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
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:
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.