Canada, Nova Scotia Census, 1861 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Canada Nova Scotia

What is in this Collection?
These records include the 1861 census for the province of Nova Scotia. The census day was March 30, 1860.

Census schedules were taken on large sheets of paper with pre-printed rows and columns. They are bound into volumes, arranged by county, then by township and enumeration district.

Census takers were asked to record information about all those who were in each household on the census day, as well as any who have died since that day. A census taker might have visited a house on a later date, but the information he collected was supposed to be about the people who were in the house on the census day. Enumeration was by census district.

Census districts were voting districts, not counties, although most have the same names as counties. For the most part, census districts were synonymous with cities and counties, and subdistricts were synonymous with towns, townships, and city wards. Villages, small towns, and parishes were generally enumerated as part of the township in which they were located. Census district and county boundaries were not always the same, and there were many variations from location to location.

Canadian census records were taken to enumerate the population for representation, taxation, and other purposes.

The accuracy of the census depended on the knowledge of the informant and the care of the enumerator. Realize that the information may have been given to a census taker by any member of the family or even by a neighbor.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Census records usually contain the following information:


 * Name
 * Gender
 * Marital status
 * Race
 * Residence
 * Profession
 * Family members

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The place where your ancestor lived.
 * The names of other family members and their relationships.

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.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s census 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?

 * FamilySearch has a large collection of Nova Scotia records. Use the information you found in this census index to find other records like births or marriages.

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

 * Don't forget to try searching for your person by using spelling variations of his or her name.

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):