The following types of records are of interest to those exploring their family history in the old town/city of Dartmouth:

Statute Labour Books 1843-1844 (File 102-2J)
These books contain alphabetical lists of the names of the Dartmouth citizens who worked on roads, as part of their payment of municipal taxes.

Municipal Court Records 1873-1955 (Series 101-75)
The docket books of the Muncipal Court list all decisions that went before the court, and includes the names of parties involved (usually a debtor and debtee).  There is a name index for part of this series.

Police Court Records 1872-1919 (series 101-16)
The Dartmouth Police Department kept records on cases coming before its police court, which include name of accused and settlements.

Electoral Lists 1886, 1891, 1893-1894, 1928, 1966 (Sub-series 101-78A)
Electoral lists contain names of people eliglible to vote in Dartmouth municipal elections, which included male ratepayers twenty-one years or older who had been residents or owned property in Dartmouth in the previous year. Female ratepayers became eligible to vote in municipal elections in 1886. By 1961, the requirement had changed so that anyone over eighteen who had lived in Dartmouth for one year was eligible.

Poll Books 1874-1881, 1901-1931, 1951-1978 (Sub-series 101-78B)
Poll Books contain lists of people who voted in Dartmouth elections, and are organized by ward. Some of the lists include voters' addresses.

List of Water Users, 1896 (File 101-79)
This is an alphabetical list of all households using water in Dartmouth in 1896. It also contains a list of households where two families were living in the same residence.

Poll Tax Exemption Declarations, 1884, 1893 (Sub-series 101-1K)

Declarations signed by Darmouth residents affirming that they were over the age of sixty-five, and thus exempt from paying a poll tax.

Place of Settlement Examinations 1896 (Sub-series 101-1L)

Examinations made by a Justice of the Peace verifying people's status as residents of Dartmouth.

Housing Commission financial accounts, 1922-1944  (series 101-70)

The Dartmouth Housing Commission was an created by the Town in 1919 to administer provincial loans for home construction. Ledgers list the names of borrowers with details of the loans. Records are restricted for 90 years.

City Directories          (917.16225 H) 

Directories contain an alphabetical lists of names of all adult residents in the city, with occupations and address, a complete street guide, and a home owner’s and tenants directory. Municipal Archives has:

       McAlpine’s: 1893-1916, 1920, 1921, 1923 (includes Dartmouth)
       Halifax and Dartmouth: 1938 - 2000

A fuller set is located at the Halifax Public Libraries.

For a fuller description of these sources, search by series title in the Archives Database.

Compilation of these sources was done as part of a Provincial Archival Development Project funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage.

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