Prince Edward Island Newspapers

Libraries and Archives
Public Archives and Records Office (PARO) Hon. George Coles Building, 4th floor 175 Richmond Street Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Mailing address: P.O. Box 1000 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 7M4 Telephone: (902)368-4290 Email: [mailto:archives@gov.pe.ca archives@gov.pe.ca]

There are many newspapers here and at the:

Robertson Library University of Prince Edward Island 550 University Avenue Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 4P3 Information/Reference Desk: (902)566-0696 Email: [mailto:reference@upei.ca reference@upei.ca]

Prince Edward Island Newspaper Repositories

Although early newspapers recorded little vital information, later ones often contained excellent obituaries, marriage notices, and biographies of important persons. Small town newspapers tend to provide information regarding a person’s life, especially in obituaries. The Public Archives and Records of Prince Edward Island has a collection of island newspaper references from 1787 to 1874, which include birth, marriage, and death notices.

Newspaper Directories
Boylan, Heather. Checklist and Historical Directory of Prince Edward Island Newspapers, 1787–1986. (FHL book 971.7 B33b.) It contains dates of publication and locations of newspapers. The directory is indexed chronologically and geographically.

Digital Issues Online
The digitization of the Island's primary newspaper,The Guardian, from the 1890's to 1950 is currently underway. Information about the digitization is available at Island Newspapers

Prince Edward Island Unpublished Indexes
Some newspaper indexing has been done, and these names are included in the Master Name Index at the provincial archives. There are newspaper references in the ‘deaths before 1906’ file at PARO also.

There is a list of indexed newspapers in Orlo Jones’Family history in Prince Edward Island: a genealogical research guide (Charlottetown: Prince Edward Island Heritage Foundation, 1981), which must now be considered somewhat out of date.

There are also unpublished indexes at the Confederation Centre Public Library P.O. Box 7000 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island C1A 8G8 Telephone: 902-368-4642 Email: [mailto:ccpl@gov.pe.ca ccpl@gov.pe.ca]