Category: History

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“In this letter Oliver Cromwell instructs John Leverett (1616-1679), then military governor of Acadia, to turn over the captured forts in Nova Scotia to Col. Thomas Temple.” “Whereas wee have committed unto our Trusty and welbeloved Colonell Thomas Temple the charge custody and government of our Forts of St. John, Port Royall, and Pentacoet in Acadia commonly called Nova Scotia in America, and the Martiall stores and provisions there being or thereunto belonging; Our will and pleasure therefore is, That you deliver or cause to bee delivered unto the said Thomas Temple ymediatly upon his arrivall there, the full and peaceable possession of the said Forts, and of all the Ordnance, Gunnes, Amunicon, and martiall stores, and other provisions of Victualls, Clothes, Barkes, Boates, Shipps and other thinges Whatsoever in the said Forts, or any of them, being or of right belonging to this Commonwealth by a true and just …

Instructions from Oliver Cromwell to John Leverett (written by James Nutley), 26 September 1656 Read More…

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“The territorial distribution of the Nova Scotia government is – 1. Eastern division, 2. Middle; 3. Western; 4. Halifax; 5. Cape Breton; there are ten counties, some of which are again subdivided into districts and townships for the more convenient administration of justice. The only counties divided into districts are, Halifax into three, viz. Halifax, Colchester, and Pictou; and Sydney into Lower and Upper. The townships are not all of equal extent, nor of equal number in each county, viz. in Halifax there are Halifax, Dartmouth, Preston, and Lawrence Town (in Halifax District)…” “Halifax division, containing part of the county of the same name, and the townships of Haliax, Dartmouth, Preston and Lawrence Town, is thus presented in the last census: “The naval capital of British North America, Halifax, has been before described, and Dartmouth requires no separate account” Martin, Robert Montgomery, 1803?-1868. History of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, the …

History of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, the Sable Islands, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, the Bermudas, Newfoundland, &c., &c. Read More…

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“It has been argued that we are so small a territory, that we should endeavor to unite with some larger country, in order to enlarge our scope for action… Turn to the American States, and contrast the size of Nova Scotia with some States there, and from which we have heard no talk of forming any union with any other State, in order to increase their importance in the Union. There are the States of New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, &c- all very much smaller in area than Nova Scotia, and yet from these we hear of no Union being formed among them, in order that the citizens may have more area or room for development. Nova Scotia contains 20,436 square miles; New Hampshire 9,280; Vermont 9,056; Connecticut 4,730; Massachusetts, that occupies so conspicuous a position in the American nation, 7,800. Yet Nova Scotia, that …

Speech on the union of the colonies, Debates, 1865 Read More…

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“The autograph and signature of former Confederate Captain John Taylor Wood on a card for the W. Chase Photograph Gallery in Nova Scotia, with a sketch by Wood of the private vessel he later captained, the Tallahasse [sic] and a few facts about the vessel.” James E. Taylor, “James E. Taylor Collection : Scrapbook Three” 1880s. https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p16003coll6/id/3366

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“Manuscript map copy by Samuel Holland showing the coasts around Halifax, to Lunenburg Harbour, and from Minas Basin to Forts Cumberland and Lawrence on the Bay of Fundy. Also shows the road from Fort Sackvile to Pisiguit Fort and the old Acadian villages around Bedford Bay” Holland, Samuel. “Map of that part of Nova Scotia contained between Lunenburgh and the Bay Vert by Halifax and Pisiguit, including Cobiguit and Tatmagouch” 1755. https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/collection/p15150coll4/id/16150

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“Far be it from me to wish, on this occasion, to draw national distinctions. I desire rather to show you how the certainty that your descendants will be one race, having a common attachment to Nova Scotia, and knowing no higher obligation than to love and honor her, ought to draw you closer to each other in friendly union, and make you solicitous to give that direction to their minds which shall best secure their happiness, and promote the welfare of their common country.” “…from Virginia, with her 66,000 square miles, covered with flourishing towns and more than a million population – from New York, with her magnificent rivers, princely cities, and two millions of people – from Massachusetts, with her extensive border crowded with activity and intelligence – from the Canadas, with their national dimensions, great natural resources, and rapidly increasing population – to our own little province, hemmed …

An address delivered before the Halifax Mechanics’ Institute on the 5th November, 1834 by Joseph Howe Read More…

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“The work I am now undertaking has never been done before. This sweeping assertion may astonish the reader; but there is this very good reason for making it: the archives of the most important part of this history have been either carried off, or destroyed, or simply lost. Which of these alternatives is the most likely will appear later on. An American writer, Philip H. Smith, treating of the same subject, gave his book this title: “ Acadia— A Lost Chapter in American History.” Though he had not the documents needed for a complete reconstruction, yet, with his sound judgment and great impartiality, by making good use of what he had in hand, he has managed to hit upon a line of development that affords a glimpse of what was hidden in the missing documents. That lost chapter I believe I have reconstructed in its essential parts. The reader will …

Acadia; missing links of a lost chapter in American history Read More…

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“Contains chiefly correspondence of British proprietor and governor of Nova Scotia Thomas Temple and his nephew John Nelson concerning land claims in Nova Scotia and the French role in Canada” Temple, Thomas, 1614-1674. Thomas Temple correspondence concerning Nova Scotia, 1656-1768. Gt. Brit. Sovereigns, etc., 1660-1685. (Charles II) MS.(unsigned, contemporary copy); Whitehall, 6 Aug 1669. MS Am 1249 (10). Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:33504408?n=1

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“This free port bill, as it concerned Nova Scotia, was for several years confined to the port of Halifax, and proved very unequal and unjust in its operation; as all foreign flour legally imported must come through Halifax, which subjected the people of the outports and country generally not only to pay the five shillings duty, but to double freight with the profits, commissions, storage, wharfage, truckage, &c. on nearly all the bread stuff we consumed; and often the flour, which in Baltimore, Alexandria, Richmond, and other sea ports of the middle States, was purchased for five or six dollars a barrel, was sold to the consumer in the outports of the Province for nearly double the first cost. This caused a general discontent and murmuring, and acted as a direct bounty on illicit trade; many sober reflecting men, who would otherwise have scorned to have anything to do with …

A brief sketch of the present state of the province of Nova-Scotia Read More…

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“The following plan for regulating the municipal affairs of this Town, has been drawn up in the form of a Charter, as the clearest and best method to express the extent of the proposed improvements. The objects have been pointed out by a thorough investigation into the various modes of conducting the public business; which was entered into in consequence of a presentment made by the Grand Jury to the Court of Quarter Sessions in December Term of 1812. The Court having appointed six different investigating committees of the Magistrates to meet the various objects contemplated by the Grand Jury, their several reports combined, clearly prove the necessity of some reform” Halifax (N.S.). The Draft of a Charter, for the Incorporation of the Town of Halifax In the Province of Nova-Scotia. Halifax [N.S.]: Printed by John Howe & Son, 1814. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/aeu.ark:/13960/t8df7r91g

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“The pages of this work are … compiled to show the origin of every barony, from its first commencement by writ of summons to parliament, to the time it became (as presumed) extinct, or terminated in an heir general in dormancy; or in coheirs general in abeyance between them; accompanied with such remarks as appear explanatory of their course of descent.” “Heralds and critics, that abusive throng; May as they please, speak of me right or wrong; Their praise will never give me any pride, Their spite, I heed not, and their snarls deride.” “In the Appendix to the second volume is an account of the first settlement of the Scots in Nova Scotia, the occupation of the country by them, and the institution of the Order of Knights Baronets therein. No similar account has ever before been published; and, indeed, the several writers who have attempted to show the …

Baronia anglica concentrata, or, A concentrated account of all the baronies commonly called baronies in fee Read More…

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“Contains chiefly correspondence of British proprietor and governor of Nova Scotia Thomas Temple and his nephew John Nelson concerning land claims in Nova Scotia and the French role in Canada” Temple, Thomas, 1614-1674. Thomas Temple correspondence concerning Nova Scotia, 1656-1768. Cobham, Sir Richard Temple, viscount, 1669?-1749. MS.L.(copy) to [Col. ] Taylor; London, 18 Aug 1719. MS Am 1249 (49). Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:33504613?n=1

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“Contains chiefly correspondence of British proprietor and governor of Nova Scotia Thomas Temple and his nephew John Nelson concerning land claims in Nova Scotia and the French role in Canada” Temple, Thomas, 1614-1674. Thomas Temple correspondence concerning Nova Scotia, 1656-1768. Vaudreuil, Philippe de Rigaud, marquis de, 1640-1725. MS.L.s. to [John Nelson]; Montreal, 2 May 1725. MS Am 1249 (55). Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:33504646?n=1

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“Contains chiefly correspondence of British proprietor and governor of Nova Scotia Thomas Temple and his nephew John Nelson concerning land claims in Nova Scotia and the French role in Canada” Temple, Thomas, 1614-1674. Thomas Temple correspondence concerning Nova Scotia, 1656-1768. Gt. Brit. Sovereigns, etc., 1660-1685. (Charles II) MS.s.(Edw. Nicholas); Hampton Court, 7 Jul 1662. MS Am 1249 (5). Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:33504380?n=1

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“Contains chiefly correspondence of British proprietor and governor of Nova Scotia Thomas Temple and his nephew John Nelson concerning land claims in Nova Scotia and the French role in Canada” Temple, Thomas, 1614-1674. Thomas Temple correspondence concerning Nova Scotia, 1656-1768. Vaudreuil, Philippe de Rigaud, marquis de, 1640-1725. MS.L.s. to [John] Nelson; Quebec, 16 Oct 1724. MS Am 1249 (52). Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:33504631?n=1

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“The compiler of the following work has been more than forty years laboring as a Missionary among the [Mi’kmaq]. He considered it a matter of prime importance to make himself acquainted with their language, and early set himself to the task, with what few helps he could command; and his success has surprized himself as well as many others. As many as forty thousand of their words has been collected and arranged in alphabetical order… The compiler of this volume soon discovered, what many are now willing to admit, that the [Indigenous] are a very remarkable people, with most remarkable languages, traditions, customs, and habits, and that every thing connected with them is calculated to awaken the deepest interest, for the christian, the philologist, the ethnologist, and all others who take an interest in exploring the works of nature and of art, and who are interested in the welfare of …

Dictionary of the language of the [Mi’kmaq] who reside in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton and Newfoundland Read More…

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“Contains chiefly correspondence of British proprietor and governor of Nova Scotia Thomas Temple and his nephew John Nelson concerning land claims in Nova Scotia and the French role in Canada” Temple, Thomas, 1614-1674. Thomas Temple correspondence concerning Nova Scotia, 1656-1768. Cobham, Sir Richard Temple, viscount, 1669?-1749. A.L.s. to John Nelson; London, 14 Oct 16?6. MS Am 1249 (56). Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:33504655?n=1

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“We have witnessed the tremendous struggle and sacrifice made by our Republican neighbors, rather than suffer the disintegration of their common country.” “Nova Scotia, then, is a British Province, enjoying the priceless privilege of British laws, British connection, and a free Constitution.” “The consequence has been that our progress has been one incessant struggle, and the youth of our population, unable to find employment at home, have been obliged to seek it in a foreign country.” “It may be asked, in what respect will confederation affect this for the better? …It will strike down forever all inter-Provincial tariffs; every port in all the Provinces will admit productions of each, free of duty. An esprit, or pride of country, will be created.” “The port of Halifax will be the great point of entry for the Confederacy. It will be connected with every part of the continent by railway; it will be …

Confederation Considered On Its Merits: Being an Examination Into the Principle, Capabilities, And Terms of Union, As Applicable to Nova Scotia Read More…

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“Contains chiefly correspondence of British proprietor and governor of Nova Scotia Thomas Temple and his nephew John Nelson concerning land claims in Nova Scotia and the French role in Canada” Temple, Thomas, 1614-1674. Thomas Temple correspondence concerning Nova Scotia, 1656-1768. [Nelson, John, 1660-1721] A.L.(unsigned draft) to [Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury?]; [London?, 1696?]. MS Am 1249 (32). Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:33504516?n=1

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“Contains chiefly correspondence of British proprietor and governor of Nova Scotia Thomas Temple and his nephew John Nelson concerning land claims in Nova Scotia and the French role in Canada” Temple, Thomas, 1614-1674. Thomas Temple correspondence concerning Nova Scotia, 1656-1768. Nelson, John, 1660-1721. A.L.s.(draft) to the Board of Trade; [London] 12 Apr 1697. MS Am 1249 (35). Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.HOUGH:33504540?n=1