Sunbury County, Nova Scotia Genealogy

Guide to Sunbury county ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Nova Scotia Online Genealogy Records Ask the Community

History
Sunbury County was a county in Nova Scotia from 1765 - 1784. It was dissolved when the province of New Brunswick was created in 1784. The county included the north and eastern portions of Cumberland County as well as the eastern portion of the District of Maine. The county's seat and its court of general sessions were established at Campobello. In 1784, the western third of the county was returned to the District of Maine, which was then part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The remainder became the colony of New Brunswick.

Civil Registrations
According to Nova Scotia Archives Records Management: "Civil registration of vital statistics began in Nova Scotia in 1763 with the introduction of procedures for obtaining a marriage licence; the procedure was optional and the surviving records are incomplete. Formalized registration of births, deaths and marriages began in 1864 and continued to 1877, at which time record-keeping lapsed for births and deaths, but continued for marriages. Compliance was not universal during this period and there are gaps in the surviving records. Since 1 October 1908, birth, death and marriage registrations have been collected and maintained continuously."

Birth Records

 * 1661-1959, index.
 * 1702-1896, index.
 * 1864-1877 at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriage Records

 * 1711-1909, index.
 * 1759-1960 Court records of Divorce and Matrimonial Causes, 1759-1960; Marriage Bonds 1763-1864; Marriage Registrations 1864-1934, index and images.
 * 1763-1957, index.
 * 1763-1942 Nova Scotia, Canada, Marriages at Ancestry - index and images ($); ''Also at: MyHeritage ($)
 * 1864-1918 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1907-1932, index and images.

Death Records

 * 1864-1877 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1763-1957, index.
 * 1864-1959 Deaths 1864-1877, 1908-1959, images and index.
 * 1864-1960 Nova Scotia, Canada, Deaths, 1864-1877, 1890-1960 index. ($)
 * 1890-1955 index and images.
 * 1956-1957 index and images.

Census
In Canada, census returns are closed for 92 years after the time of enumeration. Census returns prior to 1851 are rarely complete for any area, and the census returns for Annapolis County in 1851 did not survive.


 * 1861 - For each county, the agricultural returns follow immediately after the personal returns for the whole county.
 * 1871 - The personal returns for each enumeration sub-district appear in schedule one. The agricultural returns are schedules three to five and are keyed to schedule one by page and line number rather than by name.

Church Records

 * 1720-2001, images.
 * 1757-1946 Acadia, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), images. ($)

City, Provincial, and Business Directories

 * 1758-1952 Ancestry $ Publications of the governments of Nova Scotia

Wills and Probate

 * 1760-1993, images.

Land Records

 * 1732-1864 Nova Scotia land grants, microfilm.
 * 1763-1970 Land records, microfilm.


 * Crown Land Information Management Centre maps, images.
 * 1760-1993, images.
 * 1765-1800 Nova Scotia Land Papers images.

Additional Reference

 * Gilroy, Marion. Loyalists and Land Settlement in Nova Scotia. Halifax: Public Archives of Nova Scotia, 1937. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Ancestry ($).
 * Smith, Clifford Neal. Whereabouts of Some American Refugees, 1784–1800: the Nova Scotian Land Grants. 7 vols. McNeal, Arizona: Vestland Publications, 1992.
 * Land Registration Office - Annapolis County 396 Main Street Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia (902) 584-7185

Military Records

 * The American Civil War : the service records of Atlantic Canadians with the State of Maine volunteers
 * FamilySearch
 * WorldCat
 * The civil sword : James Delancey's Westchester Refugees
 * FamilySearch
 * 1749-1867 Index to commissions in the Public, index.

Online Sources

 * Veteran Affairs Canada has a Virtual War Memorial with listings of graves and memorials, some with photographs and personal memorabilia. It also has excerpts from wartime letters and diaries.


 * Library and Archives Canada Records and databases of information over an extensive period of time.


 * 1910-1967 The Royal Canadian Navy Virtual archive of non-governmental materials (postcards, letters, photographs, etc.)

Websites

 * Nova Scotia Genealogy Records Online
 * Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia
 * Acadia University's Planter Studies Centre, focused on the New England residents who settled in Nova Scotia in the late 1700s.