Source Information
About Newfoundland, Canada, Index of Birth, Marriage & Death Notices from Newspapers, 1810-1890
This collection from the Maritime History Archive in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, includes an index to birth, marriage, and death notices from 42 Newfoundland newspapers. Entries from 1825 through 1890 were originally compiled in 13 volumes by Gertrude (Murray) Crosbie and then added to by the Maritime History Archive from newspapers dating back to 1810.
Almost all the entries are for eastern Newfoundland since the newspapers are primarily from St. John's, Newfoundland. The Newspaper notices collection can corroborate what you already know, or adds new names and/or details. It is an easy source to use to search for a family name or an individual. The database can also include disasters such as fire, outbreaks of disease and death by suspicious circumstances as well as trace the careers for members of the clergy, coroners, justices of the peace, surveyors and other government officials. People had to pay for an entry in the BMD column, so they may not include those individuals of lesser means.
There are more than 40,000 records in the collection, which can include:
- name
- newspaper title and date
- age
- gender
- residence
- event type, place, and date
- place of burial for some deaths
- church
- cause of death
- spouse’s name and residence
- parents’ names
- comments