Phil Comeau, filmmaker and poet, was born in Saulnierville, Nova Scotia, on 2 March 1956. He was raised in the Baie Ste-Marie area of southwest Nova Scotia. While studying drama at the University of Moncton in 1974, he began work on a film script entitled “Les Refugies” (later “La Cabane”). Filmed in 1976, “La Cabane” was the first 16 mm Acadian film made in Nova Scotia, a fictional account of teenagers confronting parental authority in a conservative Acadian village. His second film, “Les Gossipeuses,” was a comedy about three women gossips from a similar small village. Later Comeau shifted his talents to documentaries and by the mid-1980s he had directed eight, all set in the Acadian regions of Nova Scotia. In 1986 he released the children's fantasy/drama “Le Tapis de Grand-Pre,” which won the Award of Excellence at the 1986 Atlantic Film Festival, and a bronze medal at the first International French-Speaking Games, held in Morocco in 1989. In 1994 Comeau released his first theatrical feature, the drama “Le Secret De Jerome” (1994), which was based on the true story about a man with both legs cut off at the knees who was found on a beach off Nova Scotia's Acadian Shore. The film has since won twelve major film awards at film festivals in Canada, the United States, France, and Belgium. In all, Comeau has directed one theatrical feature film, 10 short dramas or docu-dramas, 31 documentaries, and fifty commercials, in both English and French. Besides his film-making activities, Comeau has published several books of poetry, a “dictionnaire acadjonne,” and an anthology of Nova Scotian Acadian poets. However, he remains Nova Scotia's most prolific and successful Acadian filmmaker.
The Commercial Club of Halifax was founded on 25 June 1913 as a social and luncheon club consisting of business and professional men. The objectives of the club, as set forth in its 1923 constitution, were to "promote and encourage a spirit of fraternity among the members" by gathering at regular meetings to hear addresses on subjects of interest other than sectarian and political topics, and to work for "the advancement of anything pertaining to the welfare generally of the City of Halifax and the Province of Nova Scotia". Women were admitted as members in 1987.
From 1914 to 1919, the Commission for Relief in Belgium directed an innovative and successful international food relief program for more than 9 million Belgian and French civilians who lived in German-occupied territories and were highly dependent on the importation of foreign food aid for survival. -- Established in October 1914 to import food into and ensure its distribution within German-occupied Belgium, the Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB) quickly became one of the foremost international relief organizations in the First World War era. It had no equal in the scope of its responsibility to feed an entire nation of nearly 7.3 million. Its necessity arose from German and British war policies. The German invasion of Belgium destroyed or commandeered many agricultural stockpiles and livestock; Berlin insisted that it held no legal responsibility to feed civilians under its harsh occupation regime. Britain used its powerful navy to erect a strict blockade to deny the importation of war materials, including food, to Belgium, in order to prevent their confiscation by German forces. Yet as the most densely populated and industrialized country in Europe, Belgium depended on agricultural imports to sustain its population. Ordinarily Belgians purchased 78 percent of their dietary staple, wheat, from abroad, along with many other foodstuffs, but the war immediately stopped all imports and threatened the people of Belgium with starvation. -- The CRB was conceived in meetings between Belgian representatives, the U.S. minister to Belgium, Brand Whitlock (1869-1934), his Spanish counterpart, Rodrigo Marquis de Villalobar (1864-1926), the U.S. ambassador to Britain, Walter Hines Page (1855-1918), and an American businessman and mining engineer, Herbert C. Hoover (1874-1964), who became the CRB’s indomitable director. Its existence depended upon the belligerent governments of Britain, Germany, and France permitting a newly improvised, neutral humanitarian agency to import food through the blockade and supervise its delivery to Belgian communities (later expanded, in April 1915, to nearly 2 million inhabitants in German-occupied northern France). Ironically, a rigid trench system formed along the Western Front aided immeasurably in the development of a viable relief system because conditions behind German lines were relatively stable. Empowered with special diplomatic status that enabled it to freely transit the rival warring coalitions’ lines, the CRB became, in the words of a British diplomat, “a piratical state organized for benevolence."
The Report of the Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall Jr. prosecution had recommended that the issue of compensation for Marshall be revisited. On March 22, 1990 an Order-in-Council was passed appointing Gregory T. Evans, Chief Justice of the Ontario High Court, as a commission of one to examine the adequacy of compensation paid to Donald Marshall Jr., in light of what the Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall Jr., Prosecution found to be factors contributing to this wrongful conviction and continued incarceration. W. Wylie Spicer was appointed Commission Counsel. Hearings were held early in April 1990 and the Commission reported its findings on July 5, 1990.
The Committee for the Study of Legal Aid in Nova Scotia was appointed by Attorney General Richard A. Donahoe on 5 June, 1970. It was to study the existing legal aid programme in Nova Scotia, programmes in other provinces and to consult generally with the public and legal community. The committee was chaired by A. William Cox, QC and included Malachi C. Jones, QC, Edward N. Colborne, QC, John W. Alward, Murray Fraser, William D. Greatorex, Allen E. Sullivan, Gerald Conrad and David W. Thomas who acted as secretary. In 1951 the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society had commenced a legal aid service based on voluntary representation from junior members of the bar under the direction of the society's Legal Aid Committee. The Committee for the Study of Legal Aid developed from a 1968 resolution of the society which called for a joint committee with the Attorney General's Department to examine the provision of legal aid. Following the committee's report in January 1971 the government passed the Legal Aid Planning Act which authorized the government to make funding arrangements with the Barristers' Society for a paid legal aid service. In October 1971 the provincial government and the Nova Scotia Barrister's Society signed an agreement laying the foundation for a provincial legal aid program, to be known as Nova Scotia Legal Aid. Further arrangemements in 1973 brought some federal funding for criminal matters. On November 1, 1977 the Barristers' Society's direct responsibility for the service ended with the creation of the Nova Scotia Legal Aid Commission, under the provisions of the Legal Aid Act. The Commission was appointed by the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Attorney General, but the act stipulated that nearly half of these appointees were to be nominated by the Nova Scotia Barrister's Society.
Mildred Coneen of Windsor, Nova Scotia was a genealogist who researched the West family of Nova Scotia.
Harris Sinclair Congdon was born at Union Square, Nova Scotia. He moved to Dartmouth in 1885 where he became principal of Dartmouth High School. He was also a journalist and editor of the Atlantic Weekly for many years. In 1923, in semi-retirement at the age of sixty-seven, Congdon became a leading figure and publicist for the Maritime Rights movement. He served as president of the Maritime Club of Halifax and as editor of the club's publication, Maritime Rights. Congdon died 15 February 1932.
Harold Joseph Connolly was born at Sydney, Nova Scotia, on 8 September 1901, the son of Richard J. and Ann (Duffield) Connolly. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Halifax and became a newspaper writer, working for the Halifax Chronicle before serving as the editor of the Daily Star. He married Catherine Burns in 1928; she died on 3 May 1930. He married Vivian Alma Martel, daughter of Albert and Sophie (LeBlanc) Martel, at Beachmont, Massachusetts, on 1 January 1935. In a 1936 by-election he was elected to the Nova Scotia Legislature as a Liberal MLA from Halifax. He was first appointed as a cabinet minister in 1941 when he took on the portfolio of Minister of Trade and Industry. He enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces on 25 January 1943 and served until he was discharged on 19 February 1949 with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. He served as the Minister of Health from 1950 until 13 April 1954, when he was sworn in as premier after the death of Premier Angus L. Macdonald. He resigned from the Legislature in September of 1954. He was called to the Canadian Senate on 28 July 1955 by Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent and served there until 14 May 1979. He died on 18 May 1980 and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Halifax.
Vivian Alma Martel was born in Boston, Massachusetts on 2 September 1907, the daughter of Albert and Sophie (LeBlanc) Martel who were originally from Arichat, Nova Scotia. She was educated in Boston and graduated in nursing from the Boston Civic Hospital. She married Harold Joseph Connolly, the son of Richard J. and Ann (Duffield) Connolly, at Beachmont, Massachusetts, on 1 January 1935. She raised a family of six children. She died in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on 7 December 1980 and was buried beside her husband in Holy Cross Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Thomas J. Connors of Halifax, N.S., was one of six children of William P. and Mary Ann (Guildford) Connors (O'Connors). He attended the Christian Brothers school in Halifax until the age of fourteen when he went to work at sea. By 1903 he was working as a stevedore and in the following year, he was employed as a freight handler with the Intercolonial Railway. He remained at ICR, later Canadian National Railway, until his retirement. Connors was also an amateur sports enthusiast, known to sportsmen in Canada and the United States as "Old Sport". As a youth, he participated in tug-of-war contests and rowing and later he became a trainer in rowing and boxing. He died, unmarried, at the age of 87 on 4 April 1949 at Halifax.
Henrietta “Etty” Currie Conrad (b.1879), housewife and mother, was born January 10, 1879 in Milford, Nova Scotia to George C. and May Currie. She married William H. Conrad on September 15, 1902 in Halifax, and managed their household at 35 Livingston Street. She had 5 children: Arnold (b.ca.1903), Harold Lester (b.1907), Helen Irene (1909-1927), Muriel Erma (1911-1937), and Earl Robert (b.1914). The family survived the Halifax Explosion but their home was severely damaged. With her husband away, Henrietta had to manage the repairs on her own. The family lived there until 1950. Henrietta’s date of death is unknown.
William Harold Conrad (1872-1938), Canadian war veteran, and skilled tradesman (machinist), was born June 12, 1872 in Halifax, Nova Scotia to William J. and Sarah Conrad. William H. volunteered with the 66th Regiment “Princess Louise Fusiliers” of the Active Militia of Canada from 1889 to 1915. He served in the South African War (Boer War) from Oct 1899 to Nov 1900 as a private with the 2nd Special Service Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, awarded the Queen’s medal with 3 clasps: Cape Colony, Orange Free State, and Transvaal. He married Henrietta Currie in 1902 and bought a house at 35 Livingston Street, Halifax, NS in 1910. When the Halifax Explosion occurred on December 6, 1917, William H. was in England with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Henrietta and the children all survived but the house was severely damaged. William H. died September 13, 1938 at the age of 66.
Arthur “Art” Joseph Arsenault (1906-1994), hotel waiter and wine steward, was born in Bathurst, New Brunswick to Joseph Arsenault (from Montreal) and Lucy (Withers) Arsenault. He worked at the Nova Scotian Hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia from 1941 until retirement in 1972. He married Margaret Louise MacDonald (1911-1991) of Antigonish, daughter of Sherwood MacDonald and Mary Ann (MacMaster) MacDonald, on 9 August 1930. Margaret also worked in the service industry. They lived at 11 Dresden Row in Halifax and raised 5 children: John, André, Patricia, Simone, and Joan Marie. Their daughter Patricia “Pat Sea” Lillian Arsenault (1932-2016) married George Earl Coolen (1925-1987) of Prospect, NS in 1954. Pat Sea ran a canteen, then a general store and post office from their home while George earned money fishing, then eventually became the custodian for Atlantic Memorial School in Shad Bay, NS. They had 6 children: Susan M. (b.1955), Mark A., Michael A., Denise G., Christopher C. and Kelly L. After George’s death in 1987, Pat Sea continued living in Prospect, became a folk artist making hooked rugs, paintings and displays of objects in and around her home. She died in 2016.
Annie Louise McNab was born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on 16 November 1879, the daughter of Peter McNab (1834-1884) and Annie Storey (Coleman) McNab (1835-1920). She was descended from Peter McNab (ca. 1762-4 February 1823), who was one of the original settlers to be granted land on McNab's Island, and Jean (Jane) Fraser (ca. 1763-February 1833). She married Frederick S. Coombs, a building and supply merchant, on 7 August 1912. She was an avid sportswoman and took home trophies from Brightwood Golf and Country Club as well as St. George's Tennis Club. She celebrated her 100th birthday on 16 November 1979 and is believed to have died in the 1980s.
Arthur Edward Cornwell was born on 11 February 1868 in Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia, the youngest of three children born to Edmund and Matilda (Burns) Cornwell. When he was young his family moved to Deep Brook, Annapolis County, where his father died intestate in 1890. Arthur then had to take care of his family; his father's estate was divided between him and his mother by 1902. The documents from this time make a clear reference to the fact that he had a dark room under the stairs. On 3 November 1897 he married Esther Cordelia Currell of Centrelea, Annapolis County. He changed his name from Cornwell to Cornwall between the 1901 census and the birth of his daughter, Anne Ruth, in 1905. He and his wife had two other children: Freda May (1899-1908) and Arthur Basil (1912-1998). He was a noted photographer in Hantsport, Nova Scotia. In 1911 Arthur Cornwall went west to try homesteading in Alberta, but returned to Nova Scotia by Christmas of that year. He returned to Alberta in 1915 to do further work but by 1920 had lost his holdings. He spent the remainder of his life in Hantsport, moving to his daughter's home in 1957. He died on 6 March 1958 in Centreville, New Brunswick and was buried in Hantsport, Nova Scotia.
Francene Cosman was born on 14 January 1941, in Windsor, Ont., the daughter of McCarthy and Dorothy Machel. She obtained her RN in 1962 from Saint John General Hospital, then undertook post-graduate work in teaching and administration in New Jersey in 1963. She married twice (1) David Killam Cosman, an engineer, in 1964; they had two daughters; and (2) Aza Avramovitch, an architect, in 1998. The latter died in 1999. In the early 1970s Cosman was active in community affairs in the Bedford area, particularly in regard to municipal planning and development. She was a Halifax County councillor, 1976-1979; and the first mayor of the town of Bedford, 1979-1982. From 1982-1986 she was president of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women; subsequently she chaired the Liberal Task Force on the Concerns of Women and wrote its major report in 1987. She was executive director of the Nova Scotia Liberal Association, 1989-1993. She was first elected as Liberal MLA for Bedford-Fall River in the general election of 1993, and was re-elected in 1997. She was appointed to cabinet in 1997 as minister of community services, also responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women and the Disabled Persons' Commission Act, and chair of the Senior Citizen's Secretariat. In 1998 she was given the additional portfolio of human resources. She served as party whip and deputy speaker of the House. In the general election of July 1999 she chose not to run and retired from the legislature.
The Council of Nova Scotia Archives (CNSA) was incorporated on 29 June 1983 under the Societies’ Act. It was established by a core group of twenty-five institutions and individuals as a professional organization for archives and archivists in the province of Nova Scotia. The aims of the CNSA are to promote archival standards and practices, provide members with a forum for discussion, establish and maintain a network for archival co-operation and promote the importance of archives to the general public. The activities of the CNSA have included annual meetings, a variety of training and outreach advisory services, workshops which offer a grounding in the basics of archival education and from time to time offer advanced workshops on more specific archival topics, and publications such as the CNSA Newsletter. The CNSA also makes available to its members funding support for archival projects through a variety of granting agencies, as well as annual awards for archival excellence. The CNSA maintains various on-line tools, including the on-line database of descriptions of holdings in Nova Scotian archives, “ArchWay”. Today there are over 100 members, representing community archives and museums, university and religious archives, the provincial archives, heritage associations, and corporations.
Frank Manning Covert was born on 13 January 1908, the son of Dr. Archibald M. and Minnie Alma (Clarke) Covert in Canning, Nova Scotia. He attended schools in Canning and graduated from the Kings County Academy in Kentville. Subsequently, he entered Dalhousie and there received his Arts and Law degrees. In 1929 he joined the firm of Stewart McKeen and became a partner by 1936. In 1934 he married his cousin Mary L. ("Mollie") Covert, daughter of former Nova Scotia Lieutenant-Governor, Walter Harold Covert. Between 1940 and 1942 he worked for C.D. Howe at the Department of Munitions and Services in Ottawa. He enlisted in the RCAF and flew bombing missions over Europe, which earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross. He returned to the practice of law after the war and served on over 50 corporate boards. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 1982 and died on 1 November 1987.
A. William Cox was born on 13 May 1921 at Saint John, New Brunswick, the son of Arthur Earle and Anna Beatrice (McGinley) Cox. He attended public schools in Saint John and graduated from Acadia University with a BA in 1942. While at university he served as an officer in the Canadian Officers Training Corps (COTC), and upon graduation was posted to Great Britain. After discharge he studied law at New College, Oxford, before returning to Nova Scotia and entering Dalhousie Law School, graduating with an LL.B. in 1949. He continued to serve in the Canadian Militia, retiring as a Lt.-Colonel. He became a well known trial lawyer and senior partner with Cox Downie from 1963 to 1991. He was a past-president of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society (1971-1972), Federation of Law Societies of Canada (1975-1976) and Canadian Barristers' Association (1980-1981). He also served as the President of the Saraguay Club, Treasurer of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party, and Vice-President of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. He chaired the Nova Scotia Committee on Implementation of Legal Aid (1971) that led to the introduction of Provincial Legal Aid in Nova Scotia. He also served as a columnist with the Halifax Chronicle-Herald beginning in 1997. He was married to Margaret Macpherson and they had four daughters. He died in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 8 October 2008.
George John Creed was born 7 December 1803, in Faversham, Kent, England, the eldest son of Richard and Sarah (Dean) Creed. Creed came to Halifax, N.S., in 1822 and was clerk of the works for the Royal Engineers for over thirty-five years. In 1826 he married Susan Wellner, daughter of John Andrew Wellner, and they had nine children. Creed was involved in the Baptist Church and Mechanics Institute in Halifax. He retired to South Rawdon, N.S., ca. 1861, and died 18 September 1877.
Herbert Clifford Creed was born 23 September 1843 in Halifax, the sixth son of George John and Susan (Wellner) Creed. He was educated in Halifax and at Acadia University, Wolfville, obtaining a BA with honours in Greek and Latin and an MA. He taught school in Halifax and moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick, to become head of the English department at Fredericton High School in 1872. In 1873, shortly after the Provincial Normal School was formed, Creed became the primary intructor in the English language and literature section, retiring in 1909 after thirty-six years. Creed married Jessie Masters on 4 November 1867 and they had four children. In 1902 he received an honorary Doctorate of Literature from Acadia University. He died in Fredericton, New Brunswick, 31 August 1910.
Charles Jacob (Jake) Creighton, was born in Dartmouth (1904), the son of Paul Henry and Leda (nee Johnson) Creighton. He was the owner of the family business Creightons Ltd., retiring in 1991 and had been president of the National Food Brokers Association. Creighton served as secretary to the trustees of the Brightwood Golf and Country Club.
Helen Creighton was an author and pioneer in the field of folklore, both nationally and internationally. Born Mary Helen Creighton on 5 September 1899 in Dartmouth, N.S., she was the daughter of Charles and Alice (nee Terry) Creighton. She graduated from Halifax Ladies College in 1916, was a driver with the Royal Flying Corps in Toronto, 1918 and an ambulance driver for the Red Cross Caravan in Nova Scotia, 1920. She trained in social work at the University of Toronto until 1923, when she traveled to Mexico and taught school in Guadalajara. Her broadcasting career began in 1926 as 'Aunt Helen' on CHNS Radio. She began collecting folklore in 1928. Her first publication based on her findings was Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia (1932). In all, she authored 13 books of folk songs, ballads, and stories. She served as Dean of Women at King's College, 1939 to 1941, and attended the Institute of Folklore at the University of Indiana, 1942. She compiled Maritime folklore and folk music for the National Museum of Canada, 1947-1965. Her final publication was Fleur de Rosier (1989). Her works have been the source for symphonies, operas, musical theatre productions, films, a ballet, and many recordings by professional artists. She received numerous awards for her achievements, including Distinguished Folklorist of 1981, six honorary doctorates, Fellow of the American Folklore Society, Honorary Life President of the Canadian Authors' Association, Order of Canada, and the Queen's Medal. She died in Dartmouth in 1989.
Norman Charles Creighton (1909–1995) was born to Charles Jolly and Harriett (nee Hendry) Creighton in Bedford, Nova Scotia. He graduated from the Maritime Business College in Halifax in 1929, where he took classes in correspondence, typing, and shorthand. He worked as private secretary until he was struck down by pulmonary tuberculosis in his early twenties. After his recovery three years later, Creighton settled in Hantsport, where he established a plant nursery and began beekeeping. He spent the majority of his adult life in Hantsport with his older sister Laleah; neither sibling married.
Creighton's writing career did not begin until 1941, when he was in his early 30s. That year he created "The Gillans," a dramatic serial about a farming family for CBC radio's Maritime version of the Farm Broadcast. The serial was highly successful, but very demanding of Creighton, who was required to write five scripts a week. He resigned in 1949 but continued to do freelance work for CBC Radio as a writer for the short-lived weekly serial "Three of a Kind," and as a writer and broadcaster of radio talks. These short talks were among Creighton's most popular works, and he created them on a regular basis for over three decades.
In the early 1950s, Creighton began writing for print. His short stories were routinely rejected from magazines, but his non-fiction articles were more successful, appearing in the Atlantic Advocate and Maclean's. Although he had several published articles, Creighton's career as a magazine writer never became anything more than flirtatious; his attentions were directed at radio and the new medium of television. In 1955, Creighton moved to New York City to take a course on television writing at Columbia University. He spent five years in New York City, but his career as a writer for the new medium never took off, and he was forced into menial office work to pay the bills.
After leaving New York City, Creighton returned to Hantsport and resumed his career as a freelance writer and broadcaster. During the 1960s he worked on special projects for CBC Radio and CBC International, which included interview shows on the town of Lunenburg and the V. E. Day riots in Halifax, and a short series of comedy shows called "The Rum Runners." In addition to his regular radio talks, Creighton also wrote radio plays, acted in several CBC Radio dramas, and penned the occasional magazine article. Creighton took on fewer projects as the 1970s progressed, but he researched and recorded radio talks until his retirement in the 1980s. Creighton was a member of the Radio Writers' Guild, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), and a founding member of the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS).
Creighton was a prolific writer, but little of it has been published. In 2001, Creighton's neighbour Hilary Sircom edited Talk about the Maritimes, a compilation of Creighton's essays accompanied by paintings and poems created by his older brother Alan Creighton.
Thomas Colton Creighton was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 18 July 1825, the son of George Brinley Creighton and Isabel Ann (Grassie). He married Ann Albro, fifth daughter of Samuel Albro, on 7 June 1849 in Halifax, and they had four children. Creighton, a master mariner, captained a number of vessels for his uncles, James G.A. Creighton and Thomas Ritchie Grassie, partners in the firm Creighton and Grassie. In 1843 he undertook a voyage on board the barque Rose to the Pacific Ocean, for the purpose of hunting sperm whales. The Rose, 421 ton barque, was one of three vessels previously owned by the Halifax Whaling Company, and being operated independently by Samuel Cunard. During the voyage, which lasted until 1846, Creighton kept a daily journal in which he recorded his experiences. He died at sea in February 1862.