Nova Scotia Historical Newspapers

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The Nova Scotia Chronicle and Weekly Advertiser

This title is one in an unbroken chain of official and semi-official government newspapers published in Nova Scotia, from the Halifax Gazette on 23 March 1752 to the present-day Royal Gazette. The Nova Scotia Chronicle and Weekly Advertiser has been called 'the liveliest journal of opinion produced in Canada' for its time; regular features included tide tables, shipping news, weather reports and advertisements. It had less than 80 subscribers when it began in 1769, and lasted only a year before taking a new title, the Nova Scotia Gazette and Weekly Chronicle.

Selected issues 1769 and 1770

The Royal American Gazette

Shelburne was founded in 1783 by some 15,000 political refugees displaced in the aftermath of the American Revolution. For a fleeting moment it was the fourth-largest community in North America, and with a population that large could sustain several newspapers in the early years. The Royal American Gazette was the first; begun in New York City in 1777, it migrated north with its publisher, James Robertson, in 1783. It featured local advertisements, reprints of news items from foreign newspapers, and some local content. Its Shelburne life ended when Robertson moved to Charlottetown PEI about 1785-86.

Selected Issues from 1785

The Port-Roseway Gazetteer and The Shelburne Advertiser

This newspaper began in 1784, as a sort of literary magazine featuring essays, poetry, stories and letters reprinted from English and American periodicals, with occasional local content. The publisher was the nephew of James Robertson Sr., who published The Royal American Gazette. When Robertson Sr. moved to Charlottetown about 1785, taking his printing press with him, the Gazetteer and Advertiser ceased publication.

Selected issues from 1785

The Nova-Scotia Packet and General Advertiser

The last of the early newspapers in Loyalist Shelburne, this title began in 1785, was printed on new equipment imported from England, and may have continued as late as 1796. It featured shipping and local news, weather reports, and reprints from newspapers in Saint John NB, Quebec, the United States and overseas. The publisher, James Humphreys, returned to his native Philadelphia in 1797, taking his press with him.

Selected issues from 1786 and 1787

The Bee

Published in Pictou from 1835 to 1838, this was one of the earliest newspapers in Nova Scotia to appear outside Halifax. It was printed on the press of — and may have been the successor to — the Colonial Patriot, Pictou's first newspaper (1827). Like its predecessor, The Bee supported progress and reform, promoted agricultural interests, and was considered so radical that it was banned from the Halifax Exchange Reading Room in 1837.

Selected issues from 1835, 1836, 1837 and 1838

The Tiny Tattler

Billed as 'Canada's Smallest Newspaper,' this unique title was published intermittently in Central Grove, Digby Neck (Digby County) from 1933 to 1943. Printed on a small press with hand-set type, the Tattler began with 18 subscribers and built to over 5,000 at its peak, across Nova Scotia and beyond. A variant title, The Tiny Telegram, was also published by Shortliffe Print in Caledonia, Queens County, beginning in 1938. The issues digitized here were donated by the family and arrived bound in yearly increments, each with a hand-decorated cover. With its own commemorative website at www.tinytattler.ca, the Tattler continues to generate interest in the local news, advertisements and perspective it provided 75 years ago.

Selected issues from 1933-1936 and 1938

The 4th Estate

From its first issue on 17 April 1969, The 4th Estate established itself as the independent 'second viewpoint….[and] questioning voice in print in our city and province.' Near the end, in January 1977, publisher Brenda Large wrote, 'The 4th Estate really shouldn't exist at all. All the odds are against it and continue to be against it. But it has survived for eight years due to the work of Nick Fillmore and others who have contributed to the paper and have been loyal readers over the years.' Progressive, radical and provocative, The 4th Estate focused on the issues that mattered in late 20th century Nova Scotia — and which continue to matter to this day.

Selected issues from 1969-1977

We thank Libraries Nova Scotia and C@P Nova Scotia for supporting the trial project that has made possible digitization and online presentation of these historical newspapers. We also invite you to visit our project partner, the Beaton Institute at Cape Breton University, to explore their online selection of digitized newspapers from Cape Breton Island.