The Registers of St. Jean-Baptiste, Annapolis Royal, 1702-1755

The Database and Its Contents

The register entries — over 3550 of them — provide the names of individuals, along with the dates of their baptism, marriage or burial. Parents and godparents at a christening, and witnesses to a marriage, are almost always identified. In addition, supplementary details such as the exact date of birth (versus the later date of baptism), the name of the person who blessed the infant (often done immediately after birth), or specific details regarding place of residence for those from outside the parish, are frequently provided.

All these various pieces of information have been extracted from each entry in the two registers and entered into a fully searchable electronic database. The end-product contains information for 2,579 births, 552 marriages, and 421 deaths within the parish, covering the years 1702-1755. In addition, every page within the two registers — over 900 in all — has been digitized and electronically correlated with the database, so that for each transcribed/translated search result, researchers may link to and view the exact entry from the appropriate register.

Nova Scotia Archives gratefully acknowledges the Centre acadien - Université Sainte-Anne, for making available on temporary loan the parish registers, in order to expand and enhance this project.

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