Canada, Nova Scotia Delayed Births - FamilySearch Historical Records

Canada Nova Scotia

What is in this Collection?
This collection includes delayed birth records from 1837-1904 from the Archives of Nova Scotia in Halifax.

If a birth isn't registered with Vital Registration within the one year, a special type of birth certificate is placed on file. This type of certificate not only shows the facts of birth for the child but also shows the types of evidence presented to Vital Registration to back up the facts of birth.

Certificates are not always in chronological order. There are often miscellaneous certificates with varying dates at the end of a volume.

Delayed birth registrations began to be kept in 1876.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
Delayed birth records may contain the following information:
 * The full name of the person at the time of birth
 * Date of birth
 * Place of birth (city and state)
 * Mother's full maiden name
 * Mother's place of birth (at least state or country)
 * Full name of the father
 * Father's place of birth (at least state or country)

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The name of a relative or date of the event

Search the Index
Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page then:
 * 1) Fill in the search boxes with the information you know.
 * 2) Click Search. This will provide possible a list of matches.
 * 3) Compare the information in the lists to what you already know to determine if you found the correct person.

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then:
 * 1) Select the Year

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information to find other records such as marriage, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name, especially French or Latin versions.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Nova Scotia, Canada Genealogy.
 * Search in the Nova Scotia Archives and Libraries.
 * Search in the FamilySearch Catalog
 * Try looking through the other Nova Scotia Births collection, as your ancestor's birth registration may not have been delayed.

Citing This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation:

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