Nova Scotia family history records online

People researching their family trees online can now get details of any Canadian emigrants that settled in Nova Scotia - New Scotland in Latin - from the mid-18th Century until the 1950s.

Over one million Nova Scotian birth, marriage and death indexes are available through genealogy site Ancestry.co.uk and cover the period from 1763-1957.

According to the site, more than 4.5 million Canadians claim to have descended from Scots.

During the 18th and 19th Centuries, tens of thousands of people were evicted from their farms by land owners to make way for more profitable forms of farming.

This led to mass emigration and many Scots arrived in Canada and the area became 'New Scotland'.

Details of Alexander Graham Bell - telephone inventor - who was born in Edinburgh and then died in Nova Scotia as well as records relating Canadian shipping magnate Samuel Cunard are included in the indexes.

Researchers can search the records by name, place of birth, marriage or death, gender and name of spouse. Once records are found they have the option of viewing the original record images on partner site, NovaScotiaGenealogy.com.

Ancestry.co.uk International Content director Dan Jones said: "Canada, and Nova Scotia in particular, has long enjoyed close historical and cultural links with Scotland, and these indexes represent a critical starting point for those Scots wishing to trace their early Canadian ancestors."