The Halifax Ladies' College was incorporated in connection with the Presbyterian Church in Canada in 1887 (Statutes of Nova Scotia, 1881 c. 91). Its first home was the mansion on Pleasant Street which had been built for Richard John Uniacke Jr. about 1821, on a site now occupied by the Sir John Thompson Building. The college remained in its original home until 1940, when the building became a hostel for servicemen. Halifax Ladies' College then relocated to "Armbrae" on Oxford Street, which had been built as a twin to the Dalhousie University President's Lodge. Armbrae was demolished in 1963 to make way for a new brick structure, which has been the college's home since 1964. The original 1887 statute establishing the college was superseded by An Act to Incorporate the Governors of the Halifax Ladies' College and Conservatory of Music (SNS 1921 c. 167). The College and Conservatory remained legally joined until 1952, when the 1921 Act was amended to dissolve the union of the two institutions (SNS 1952 c. 117). In 1979, the Halifax Ladies' College became co-educational. In 1980 the name of the institution was officially changed to Armbrae Academy.
Ernest Howard Armstrong was born 27 July 1864 in North Kingston, N.S. and educated at Acadia University and Dalhousie University law school. He practiced law in Weymouth and was editor of the Weymouth Free Press before moving to Yarmouth in 1892. He was elected town councillor of Yarmouth in 1900 and served as MLA for Yarmouth County, 1906-1920, and Shelburne County, 1920-1925. He was premier of Nova Scotia and minister of public works and mines, 1923-1925. Following defeat of the Liberal government in 1925, Armstrong was appointed judge of the county court of Lunenburg, Queens, and Shelburne. He died 15 February 1946.
Ashburn Golf and Country Club in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a members-only private club for recreation, began in 1896 under the name Halifax Golf Club. They leased land from the Studley Grounds and rented a house on Le Marchant Street to act as a club house. Officially formed as the Halifax Golf and Country Club in 1922, their first permanent 18-hole golf course was designed by architect Stanley Thompson in 1922 on 142 acre site close to the city. In 1952 the name was changed to Ashburn Golf and Country Club. When a public highway was being built through part of the golf course in 1958, the Club purchased a 600 acre site near Kinsac Lake in Fall River NS. The new course was designed and built by Geoffrey Cornish, a Canadian Golf Hall-of-Fame member, in 1968 and officially opened in 1970. The Club has hosted many provincial and national championships including Crown Life Pro-Am, Cunningham Trophy, Captain’s Cup, the Mixed Lettuce Bowl, the Fall Classic, and Web.com Tours. As of 2024, Ashburn operates 2 golf courses, the “Old Ashburn” and the New.
The Association of Outdoor Nova Scotians was founded in 1976. Its aims were to distribute information on education, industry and research related to the out of doors; to promote ecology conservation and the wise use of our natural resources, to encourage the exchange of information between regional, national and international groups with similar interests of hiking, camping and other outdoor activities, and to promote awareness of environmental issues. The organization ended in approximately 1983.
The Association of Psychologists of Nova Scotia (APNS) is a voluntary professional organization established in 1965 to represent psychology in Nova Scotia. The Association was instrumental in promoting passage of the Psychologists Act and a continuing role in nominating members to the Nova Scotia Board of Examiners in Psychology (NSBEP), establishing the Board's code of ethics standards of professional functions, the Association of Psychologists of Nova Scotia has been active in the public forum, monitoring contemporary social issues and speaking out in the interest of the public good. APNS does not investigate complaints of unprofessional conduct of incompetence on the part of Registered Psychologists. This is one of the roles of NSBEP.
William Harold Ross Atkinson was born on 1 May 1918 in Victoria Harbour, Simcoe County, Ontario, the son of William John Atkinson and Grace Pearl (Lile) Atkinson. He worked for Ontario Hydro prior to World War II. He enlisted in the Navy, completed a Diesel Engine course in Windsor, Ontario and served as an Engine Room Artificer aboard the Frigate HMCS Levis during the war. He married Nellie Irene McCutcheon on 14 June 1941 in Midland, Ontario, and they had two sons, Donald Ross Atkinson and William Alexander Atkinson. He died on 2 December 1995 in Niagara Falls, Ontario.
The Atlantic Association of Sociologists and Anthropologists (A.A.S.A.) began in 1966 when professors of sociology in the region met at St. Francis Xavier University, for a 'Conference of Atlantic Provinces Sociologists'. The main focus was to get to know each other and describe 3 items: 1) Present organization of Sociology in their Department. 2) Research being completed in their Department. 3) Future plans for honors and/or graduate work. By the 1968 meeting at Dalhousie University, the Conference attendees included Anthropologists. A formal association was established in 1977. They met once a year and presented academic research in the fields of anthropology and/or sociology and they were affiliated with the Canadian Sociologists and Anthropologists Association. By 1997 they were no longer registered as an association in Nova Scotia and presumably ceased activities at that time.
The Atlantic Canada Institute was a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness of the history and cultural diversity of the Atlantic Provinces. It began as a modest experiment in alternative education on 23 October 1971, when a group of English professors met in Halifax to consider establishing a summer institute of Atlantic Canada studies. A steering committee was set up and by January 1972 the title Atlantic Canada Institute was chosen. By late 1972 a tentative summer program had been drawn up. It was determined that the institute's main goal would be to respond to the different cultural realities of the region. The first three-week non-credit summer program was held at St. Francis Xavier University in July 1973, attracting about 40 people. In 1974 the summer school moved to the University of Prince Edward Island, where it stayed for five years. The institute later alternated between sites in the Atlantic Provinces for several summers. The topics covered included music, genealogy, architecture, art, literature, military history, and a broad range of subjects affecting the distinct ethnic groups of the region, such as Mi'kmaq, Acadians, Scottish, and Irish. In 1983 the first French program was held, and in 1982 the institute began a newsletter to promote its programs and activities and provide announcements to members. It had other occasional publications as well. In 1975 the Atlantic Canada Institute was incorporated as a charitable institution by Letters Patent in New Brunswick. Governed by a joint board of directors and a board of advisors, its operations depended upon volunteers - a core group of academics, business people, teachers, lawyers, and many others. It was never self-sustaining financially. After 1977 its main support was from the Canadian Studies program of the Secretary of State. In the late 1980s, the termination of that grant and a continued lack of funding led to the discontinuation of the Institute.
The origins of the Atlantic Ecumenical Council can be traced to the life and work of the Rev. Dr. W.J. Gallagher, the first General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches, from its inception in 1944 until his death in 1964. He brought together representatives of several denominations in the Atlantic region in a "Regional Ecumenical Conference" every second year, usually in September, at a University centre. At that time the policy of the Canadian Council of Churches was that in the intervening years between regular meetings of the Council there should be regional meetings, east and west. The first regional conference in the east was held in 1951, although prior to that date, in the immediate post-war years, small ecumenical groups had met with Dr. Gallagher. Dr. Gallagher's Associate, the Rev. Fred N. Poulton, Secretary of the Department of Social Relations, often accompanied him to these ecumenical gathering in eastern Canada. Mr. Poulton made a major contribution, his addresses on the potentialities of ecumenical social action roused his audience to much enthusiasm for creating an ecumenical instrument through with the Churches could express their social concern. -- The 1951"Regional Ecumenical Conference for the Maritime Provinces," under the auspices of the Canadian Council of Churches, the first of its kind in Canada, was held at Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, 17 - 19 September. -- Similar Conferences have been held biennially, at which the work of the Canadian Council of Churches has been outlined and information given regarding various ecumenical ventures at the local event.
The Atlantic Jewish Council has been dedicated to enhancing the quality of Jewish life in Atlantic Canada and promoting the continuity of Jewish communities in the region since its initiation in 1975. -- They are committed to supporting the democratic State of Israel and its long-term viability. In particular, the Atlantic Jewish Council is committed to a secure and prosperous State of Israel with a vibrant social network.
Atlantic Spinners and Handweavers was established in 1970 as the Atlantic Society of Handweavers, in response to increasing interest in the craft. In 1980, as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations, the guild's name was changed to Atlantic Spinners and Handweavers, to better reflect the range of interests, knowledge and skills of its members. In 1982 the group established the Mary Black Fund to honour this noted teacher, weaver, co-founder of the Guild of Canadian Weavers, and Honorary President of the Atlantic Spinners and Handweavers. The aim of the organization is to provide opportunities for weavers, spinners, and dyers to meet in a social atmosphere, to exchange information, learn new techniques and methods and share their interests.
The Atlantic Sports Car Club had its beginnings in 1954 when MG TDs and a few other sports cars were beginning to appear on the roads of Nova Scotia. Two owners of these classic cars got together and agreed that a club should be formed. -- After months of research and a letter to over one hundred sports car owners throughout the province, a meeting was held in mid-March of 1955 in the Board of Trade Building on Spring Garden Road in Halifax. A club was formed, the name chosen and the first Executive Committee was elected. Two years later, in March of 1957, the first Constitution and By-Laws were registered with the Provincial Government. -- For the first decade ASCC was a “pure” Sports Car club, with navigational rallies, gymkhanas, and the occasional hill climb (all frequently ending as beach parties or other social gatherings) filling the demand for affordable competition and social interaction. By 1966 the pressure from owners of small, agile European sedans became too great and ASCC, with some reluctance on the part of the sports car owners, broadened its mandate and became a motorsport club. The name was retained in recognition of the club history and the overall desire for recognition of motorsport involving vehicles where finesse counted for more than brute horsepower and/or intimidation. --The following three decades saw a gradual change from the more social rally-gymkhana crowd to the go-fast race and slalom car drivers whose thrills are shared only vicariously by others.
The Atlantic Word Processing Association was formed in 1981 by several individuals interested in the field of word processing, Its main objectives are to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, methods, systems, and procedures among persons engaged in word processing; to foster and develop interest and knowledge in the subject; and to collaborate with educational institutions and other interested groups for the promotion of education and training in word processing. Its registered office and centre of activities is in Halifax.
Atlas Fisheries Ltd. was founded in 1955 by Lloyd R. Crouse of Lunenburg, N.S., who became its secretary-treasurer. The company was incorporated under the Nova Scotia Companies' Act on 12 March 1956 with nominal capital of $19,000. Its first share-holders were: fishermen Samuel Corkum, Charles Mosher, Samuel Harris, Allen U. Crouse and Walter Crouse of Lunenburg County; fishing captain, C. William Leary; merchants Lloyd Crouse and Kinsman E. Crouse of Lunenburg; and accountant Sinclair Randall of Lunenburg. The company's dragger, the Linda & Jane, was registered at the shipping office in 1956. Depletion of fish stocks resulted in the dissolution of Atlas Fisheries in the mid 1960s along with two other fishing companies founded by Lloyd R. Crouse, Crouse Fisheries and Viking Fisheries.
Bertha Madeline Spencer Avery (ca.1922-1982), housewife and mother, was born in Halifax circa 1922 to Arthur Spencer and Susan Young. She married Frederick William Avery (ca.1919-1996) and had 2 children: Frederick Alfred and Madelyn. She lived with Fred’s parents in Halifax while he was overseas during the War. She died June 2, 1982 in East Gore, Hants County, at the age of 60.
Lance Sergeant Frederick William Avery (ca.1919-1996), Second World War veteran, was born circa 1919 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Frederick William Avery (ca.1889-1967) and Annie Beatrice Thomas (1894-1972). He married Bertha Spencer (ca.1922-1982) and they lived with Fred’s parents at 89 Edinburgh Street, Halifax. Fred Avery served as a corporal, then as lance sergeant in the Canadian Army overseas during World War 2 and was wounded in action twice. After the War, he continued to work for the Department of National Defence in Halifax, as a plumber. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion and Edgewood United Church. He died December 9, 1996 at the age of 77.
Aza Avramovitch was born in Belgrade on 27 March 1921. He was educated at Belgrade University and the School of Architecture, University of Geneva, from which he received a diploma in 1951. From 1941 to 1943 he was interned in a concentration camp in Italy; he later escaped to Switzerland but lost the rest of his family in the Holocaust. From the late 1940s to 1953 he was an architect in Geneva and France before emigrating to Canada with his first wife, Margot Machler. He practiced architecture in Montreal until 1959, when he moved to Halifax. After working briefly with Keith Graham and Associates, in 1960 he established his own practice, Aza Avramovitch Associates Ltd. (later Aza Avramovitch Architect Ltd.) For a number of years he had his office in the historic Century House at 1714 Robie St., Halifax, which he fully restored. He retired in 1994. Among his projects were the Northwood Centre (Halifax), Church of Christ ( Fairview), the Nova Scotia Home for Coloured Children (Dartmouth), Dartmouth Academy, Shubenacadie Post Office, and several apartment buildings. He also assisted in the planning of several large-scale development projects such as the Pinecrest Housing Project (Bridgewater) and Tantallon Woods Subdivision. In addition to his career as an architect, he was an amateur artist and poet. In 1995 he published Poems of Dreams and Smiles, a book whose theme was life and loss. In 1998 he married his second wife, Francene Cosman. He died on 26 May 1999.
Walter J. Aylward (1859-1940), son of Captain Thomas and Adelaide (Winn) Aylward, was born in Liverpool, England. Following his mother's death in 1860, he lived in Falmouth, N.S., with his grandmother, Mary Aylward. Walter was a farmer, an authority on dyke construction, and held various local government positions including town clerk of Falmouth, 1904-1910. On 15 October 1883, he married Mary Louise Akins (1861-1957), daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Akins of Falmouth. Walter and Mary Louise had nine children: Thomas, Lurana, Adelaide, Charles, Annie, Marguerite, Walter, Catherine, and Isabell.
Reginald "Reg" Stephen Babcock was born in 1892 in Sidmouth, Devonshire, England. In 1910, he immigrated to Canada. He lived in Montreal and worked as a waiter aboard the CN railway until the outbreak of the First World War. He joined the Royal Montreal Rifles and was wounded in action overseas. He was recuperating in a Halifax hospital at the time of the Halifax Explosion in 1917. After the war, he moved to the United States, where he was engaged as a golf pro at courses in Philadelphia and Massachusetts. While in Boston, he met his wife, Jennie May McConnell from Torbrook, Annapolis County. He spent the 1920s moving between his work at the United States golf courses and his wife's family homestead, where they operated a fox farm. Between 1932 and 1934 he was engaged as golf pro at the newly-opened Digby Pines resort. Around 1935, he moved to Halifax where he was golf pro at the Gorsebrook Golf Club until 1944. He was owner of Babcock's tearoom in Halifax from 1945 to 1950, when he moved to Wolfville and operated Babcock's restaurant until his retirement to Kingston in 1973. He served as Chairman of the Greens Committee at Ashburn Golf Club (1945-1950); and during the 1950s he was Chairman of the Greens Committee for Ken-Wo Golf Club. Babcock began taking home movies in the 1920s and his films reflect his interests and family life. By the 1950s, however, he was becoming more involved with still photography and more specifically slides. By the 1960s he had stopped film making and was doing 35mm still photography only. Reginald Babcock died in Berwick, Nova Scotia on 9 August 1978.
Jacob Bailey was born 16 April 1731 at Rowley, Mass., the second child of David Bailey and Mary Hodgkins. He received his AB from Harvard in 1755, taught school for a few years, then returned to Harvard to obtain his AM. Bailey converted to the Church of England in 1759 and was ordained a clergyman in London on 16 March 1760. Upon his return to America, he was appointed to the parish at Pownalborough, Mass. In 1761 Bailey married Sally Weeks and they had six children. The American Revolution prompted Bailey and his family to move to Nova Scotia in June 1779. He was assigned to the parish of Cornwallis in October 1779 where he remained until his appointment as rector to the parish at Annapolis Royal in 1782. The latter parish covered the areas of Granville, Clements and Digby. Bailey was also known for his literary works. He wrote anti-rebel and religious satires, including America and Jack Ramble, the Methodist Preacher, along with several (incomplete) novels and plays. Bailey also wrote prose on theology, morality, and American history. He died at Annapolis Royal on 26 July 1808 at age 77.
Georges-Frédéric Bailly (ca. 1727-1807) (also George Frederick Bailly), of Montbéliard emigrated to Canada at the age of 25, his occupation recorded as farmer. He arrived at Halifax, N.S. on the sloop Sally in July 1752 and settled at Lunenburg. In 1754 Bailly was appointed schoolmaster to Lunenburg's French-speaking Protestant congregation by Rev. J.B. Moreau. In March 1761 he was issued a certificate of colonial naturalization. Over the years Bailly acquired extensive land holdings in the Lunenburg area. He died at Lunenburg in 1807 at the age of 80. Bailly and his wife Frederica Sibelle (Richardot), married 31 October 1746, had the following children: Jeanne Marguerite (b. 1753), Catherine Marguerite (b. 1756), Barbara Elizabeth (b. 1758), and Joseph (1761-1842). Joseph Bailly became a cordwainer in Lunenburg and married Elizabeth Schwartz. Their son, Henry Bailey (ca. 1818-1897), a baker by occupation and MLA for Lunenburg married Catherine Arenburg in 1842.
Elsie Muriel (Mosher) Bailly (1911-2000), school teacher for 19 years then a housewife and mother, was born November 16, 1911 to John Mosher and Waitie (Smith) Mosher in North Brookfield Mines, Queens County, Nova Scotia (NS). She started teaching school in the rural community of East Jordan, in the Municipality of Shelburne, NS in 1930, with a temporary teacher’s license from the Nova Scotia Teachers’ College (also known as Provincial Normal College) in Truro, NS. Over the next 3 years, she earned her “B” class teacher’s license via correspondence courses from the College, while continuing to earn a living teaching. She taught grades 1 to 5 in several rural, one-room schools in southwest Nova Scotia, including First South (1931-32), West Dublin (1932-33), Maders Cove (1933-34 to 1935-36), Sable River (1936-37 to 1937-38), Tusket (1938-39 to 1939-40), Pentz (1940-41), and Riverport (1941-42). In 1941 she received her “A” class license and was hired by the Town of Mahone Bay, NS where she taught from 1942 to the end of March 1949 when she resigned her post. In ca.1947 she married Donald Bailly (ca.1914-2007) of Lunenburg, NS and had 2 children: Suzanne and Ronald. She died in 2000, in Lunenburg.
Captain Charles Wesley Baird, master mariner and businessman, was born circa 1870 in Great Village, NS to John William Baird (1834-ca.1917) and Susan Bigney (1841-1897). Charles owned several sailing schooners including Peaceland, Newburgh, and American Team and was captain of the tugboats J.A. Mumford and Gypsum King. The tugboat would take 3 or 4 barges loaded with gypsum from NS to New York, USA. He married Hannah Eugenie Stoddard (ca.1870-1933) in Mount Denson, NS in 1890, then moved to Windsor, NS, circa 1900. Hannah opened the family home as a boarding house circa 1911. Hannah and Charles had seven children: Ethel May (1891-1967) married briefly to a soldier Douglas Godfrey before WWI, then moved to Saskatoon, SK, raised 3 children as a single parent during the Depression. Stayed out west.; Harold Bigney (1893-1966) worked at Windsor Foundry, then operated a machine shop on family property in Windsor for 40 years. Married Mae MacKenzie of Rawdon, NS. Fishing and camping companion of Jack’s; Avard Russell (1894-1976) moved to Vancouver, BC in 1930s, married Florence Pratt (d.1969), a nurse. Worked for West Coast Shipbuilders as foreman, then department head for 5 years in 1930s, then worked for University of British Columbia as Housing Administrator. Corresponded regularly with Jack; Harland Wesley (1897-1900) died at age of 2 years; Raymond Roland (1901-1949) lived in Windsor 1930s and 1940s, worked as a machinist in 1931, married Violet in 1933. Only briefly mentioned in correspondence; John “Jack” (1907-1975); and Frederick Munro (1910-1982) went to New York in 1920s, attended Pace College and New York University, worked 40 years at Manhattan Eye, Ear, Nose & Throat Hospital started in 1929, became Director of Personnel. Married Bertha Woolaver of Newport, NS in 1944. Jack and Fred were very close, Fred and Bertha came to NS every summer. Charles died in June 1927. Hannah died in June 1933.
John “Jack” Wesley Baird, National Defence Dockyard supervisor and electrician, was born 28 July 1907 in Windsor, Nova Scotia, to Captain Charles W. Baird (ca.1870-1927) and Hannah Eugenie Stoddard (ca.1870-1933), sixth of seven children. Jack attended Kings Collegiate School in Windsor until 1926, active in hockey, rugby and track & field. He was a member of the Colchester Hants Regiment of the Active Militia and spent a summer training at York Redoubt in 1927. In 1928, he worked briefly at Canadian Gypsum Co. in Windsor, NS before moving to Ontario where he worked on large construction projects in various towns for Ontario Hydro 1929-1933. He moved back to NS in Feb 1933 and took engineering at King’s College (became Dalhousie University) until 1937 but did not finish the program. He met Marion Constance “Connie” McGrath, an elementary school teacher, at Avon Farms near Windsor, NS, in the 1930s and married her in 1942. They moved to Bedford in 1944. Constance Baird taught primary school in Dartmouth in 1960s. From 1942 to 1944 Jack worked as an electrician at the Clark-Ruse Aircraft Plant in Eastern Passage, NS, then as a civilian for the Royal Canadian Navy at the HMC Dockyard in Halifax repairing instruments, 1944-1946. By 1957 he was Dockyard Supervisor for the Department of National Defence. He enjoyed cars, sports, photography, camping, fishing and sailing. He co-owned a fishing camp on Panuke Lake in 1920s and 1930s and he was a member of the Bedford Yacht Club in the 1960s. He died May 30, 1975.
Edward Baker, son of Charles and Anne (Barron) Baker of Amherst, Nova Scotia, was born 17 October 1771. He married Elizabeth Lusby in 1798 and represented the Township of Amherst in the Legislative Assembly (1806- 1818). He died on 1 July 1832 following a fall from a horse.