New Brunswick was one of the original provinces that founded the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867.
Before that:
- The first peoples were Mi'kmaq, Passamaquoddy and Maliseet.
- In the 1600s, the area became part of the French colony of Acadia.
- In 1713, Acadia became a British colony and in 1763 became part of Nova Scotia.
- In 1784, the Colony of New Brunswick was created. Many Loyalists settled in the new colony.
Read our blog The founding of New Brunswick.
Civil registration (birth, marriage and death records)
Civil registration is a provincial jurisdiction. In New Brunswick, marriage and death records up to 1967 and birth records up to 1923 are in the custody of the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.
Most of the records are searchable in their online database: Vital Statistics from Government Records (RS141)
View the finding aid (PDF 188 KB) on that page for the collection’s contents and microfilm numbers.
See also Federated Database Search.
Some of the records are also available on FamilySearch: New Brunswick Indexed Historical Records
If the years of interest to you have not yet been transferred to the Provincial Archives, you must request copies of records from Service New Brunswick: Vital Statistics.
You might also be interested in:
Criminal records
Land records
The province is divided into counties. Each county is subdivided into civil parishes.
Land petitions and land grants are held at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick and are searchable in databases:
Another collection called Land Petitions: Current Series, 1832 to 1966 (RS272) is not searchable online.
Check under County Guides for information on land records in the individual counties.
Records of transactions after the initial Crown grants are in the custody of the Land Registry at Service New Brunswick.
Wills
Wills and estate records are a provincial jurisdiction. The records are held at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Check under County Guides to see what records are available.
Other resources
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Library and Archives Canada information pages and databases
To find out about other types of records for genealogy research, visit our Genealogy and Family History pages, including Topics.
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Provincial Archives of New Brunswick
The provincial archives holds many sources for genealogy research. On the top menu bar on the main page, click on Research Tools and on Exhibits and Education Tools. See also: