click on image to zoom
closer
Scroll up and down
the record by
dragging the grey
bar
You may also use the “left-click, hold and drag” function on your mouse to move the digital
image around.
Top 3 Genealogy Web Sites
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
Note: At the bottom of the results page, you will find the Advanced Search/New Search options
to help narrow or expand your search.
Search for surname spelling variations like MacDonald vs. McDonald. Select
“Ends With”, enter “Donald” to get results for both spellings.
Figure 7
Search in
between certain
years
Or a
specific
year
Or within a
specific
county
Question A:
Search for the marriage of Anna M. Wright, possibly in the late 1920’s or early 1930’s.
How many marriages did you find?
What was the name of her fiancée?
How old was she?
Top 3 Genealogy Web Sites
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
2.
Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management
www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm
Figure 8
Click here to enter
NSARM’s website is a gold mine for the family historian. Every year, NSARM launches new
searchable databases and digitized records. When you click on “Genealogical Research”, you
will discover 26 different databases. We will be looking at three: The Halifax Explosion
Remembrance Book, Halifax City Deaths: 1890-1908, and BookWorm: Online Catalogue
for NSARM Library.
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
2.1
Halifax Explosion Remembrance Book: A List of Those Who Died
http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/remembrance/
Figure 9
This database presents the most definitive list of all known 1,950 victims of the Halifax
Explosion, who died on December 6, 1917. Sources for this database include the Halifax Relief
Commission’s records, McAlpine’s Halifax City Directory for 1918, the Halifax Herald, the
Morning Chronicle, church and cemetery burial records. When available, digital copies of the
records are displayed along with details about the victim.
Try This
Let’s look for information about James Allison.
1. Type his name in the search field and leave the search option on “keywords”.
Click here to
search
Top 3 Genealogy Web Sites
Figure10
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
2. Your results should look like:
Click here
to see
record
Figure 11
3. To see more information, click on the check box.
A new window will automatically open. Wait a few minutes for the digitized record to adjust its
focus. If no digital record appears, then download Viewpoint, available at the bottom of the
page and redo your search.
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
At the top of the page, you will find all known information about James B. Allison, including
references to original sources.
Sources
Figure 12
“GANS List” refers to a list of names in the Nova Scotia Genealogist newsletter, published by
the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia. The Spring Garden Road Reference Department
has a copy of this list.
“HRC: List” refers to the Halifax Relief Commission records that are held by NSARM
“Newspaper” refers to local Halifax newspapers available both at NSARM and the Spring
Garden Road Reference Department.
Note: If the Spring Garden Road Reference Department has copies of these records, they can
be faxed (up to 15 pages) to your local branch.
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
Below is a digitized copy of the entry for James B. Allison in the Halifax Explosion Death
Registration Book:
Use the
scroll
bar to
move
up and
down
Figure 13
Zoom in to get a closer look
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2.2
Death Registers, City of Halifax: 1890-1908
http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/vitalstats/death/halifax/
Don’t change
this box
Figure 14
While Nova Scotia death registrations ceased between 1877 and 1908, Halifax was still
recording deaths in between 1890 to 1908 for a federal government study. If you don’t find a
death record in the Nova Scotia Historic Vital Statistics database, search the Halifax City
Deaths.
Try This
1. Enter the surname Young in the search field and click the “search” button.
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
2. You should get 86 results. Scroll down and locate an entry for “Ruby Young”, who might be
someone of interest to your research.
Click to
open
Figure 15
3. Click on the check box to open the record. There are a lot of names in this register. If you
click on the “click to view more information on line 56” link, the zoom feature will take you
directly to Ruby Young’s entry.
Click here to zoom
closer to Ruby
Young’s entry in
the register
Figure 16
Top 3 Genealogy Web Sites
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When you zoom into the record, these navigation buttons will appear to help you to move
around the record.
Zoom in
and out
Figure 17
Move back, up,
down and
forward
Return to
original size
These records are set for “viewing only”. You cannot print a copy of the record from the
website. Patrons may contact the Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management to order an
official copy of the record.
2.3
NSARM Online Library Catalogue
http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/library/
Figure 18
The Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management has a small library collection of published
and unpublished histories about Nova Scotia families. Most of these resources have been
donated by other family historians and are not available anywhere else. They are not available
through the Halifax Public Libraries Interlibrary Loan service. Patrons will have to visit NSARM
to view these resources.
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
Try This
Let’s search for resources written about a Nova Scotia family.
1. Enter “Loomer” into the search field.
Figure 19
Top 3 Genealogy Web Sites
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
2. Your search results include a listing of both published books and documents held in vertical
files. The search engine looks for the keyword “Loomer” both as an author and as a title
keyword.
Click
here to
open
Figure 20
This is an unpublished manuscript stored in a
vertical file
Click to open the title Loomer Family and Allied Lines.
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3. The catalogue will give you basic bibliographic information, including the Library of Congress
call number. You may print this off and give it to your patron for faster retrieval when they visit
NSARM.
Figure 21
Question B:
Are there any published family histories on the Conrod family?
List three titles about the Conrods of the Eastern Shore.
Which title does the Halifax Public Libraries not own?
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
3.
Nova Scotia Obituaries
http://www.nsobits.ca/
Figure 22
Nova Scotia Obituaries is a volunteer-based Internet website that transcribes obituaries from
Nova Scotia newspapers. Obituaries are a great starting place for any genealogist, as they
offer summations of people’s lives and identify many relations, such as parents, spouses,
children and cousins.
The site offers both a free public search and a “member’s only” search option. The Spring
Garden Road Reference Department subscribes to the membership database, which allows
Reference staff to carry out full-text keyword searches. While Reference staff cannot offer public
access to this part of the website, they can do searches on behalf of your patron.
While it is a good site to find more recent obituaries, it is not comprehensive. There are many
names missing from the database.
Click “enter” to go to the free database search engine.
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
Click again on “Continue to the regular website”.
Click here to go
to databases
Figure 23
Your website should look like this:
8 different
databases
List of
surnames in
database
Figure 24
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
You will have to search each individual database, from 1-6, 20 and 30, to locate obituaries.
The “List of Names” link on the left hand side table of contents is a master list of names found in
the different databases. Unfortunately, the list does not include names from database 20 and
30.
Try This
1. Click on database #1.
2. Enter the surname “Harnish” in the search box.
3. Your results should look like this:
Number
of results
Click here to get full
text
Figure 25
Top 3 Genealogy Web Sites
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4. When you click on the “link”, a new window opens to the full-text obituary. Remember, these
have been transcribed by volunteers. There may be errors in the obituary.
Figure 26
You may print these obituaries from this website.
Remember
The Spring Garden Road Reference Department has a membership to Nova Scotia Obituaries if
you wish to do a full-text surname search.
The Reference Department also has the Halifax Herald Obituary Index, from 1961-1999 and
can fax up to three obituaries to any branch at no cost to the patron.
For obituaries published from 1999 to the present, the Reference Department can contact the
Chronicle Herald newspaper on behalf of the patron to locate obituary listings.
Due to copyright restrictions, the Reference Department cannot email digital copies of
newspaper obituaries to the patron.
Question C:
Search for the full obituary for Donald Pitcher.
Which database did you find his obituary?
Where was he born?
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www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca
Answers to Tutorial Questions
Question A:
Search for the marriage of Anna M. Wright, possibly in the late 1920’s or early 1930’s.
How many marriages did you find?
There are two marriages for Anna M. Wright, one in 1917 and one in
1931.
What was the name of her fiancée?
James H. Grant.
How old was she?
She was 23 years old.
Question B:
Are there any published family histories on the Conrod family?
There are four books on the Conrod family. The fifth book is on bicycles.
Which title does the Halifax Public Libraries not own?
The Saga of Sea Bird: with tales of the restless Conrads and Conrods from
Kleinheubach via Rotterdam to Halifax, Lunenburg, Rose Bay, Vogler's Cove, Conrad's Island,
Lawrencetown, the Chezzetcooks and Conrod's Settlement-etc. A family history
Question C:
Search for the full obituary for Donald Pitcher.
Which database did you find his obituary?
His obituary was found in database #3
Where was he born?
Sydney, Nova Scotia
This work is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 license. You may share
and adapt it for non-commercial use if the original is cited. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncsa/2.5/ca/)
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