New Brunswick Vital Records (National Institute)

Vital Records of New Brunswick Government
“The first edition of this Index was issued in March of 1994. Immediately thereafter, a missing volume was turned up…” Don’t laugh, that’s Murphy’s first law of indexing at work. You will find the whole story in the ‘Introduction’, under Vital Statistics from Government Records,Index to County Birth Registers, on the PANB website where you can search this and other indexes of New Brunswick vital records. Click on RS141 A2/2—Index to County Birth Registers, 1801-1899.


 * “1801—You mean the Birth Registers begin in 1801?” “No. Virginia, we don’t have that kind of Santa Claus.” Archivists put those “earliest dates” in descriptions just to tantalize. A few dates may help.

Some Defining Dates

Provincial Registration of Vital Statistics

Accessible Records
Records of birth, marriages and deaths in New Brunswick are governed by “Records Retention and Disposition Schedules” established by the Provincial Archivist.


 * Records of Births remain in the custody of the Registrar until 95 years after the event.
 * Records of Marriages and Deaths are in the custody of the Registrar until 50 years after the event.

Once those time periods have elapsed the records are transferred to the PANB for preservation and historical research. Before these time periods have elapsed, the Vital Statistics Office will provide birth and marriage certificates to qualified individuals in wallet size or in a long form certified copy. Death certificates are available in a certified copy only. Details are available on the Service New Brunswick website.

This survey of available vital records will work backward in time. The most recent records are almost all searchable on the PANB website.

Deaths 1920 to 50 Years Ago
These indexes include the name of the deceased, the date of death, the county where the death occurred, the registration number of the certificate, and the microfilm F-number whereon the certificate may be viewed. The “Introduction” to these indexes notes that individual certificates include the name, sex, and residence of the deceased, the date and place of death. As well, the length of residence in the province and county is given, racial origin, marital status, date of birth, place of birth, occupation, name of spouse, names and birthplaces of parents, name and address of informant, place and date of burial, cause of death, and duration of illness.

They then remind us of what every genealogist knows only too well:


 * While using the online databases, researchers should remember that many names on the certificates are nearly illegible, and that prior to our technological age modern spelling conventions were not strictly followed.


 * To deal with a name that may have variant spellings like Robichaud -Robicaux -Robisheau or like Appleby or Appelby, it is possible to call up a truncated form of the name, in these cases ‘Robi’ or ‘App’. Also, some women were registered under their husband’s name (eg., Mrs Joseph Smith) without her given name on the certificate. In those cases, the index will show Smith, Joseph (Mrs). To limit your search, choose a county (remember, however, that people often died outside their county of residence).

Apparently the database is divided into ten or five year periods:


 * 1920-1929 contains 51,282 deaths
 * 1930-1934 contains 23,896 deaths
 * 1935-1945 contains 55,659 deaths
 * 1946-1949 contains 19,840 deaths
 * 1950- contains 4,959 deaths

During World War II, “Certificates of Registration of Death” were placed on file to record the deaths of native-born (New Brunswick-born) soldiers. They are not complete in that they do not include every New Brunswicker killed while “in uniform” and they include 6 or 7 non-New Brunswickers: Americans and soldiers from other provinces.

Marriages 1920 to 50 Years Ago
This index includes marriages from 1920-1927, and apparently the indexing is still in progress, so we can hope for regular additions until the “fifty years ago” date is reached.

Births 1888-1906+
Remember: 95 years must elapse before a birth registration is open to researchers. There are two searchable database indexes:

The “Introduction” warns that the registers are those which were created pursuant to the 1887 Act. Generally the registers contain the name and sex of the child, date of birth, place of birth, father’s name, father’s occupation, mother’s maiden name, informant’s name and address, name of accoucheur, county of registration, registration date, and registration number. However, not all registers were filled in to the same degree: some have far less information than the Act required and some have more.

Not all of the registers have been located. The following are still missing:


 * Westmorland County 1888-1919: (undoubtedly several registers because Moncton would be included). [However, see below]
 * Sunbury County 1888-1919: (probably one register)
 * Madawaska County 1888-1909: (one register)

The PANB do not know whether these registers have been lost forever or are yet to be found. If any are ever located, they will be added to A2/1 and indexed. Nonetheless, their absence now leaves a noticeable gap in this Index.

Even so, I was able to locate the birth registrations for a number of my family members born in Westmorland County in another index:

Beginning in 1888, the Registrar of Vital Statistics could record as official the birth of an individual years after the fact as long as there was verification of the birth by the doctor or others who were present or had knowledge of the event. This still occurs but less frequently. The forms used to register the births include information such as the place of birth, full name of child, sex of child, date of birth, background information on the father and mother, name of doctor, name of informant, date of registration.

The indexes contain the name of the person whose birth is being registered late, name of father, name of mother, date of birth, place and county of birth, the microfilm number and document code where the actual late registration form can be found and viewed. Up to 1900, these documents are arranged according to the year of the birth, and coded by letter of the alphabet. Beginning in 1900, they were given a sequential number each year and filed in numerical order.

The index does not indicate where or when the late registration took place, however, I happen to have a “Certified Copy of Registration of Birth” for my father (b.1886) and mother (b.1895), both born in Westmorland County where the books are missing. Both births were registered in the spring of 1933, when my maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother were still alive and could report the birth of their children. I believe the Canadian and American governments started to ask for “a birth certificate” when crossing the border and anyone who traveled probably made the effort to get one. Some of the births in those missing registers may turn up under late registrations. Always check.

1810-1906 includes the names of 63,360 births registered late. The 1810 just happens to be the earliest birth registered, don’t expect to find many such early registrations.

The PANB will attempt to update this electronic index yearly with each new accrual of late registrations, 95 years after the birth, not the registration!

Marriages 1888-1926+
These indexes of marriages were compiled and are still being compiled, 1926 was just added from the records of Vital Statistics in RS141 located at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. The records are on microfilm and may be consulted by using the “Film #“ and “Number” provided in the index.

TheVital Statistics Act of 1887 required that all marriages be registered with the registrar and/or deputy-registrars of Vital Statistics and filed for public consultation. This process began in 1888 but a few marriages as far back as 1882 were included. Because clergymen had, by 1888, been indoctrinated to send Marriage records to the County Clerk, these records are probably fairly complete. Marriage was, after all, a civil contract related to transfer of property, inheritance, dower rights, legitimacy of heirs; in other words, money.

Deaths 1888-1920
The PANB online research lists only one county:

This register was indexed by Michelle Falkjar as a volunteer project and the database was transferred to the PANB for editing and inclusion in the searchable indexes. There are actually two registers for the years indicated: the first for the years 1888-1919, the second contains just a few pages covering 1919-1920. They are available on microfilm F16256.

Apparently, so far, only Northumberland County Death Registers have been indexed for the full 1888-1920 period. Check the County Guides for information on what records survive for other counties.

Newspapers 1784-1896
Daniel F. Johnson C.G.(C), has published 85 volumes of Vital Statistics From New Brunswick Newspapers, now available as a searchable database on PANB. Volume 85 (Saint John, New Brunswick D.F. Johnson, c.2001) is unpaged, the entries are numbered and the index in each volume refers directly to the entry number, in Volume 85 entries begin in 1892, end in 1893.

A section of this course is devoted to newspapers, but when searching for 19th century vital records, particularly if you have some clue as to the year of the event, start here. Or, at least, double check what you find in other sources to see what the newspapers reported.

Marriages 1812-1887
Beginning in 1812, the original counties were required to register marriages. Not all of the register books have survived, but of those that have, some early ones have been transcribed and published. Robert Fellows offers some cautions in his Researching Your Ancestors in New Brunswick (1979):

''The Marriage Registers have their limitations. Over the years the indexes to some volumes have been lost… When indexes exist they are often by male name only …mistakes often occur. Names are sometimes left out or spelt wrong''. (page 115)

They are available on microfilm from the PANB who list. Early Northumberland County marriages are listed among the Justices of the Peace records of their Courts of Quarter Session.


 * Early Northumberland County marriages are listed among the Justices of the Peace records of their Courts of Quarter Session.


 * Père Henri Langlois, O.F.M. (1901-1968) compiled an eight volume, typescript record of marriages in Madawaska and the region of the upper St. John River, from 1792 to about 1940. This is essentially the Diocese of Edmundston and includes parishes in Aroostook in Maine. It is available at both the PANB in Fredericton, and LAC in Ottawa. The latter’s bound photocopy of the original onion-skin sheets is titled Dictionnaire Généalogique de Madawaska. Entries are alphabetical by family name, i.e. Volume I is A-B, etc.


 * Early Marriage Records of New Brunswick: Saint John City and County from the British Conquest to 1839, Introductory Note and edited by Sociologist, B. Wood-Holt (Saint John: Holland House Inc., 1986), a somewhat curious compilation from many sources that probably includes almost all marriages in the Saint John region prior to 1840. Her notes are informative and the thorough indexing makes this a useful research tool.


 * Ruby M. Cusack has transcribed and published the Saint John County registers, C 1839-1847, and D 1847-1853; as well as Kings County Register A, 1812-1844 and Register B, 1844-1867. John R. Elliott has published Kings County Registers C and D (1867-1888). See their listing in Generations. As well, Ruby Cusack has a website.


 * George H. Hayward has published York County Volume 1, 1812-1837 and some for Carleton County, Ken Kanner has published the early Marriages for Albert and Westmorland Counties, see listings in Generations “Information Sheets”.

Marriage Bonds 1810-1932
Another searchable database index is online for Marriage Bonds:

Marriage Bonds were required when banns were not read in the churches or when the clergyman did not know both of the parties. The bond guaranteed a payment from the would-be-groom or his co-signer if the proposed marriage did not take place. The names of all prospective brides and grooms, along with all co-signers to the bond have been included in the index. Do consult the full “Introduction” to this index, which has useful information, and contains a serious warning:

The bond was to protect the woman from a ‘breach of promise’ situation. The bonds are available on microfilm only, and the complex details of their arrangement and numbering is explained in full on the Internet site.

Divorce Records
Divorce was once a matter for Parliament. Brian Gilchrist’sIndex to Canadian Parliamentary Divorces, 1867-1930 (Toronto: privately published) indexes all names, both partners, children etc. Some individual’s petitions or records are held by the Library and Archives of Canada, check the their website, Government of Canada Files database, key word “Divorce”—but after 1916 you must apply to the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Council, Senate of Canada.

As well, on the Internet, Hugh Armstrong’s Genealogy Site, contains material on “Canadian Parliamentary Divorces to 1946”. An Introduction gives an excellent summary of the history of divorce in Canada, and it is only one of a number of lists, indexes, and how-to-do offerings.

Before 1810
Government or Civil Registers of family data are sometimes found in the Township Books, kept by the Nova Scotia townships, as described earlier in the course on Early Settlement. Occasionally there are records of marriages by Justices of the Peace in very early New Brunswick County Quarter Session records. The only other sources are Church or Missionaries’ registers, or in family bibles, diaries or personal letters.

Nova Scotia 1763-1784
The territory now New Brunswick, was Sunbury County and the northern portion of Cumberland County in Nova Scotia, and governed from Halifax. Nova Scotia did not register births or deaths, though some are found in family listings in Township Books. Church registers and tombstones (few survive from this era) are the basic source of the earliest vital records. Marriage could be by banns, proclaimed several times in the parish church, or by license.

The Province of Nova Scotia (PANS) holds a series of Marriage Bonds that includes the years 1763, 1765, 1770-1780, 1782, when New Brunswick was still part of Nova Scotia, as well as 1784-1799, 1801-1850, 1854-1856, 1858-1864. There is no general index, but they are arranged in chronological order. The PANS does not loan microfilm.