Canada, Nova Scotia Vital Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Canada Nova Scotia

What's In This Collection?
This collection is an index for the years 1763-1957 that was created by the Nova Scotia Archives. These records include registered births from 1864-1877 with some birth entries as early as 1810, delayed births 1836-1907, marriages 1763-1932, and deaths 1864-1877, 1908-1957. Images for these records are on the Nova Scotia Genealogy website.

In 1864, an attempt was made to register vital statistics in Nova Scotia. These records are fairly complete from 1867 to 1874. In 1877, birth and death registration was discontinued, but it began again in 1908.

Nova Scotia was settled by the French in 1605. The French did not keep vital records. Instead, they recorded similar information in Catholic Church records. Very few church records of baptism, marriage, and burial for the French settlers exist before 1702. Church of England records for British settlers began in Halifax in 1749.

The various records in this collection may contain the following information:

How Do I Search the Collection?
To Search by Name see the collection page.

As you are searching, it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times. For tips about searching online collections, read FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

Did you find the person you were looking for?

 * When you have found the information that you have been looking for, search in the | Nova Scotia Church Records. Church records were detailed and kept many years before government records. Search for all people with the same last name as your ancestor and record these in a separate place to review possible relationships to your family. The church records may contain all births, marriages and deaths for an entire family.
 * Search in the Birth, Baptism and Marriage collections to find the names of the parents, the date of baptism, and the year and place of marriage.
 * Use the age in the marriage records or death records to find an approximate birth year to begin your search in church or civil records.
 * Find more detail about death or burial information by searching for cemeteries, grave markers, sexton's records, or a civil or religious death record. Look for an obituary in a local newspaper archive. Sometimes a person is buried in a city or town in which they did not die. Do not assume that a burial place is the same as a death place. Look for death records in the place of death. The name of the undertaker or mortuary could lead you to funeral and cemetery records, which often include the names and residences of other family members.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Try looking in the census records for the possible place of residence at the time of the event. Census records may also list family and household members.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they were born, married or died, then try searching records of a nearby locality.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.

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):