Are your ancestors from Nova Scotia? If so, the Nova Scotia Archives is a wealth of information and historical records for you to trace your family history. Genealogical research provides people with a sense of belonging and pride. It helps connect people with their past, and a look into the lives of their ancestors.
Click on the genealogy guide and you will find a long list of resources:
One of those amazing resources are the original records of your ancestors births, marriages and deaths. This is a searchable database that can provide you with a wealth of information about your ancestors. You can even save an electronic copy of the records or order an original copy. More information of exactly what records you will find online is available on the site. For instance, if I click on "birth registrations" it explains that all records from 1922-present are not available online, they remain with vital statistics. Birth records online begin in 1864 as that is when the civil registration of births in Nova Scotia began. It continued until 1877 and then lapsed until 1908 when the province began record keeping. Records between 1864 and 1877 are incomplete but have been maintained without interruption since 1 October 1908. Individuals born in the province before 1908 who wanted their births officially recorded, or who required proof-of-birth in later life when applying for passports, pensions and similar evidence-based records were able to do so for many years after 1908 via a 'delayed registration' procedure at the Vital Statistics Office. I have found birth registrations for several of my ancestors through the delayed registrations.
If you would like to help transcribe some of these records, currently only you can help transcribe 1921 births, 1946 marriages and 1971 deaths.
You can browse the list of records that have not been started for surnames in your family tree. I have transcribed many records of my very own ancestors! As an example I searched for the surname BAXTER (which is in my family tree) in the death records:
I did not find any Baxters to whom I am related (that I know of yet!) but here are the Baxters that did show up in my search:
The records waiting for transcription are marked as "not started". Norah Baxter and Bernadine Hazel Baxter have already been transcribed. I searched in "all records". If I had searched in "not been started" then only those awaiting transcription would show up in the results. I chose to transcribe Margaret Ivy Baxter.
The entire death record will appear on your screen and you must transcribe the information to the right. The place of death, county, last name, given names and date of death pre-populated. Number 4. sex did not. It is important to ensure that all fields are transcribed.
There are several sections to the death certificate and each section has its own button you must press to open up the database in which to transcribe the information. The first field I chose to complete was "additional fields". When I clicked it, this is what appeared:
Once you have completed every section and are happy with your transcription you click completed and save. There is a section where you can write notes about anything about the record or a message you would like the archives to review. The website also provides transcribing tips. One of which is to SAVE your work OFTEN.
Be a part of history and help transcribe Nova Scotia records! Happy transcribing and happy family researching!
