The original records include 4,921 names and are located in Record Group (RG) 1, Vol. 445, No. 1-55. Click here for the file list of communities included in this collective census.

Please note:

• Volume 445, No. 1 - 11 are census returns from Sydney County (see note below) and Cape Breton Island in 1811.
• There is no Volume 445, No. 12.
• Volume 445, No. 13 - 34 are census returns from Sydney County (see note below) in 1817.
• Volume 445, No. 33 is a census return from Sydney County entitled "A Return of the State of the Indians" listing Mi'kmaq families in 1817.
• Volume 445, No. 35A is a census return from St. Margaret's Bay, Halifax County in 1817.
• Volume 445, No. 36 - 54 are census returns from Cape Breton Island in 1818.
• Volume 445, No. 55 is a census return from the Townships of Hants County in 1817.

Sydney County

Sydney County was created in 1784 to administer the eastern mainland of Nova Scotia (now Antigonish and Guysborough Counties). During the years 1824-1836 — after the years covered by the census returns listed above — Sydney County was divided into defined upper and lower districts: the Lower District of Sydney County became Guysborough County; the Upper District reverted to the original name, Sydney County, which was changed to Antigonish County in 1863.

For additional information, researchers should consult:

County Map of Nova Scotia

Charles Bruce Fergusson, The Boundaries of Nova Scotia and Its Counties Halifax: Public Archives of Nova Scotia, Bulletin No. 22; 1966. Nova Scotia Archives Library, F 90 N85 Ar2b no. 22.