Canada, Nova Scotia, Antigonish Catholic Diocese - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection contains records for the years 1823-1905; dates vary for each parish.

In this set of parish registers, the births or baptisms, marriages, and deaths or burials are usually entered in separate volumes. A few volumes have intermixed entries; some are indexed. Early registers are written in paragraph format, while later registers are pre-printed with the information filled in by hand in each column.

This is a partner project with the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia to index digital-born images for this Catholic diocese. The images contain church records for some, but not all parishes in the diocese and include christenings, marriages and births.

The text is usually in English, although a few records are in Latin or French. This set also includes transcriptions of original registers for some parishes.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish was originally known as the Diocese of Arichat and was established on September 22, 1844. Previously, the diocese was part of the Diocese of Quebec.

On August 23, 1886, the see was moved from Arichat to the town of Antigonish and the diocese became the Diocese of Antigonish. The diocese covers seven counties in northeastern Nova Scotia: Richmond, Inverness, Victoria, Cape Breton, Antigonish, Pictou and Guysborough. Catholic records are traditionally kept on the parish level so the registers are usually found at the church where the event occurred. Based on statistics from the 1901 Canadian census, around 28% of the population of Nova Scotia was Catholic and 58% of the Catholics in Nova Scotia lived in the Diocese of Antigonish. About 68% of the pre-1906 parishes in the diocese are included in this record set.

Parish registers are considered a very reliable source for family history research because they contain a record of an event usually entered into the register at or very near the time the event occurred.

Record Content
Baptismal records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of baptism
 * Child's name and date of birth
 * Names of parents
 * Names of godparents

Marriage records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of marriage
 * Names of the groom and bride
 * Names of witnesses

Death records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of death and burial
 * Name and age of deceased
 * Birth place of deceased
 * Cause of death
 * Officiating priest
 * Name of cemetery

How to Use the Records
To begin your search for birth records, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of parents
 * Approximate year and place of birth
 * Parish

To begin your search for marriage records, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of bride or groom
 * Approximate year and place of marriage
 * Parish

To begin your search for death records, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Approximate year and place of death
 * Parish

Search the Collection
To search by index: Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

To browse by image: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select the appropriate "County" ⇒Select the appropriate "Town" ⇒Select the appropriate "Parish" ⇒Select the appropriate "Event Type," which takes you to the images.

Search the collection by image, comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

For tips about searching online collections, check out FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

For Help Reading These Records
Some of these records are in Latin or French. For help with reading the records, see the following resources:


 * Latin Genealogical Word List
 * French Word List
 * BYU French Records Extraction – Instructional Guide

Using the Information
When you have found the ancestor that you are looking for, the following will help you further your research:


 * Use the age on the marriage records to calculate a birth year.
 * Use parish registers to identify individuals, parents, spouses, event dates, places of residence, and possible relatives who may have served as witnesses.

General Information About These Records
Because civil registration of births and deaths was sporadic in Nova Scotia until 1908, church records are a very important source for birth or baptism, marriage, and death or burial information. Parish registers were created to keep a written record of baptisms, marriages, and burials for the Catholic Church.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Canada History Links
 * Canada Historic Maps
 * Cohen's Genealogy Site at Rootsweb
 * Nova Scotia Genealogy
 * Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics

Related Wiki Articles

 * Antigonish County, Nova Scotia
 * Nova Scotia Church Records
 * Canada Church Records

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection citation:

Record citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image citation: