Diocesan Archives - Other Resources

Geneolgical Enquiries:

For genealogical enquiries please send your enquiry in writing directly to our Diocesan Archives Genealogical Researcher, Taunya Dawson at: 2571 MacDonald St. Halifax, NS B3L 3G3 tdawson@ns.sympatico.ca

 

Other Sources for Anglican Church Records:

 

• St. Paul’s Church Archives, Halifax, NS holds the records of St. Paul’s Church dating back to 1749, and the archival custodians there will answer public research requests for a nominal fee (all revenue goes directly to the preservation of these, the oldest parish records of our Diocese). Send your enquiries to Amy Mackay or Fiona Day at the St. Paul’s Church Office: office@stpaulshalifax.org or telephone: (902) 429-2240.
• Almost all of our parish records of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials up to the last fifty years, as well as other parish records, are on microfilm that is deposited to the Public Archives of Nova Scotia (Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management – “NSARM”) and are accessible to the public there. For more information, visit their website or Email: Public Archives of Nova Scotia
• For more help and connections to genealogical resources in Nova Scotia, visit the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia
• In Prince Edward Island, some Anglican Church records are held at the Public Archives and Records Office (PARO) in Charlottetown.
• The Robertson Library of the University of PEI also has a large amount of genealogical reference material.
• At the University College of Cape Breton, the Beaton Institute holds copies of Anglican parish records on microfilm.
• The Diocesan Archives is an institutional member of the Council for Nova Scotia Archives; for a complete listing of other member institutions, visit their website.
• For a complete directory of museums and heritage institutions in Nova Scotia visit: http://museum.gov.ns.ca/musdir/index.html
• For more information about other Anglican archives across Canada, visit the General Synod Archives website to access the complete list of Diocesan Archives in the Anglican Archives Network

 

ARCHIVES PRESENTATIONS:

• Creating a Church Archive: (presented at Charlottetown, 2008)
• Part 1 -- INTRO - Nuts, Bolts and Cogwheels
• Part 2 -- Getting Started
• Part 3 -- Review and Quiz
• Part 4 -- Keeping it going
• The Diocesan Archives: What you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask
• Preservation at the Point of Creation

 

Other Archives Documents:

Parish Records -- Guide to Storage and Handling

Parish Registers -- A note from the former Primate

Tips on Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and Recovery for Churches and Parishes

The Dangers of Water -- pamphlet

Managing Parish Records - booklet

Managing Parish records Birch Cove Recovery

Anglican Diocesan Archivists Network:

• You Are My Witnesses
• Primate's Address - Nov. 2007
• Anglican Archivists Memo to House of Bishops (Nov 2008) - Parish Property Records
• Anglican Archivists Memo to House of Bishops (Jan 2009) - Parish Register Records
• Anglican Archivists Memo to House of Bishops (Feb 2009) - Anglican Archives' Report

 

Development of the Diocesan Archives:

The first reference to the establishment of a Diocesan Archives may be found in the Synod Journal of the Diocese of Nova Scotia, 1916. In that year Reginald V. Harris placed before the Synod a proposal that "a standing Committee, including the Bishop of the Diocese, be appointed and charged with the collection and preservation of docu­ments and manuscripts relative to the history of the Diocese of Nova Scotia". It was not until 1960 that a room was set aside in the new Diocesan Centre for use as an Archives. An Archives Com­mittee was established and Mr. Inglis Wainwright was appointed first Archi­vist.

The Chancellor of the Diocese, R. V. Harris, presented the core of the Archives’ Reference Library as well as a quantity of archival material to the Archives. In recognition of his gifts to and inter­est in the Diocesan Archives, Bishop Waterman presented a brass plaque in­ scribed "R. V. Harris Room" on June 1962. As of Dec. 2012, the main room for the Archives collection is a temperature and humidity controlled vaulted room inside the Archives office, located in the Synod Offices at Parkland at the Gardens, 1340 Cathedral Lane, Halifax. This room now contains a compact mobile shelving system of the highest quality, big enough to house the entire collection and more, thanks to a grant from the Anglican Foundation, and many generous donations from parishes and individuals, including the Archives Committee and former Archivists of the diocese.

The main office of the Archives houses the Reference Library collection, and is named “Archives Research and Reading Room, The Church of England Institute”. It is still furnished with some of the original furniture from the Church of England Institute, as a memorial to Leonard Weldon Mosher, who had also been known for his contribution to education and historical knowledge of the Diocese.