Nominal census returns for Nova Scotia began as late as 1871 unlike New Brunswick and other jurisdictions. Newspaper vital statistics are a poor substitute. Most papers were strongly partisan in politics and religion, the names of the wealthy and well connected were often reported but the names of the average citizens often appear only in the census. The closure of post 1901 census records means that all the benefits of access to informaion concerning those born prior to 1901 will never be extended to the descendants of anyone born after 1901 or to the descendants of the millions who came to this country as immigrants. This will result in a two tier system foreign to our stated beliefs and charter of freedoms.
Alternate sources have and continue to be consulted but are of a limited use in grouping families.
Public school attendance was not uniform throughout the province. Records that survive are minimal. The majority of church records Post 1900 are closed and are the private property of the Diocese. The Baptist church retained scarce personal records leaving this uniquely large population without access to its own vital statistics. The Maritime Conference of the United Church of Canada has blocked requests for their records stored in Toronto to be microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah.