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 this Collection 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?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate year of birth.
 * The place where your ancestor was born.
 * The names of the child's parents.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: 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.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search this collection you will to need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse Images" on the initial search page ⇒Select the "Year” category 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.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s delayed birth record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Other children may have also had delayed birth registration. Search the collection for other people with the same surname.
 * Use the residence to find census records.
 * Occupation may be a clue to family mobility. For example: A laborer will move around more than a landowner.

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

 * Try searching for the name with variations on the spelling.
 * Try looking through the other Nova Scotia Births collection, as your ancestor's birth registration may not have been delayed.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Be aware that, as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

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: