Trinity Historical Society Archives

Mandate

The Trinity Historical Society Archives collects and preserves records and manuscripts of enduring value, relating to the history of the town and citizens of Trinity and of the Trinity area.



The Trinity Historical Society

The Trinity Historical Society preserves and promotes the history of Trinity, through the acquisition and preservation of artifacts and archives, and through the promotion and acquisition of historic properties. Material for the archives was collected by founding members of the community. As the collection grew, the Historical Society recognized that the archives required dedicated housing, separate from the museum, and that the material should be catalogued, preserved and accessible to the public. In 1997 the archives moved to the Court House and with the assistance of the Canadian Council of Archives and the Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives, we began the process of organizing the collections. In 2001 it was decided to move the archives to the Lester-Garland House as it has a better controlled environment for the preservation of the archival material.



The Collections

The Archives' 20 metres of textual records date from the 18th to the 20th century. They include the records of businesses such as Slade's, Grieve and Bremner, Ryan Brothers, the Green Family Forge; court records and magistrates records; parish and church records, including records of many of the churches of the resettled communities that were formerly part of the Parish of Trinity; records of the Trinity Benefit Club, going back to its inaugural meeting in 1838; The Trinity Mutual Marine Insurance Company, and other societies and organizations; school records; crew agreements; voters' lists; census material; records of the Commissioners of Roads; and Poor Relief, as well as a collection of individual manuscripts, and an extensive, fully catalogued collection of historic and contemporary photographs.



Genealogy Research

The archives has extensive material available for people researching their family history. Sources include:

Cemetery inscriptions
Parish records for Trinity, Port Rexton and Bonavista
Voters' Lists
Census material
School registers
Wills and land grants
Poor relief books
Family trees
Directories and yearbooks



Donations

The archives is always pleased to receive donations of all kinds of archival material to add to its collections. Any and all material that provides insight into the people and communities of the Trinity area are of value to the archives.

Anyone wishing to donate material to the archives should contact the Archivist.


Research

The Archives will conduct research for people who are unable to visit in person. A nominal fee is charged for this service.
 

Finding Aids

Click any of the below finding aids to view material housed in our archives.