Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Nova Scotia. Supreme Court (Cumberland County)
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1774-
History
In 1774, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia's circuit system was established by an act of the legislature. In this system, judges travelled to outlying areas to hold court. By 1834 the initial requirement to have cases heard in the presence of two or more judges was removed and a single judge hearing cases on circuit was invested with the full powers and jurisdiction of the court in Halifax. Amherst was one of three initial supreme court circuit sites established in 1774. At times sessions were held in River Philip, until a court house was erected in Amherst in 1840. Destroyed by fire in 1887 the wooden court house was replaced by the present brick structure in 1888.