Category Archives: Public Lecture Series

The society meets monthly from September to May to hear and to discuss individual papers about personalities, places, and events integral to the history of Nova Scotia. Lectures are free and open to the public. Meetings begin at 7:00 p.m. and, until further notice, will be held via Zoom. For upcoming lectures visit here.


“The Story of Markland and Lockeport Icelanders”

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Wednesday, January 21st, 2026, 7:00 pm (Atlantic), in-person at the Lindsay Children’s Room on the 2nd floor at the Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Click here for the Zoom link.

Abstract:
This presentation will outline how 200 Icelanders came to Markland and Lockeport in 1874, only for many to leave eight years later in 1882. The Icelandic Memorial Society of Nova Scotia’s Vice Chair J. Marshall Burgess is a descendant of the Huskilson family who stayed and settled in Lockeport. He will discuss the continuing research the Society performs to find descendants of the original 30 families who came to Nova Scotia, as well as how these Icelandic settlers have been honoured in the Lockport area.

Biography: 
The Icelandic Memorial Society of Nova Scotia was incorporated in 1998 and consists of 50 plus members.

Individuals in photo above: J.Marshall Burgess Kc, Vice-Chair; Bonnie Price, Treasurer; Ken Burrows,  Chair.




“Poutrincourt’s 1607 Gristmill: Clues we have found in our search for ‘The Oldest Mill in North America.’”

By | | Annual General Meeting, Public Lecture Series, RNSHS Public Lectures, Upcoming Lectures
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Wednesday, June 17th, 2026, 7:00 pm (Atlantic), in-person at the Lindsay Children’s Room on the 2nd floor at the Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Click here for the Zoom link.

Abstract: 
In 1605-7, French explorer-settlers built the first water-powered gristmill at Port Royal initiating the First Industrial Revolution in North America. Poutrincourt’s Mill was shown on Samuel Champlain’s 1607 map—but for 400 years, historians haven’t been able to find it. New technologies and fresh perspectives have revealed its likely location—along with three other ancient mills, Acadian tidal dykes, and Mi’kmaq cultural sites.

Biography: 
Mark C. Borton is the founder of the Allain’s River Historic Discovery Project, an organization that seeks to systematically investigate and preserve the historically significant sites along the Allain’s River in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. Borton is also the creator of the Embassy Boating Guide series (Maine to Florida) and the Maptech Waterproof Chart series (USA), and the author of “Moondoggle: Franklin Roosevelt and the Fight for Tidal-Electric Power at Passamaquoddy Bay”.

 

 

“Anna and the Art School: Anna Leonowens and the Founding of Halifax’s Victoria School of Art and Design, 1887-1897, Part 2”

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Wednesday, April 15th, 2026, 7:00 pm (Atlantic), in-person at the Lindsay Children’s Room on the 2nd floor at the Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Click here for the Zoom link.

Abstract:
In October 1887, just as the new Victoria School of Art and Design prepared to open, and despite its early acceptance, even popularity, the seeds of decline were already present. The initial leadership remained, including Leonowens, but the world was changing around them, and their ability to react quickly and decisively was being eroded. Across a long decade, and again based on primary sources and Halifax newspapers, the second part of this story explores how two departures, one return, a death, and the waning of the old century all combined to threaten the school’s survival.

Biography: 
A graduate of Dalhousie University, Lois Yorke is the former Provincial Archivist and Director of the Nova Scotia Archives. She has spent over forty years as an archivist, editor, researcher and consultant in cultural heritage. Her long-standing involvement in women’s history has produced various articles on ‘interesting’ women from Nova Scotia’s past. These back-to-back lectures on the founding of Halifax’s Victoria School of Art and Design are drawn from a much larger project – the first biography to explore fully the life and times of Anna Harriette Leonowens, ‘The English Governess at the Siamese Court’ – possibly the most interesting woman of them all.





 

 

 

“Anna and the Art School: Anna Leonowens and the Founding of Halifax’s Victoria School of Art and Design, 1887-1897, Part 1”

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Wednesday, March 18th, 2026, 7:00 pm (Atlantic), in-person at the Lindsay Children’s Room on the 2nd floor at the Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Click here for the Zoom link.

Abstract:
Across eight tumultuous months in 1887, Halifax’s Victoria School of Art and Design (today’s NSCAD University) moved from idea to vision to the cusp of reality. Over the years, there have been various theories regarding Anna Leonowens’ involvement, some claiming the school was entirely her idea and others suspicious that in an age when women were supposedly seen but not much heard it was really the men who did it all. Based on primary sources and newspapers of the period, this presentation looks at the school’s founding, offering new details and fresh perspectives into ‘how things got done’ in Halifax 140 years ago.

Biography: 
A graduate of Dalhousie University, Lois Yorke is the former Provincial Archivist and Director of the Nova Scotia Archives. She has spent over forty years as an archivist, editor, researcher and consultant in cultural heritage. Her long-standing involvement in women’s history has produced various articles on ‘interesting’ women from Nova Scotia’s past. These back-to-back lectures on the founding of Halifax’s Victoria School of Art and Design are drawn from a much larger project – the first biography to explore fully the life and times of Anna Harriette Leonowens, ‘The English Governess at the Siamese Court’ – possibly the most interesting woman of them all.





 

 

 

“Frances Wentworth: a New Look at the Governor’s Lady”

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Wednesday, February 18th, 2026, 7:00 pm (Atlantic), in-person at the Lindsay Children’s Room on the 2nd floor at the Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Click here for the Zoom link.

Abstract:
The presentation on Frances Wentworth will focus on her life as seen through the lens of her personal letters. As the wife of the Ltd. Governor of Nova Scotia, Frances was an integral part of colonial society in Halifax. The talk will also position her within the wider context of elite female society and its governing behaviours and influence. 

Biography: 
Denise Hansen has an academic background in history and education.  She worked for over 30 years with Parks Canada in Halifax, in the Archaeology and Heritage Presentation sections. During her career, she has conducted research,  contributed to exhibits and developed educational programming.

 

 

“East Port l’Hebert Community Mapping Project”

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Wednesday, November 19th, 2025, 7:00 pm (Atlantic), in-person at the Lindsay Children’s Room on the 2nd floor at the Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Click here for the Zoom link.

Abstract: 
In 2022, a small number of residents of East Port L’Hebert and Port Joli got together with the aim of creating a social / historical record of the community. The intent was to record who lived here, and when, from earliest records to the present day, and to provide as much context as we could into daily lives. With time and a critical collaboration with the Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS), we have created a GIS based interactive map showing changes in population, historical businesses and homes, social structures like churches and schools, and details of day to day life. We will present a short tour of this map, and discuss our process and perhaps also some of the pitfalls of our efforts.

Biography: 
The East Port l’Hebert Community Mapping Project was founded in 2022 by a small number of residents of East Port L’Hebert and Port Joli to create a social / historical record of the community.

 

“Curling and Empire: Imperial Scottishness at the Halifax Curling Club”

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Wednesday, September 17th, 2025, 7:00 pm (Atlantic), in-person at the Lindsay Children’s Room on the 2nd floor at the Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Click here for the Zoom link.

Dr. Arthur McCalla is Professor in the Department of History at Mount Saint Vincent University. He specializes in nineteenth-century European intellectual history, but in 2024 published On Life’s Slippery Rink: 200 Years of the Halifax Curling Club to mark the bicentenary of the HCC, of which he has been a member since 2006.

Abstract: 
This talk draws on the records of the Halifax Curling Club, founded 1824, to show how over its first century—which included its founding by a Royal Navy officer, immigrant Scots early membership, links to Governors-General, and participation in curling exchanges with Scotland—the HCC contributed at a local level to British Empire-wide attempts to construct a unified imperial identity, ultimately placing the sport of curling in the service of the concept of “imperial Scottishness.”





 

 

“Divided by Oceans, United by the Empire: Nova Scotia and Bengal, 1756-1867”

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Wednesday, October 15th, 2025, 7:00 pm (Atlantic), in-person at the Lindsay Children’s Room on the 2nd floor at the Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Click here for the Zoom link.

Madhuparna Gupta is an Instructor it the Department of Global Development Studies, and a Research Associate at the Gorsebrook Research Institute, Saint Mary’s University, Canada. She has over seventeen years of experience in teaching and research. She received her Ph.D. in International Relations from Jadavpur University, India, and served as an Assistant Professor of Political Science in Kolkata, India, before immigrating to Canada. She has authored books, edited academic volumes, and published research papers on the themes of Political Science and International Relations in peer-reviewed journals. She has delivered lectures in international conferences, participated in panel discussions and has public presentations on the themes of Canada-India relations, International Development, Human Rights and International Security. 

One of her research articles titled, “Bonds of Empire” was published in Canada’s History, and its Podcast titled, “India and Canada: Bonds of Empire”, was the winner of the Canadian Ethnic Media Award (CEMA) in the Podcast Category in 2023. 

Abstract: 
This presentation explores the connection between the provinces of Nova Scotia (Canada) and Bengal (India) by virtue of the British and French colonial endeavours, where the eventual triumph of England had culminated in their emergence as British colonies. This research presents a comparative study on the nature of British administration in these provinces. Using selected themes, it explores whether similar or contrasting measures were being pursued that had resulted in their emergence as colonial cousins.





 

 

“– Strange Comrades – The story of Lt Col Guy Maclean Matheson and Robert the Bruce – 25th Battalion (Nova Scotia Rifles)”

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Wednesday, December 10th, 2025, 7:00 pm (Atlantic), in-person at the Lindsay Children’s Room on the 2nd floor at the Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Click here for the Zoom link.

Major Ken Hynes, CD, MA, Royal Canadian Artillery (retired), served for 30 years in the Canadian Army, both across Canada, in the United States, and overseas. He is the former Chief Protocol Officer of the Royal NS International Tattoo and was Curator of The Army Museum Halifax Citadel from 2012 until retiring from the post in 2022, when he received the Certificate of Merit from the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. In 2023, Major Hynes was invested with the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for his services to heritage and culture.

Abstract: 
Included as a chapter in my new book: “Service and Sacrifice – Extraordinary Nova Scotians in the Great War”, my talk will draw on the life and times of Lt Col Guy MacLean Matheson (Big Baddeck) and the mascot of the 25th Battalion (NS Rifles), Robert the Bruce (RTB). RTB was a small Belgian goat, acquired and chosen by the Battalion as their mascot during the unit’s service in Flanders and France, during the Great War, from 1915 to 1919. Both Guy and RTB came home with the Battalion in 1919 and their story is one of perseverance and comradeship – a strange and notable tale in the military history of Nova Scotia.





 

 

“Ireland, Atlantic Canada and the Crimean War: imperial connectivity and shared experiences?”

By | | Past Lectures, Public Lecture Series, RNSHS Public Lectures
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Wednesday, June 25th, 2025, 7:00 pm (Atlantic), in-person at the Lindsay Children’s Room on the 2nd floor at the Halifax Central Library, 5440 Spring Garden Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Click here for the Zoom link.

Dr Paul Huddie is a historical researcher from Ireland, who is interested in war and society, principally within the British Empire in the long 19th century. He is a graduate of University College Dublin (BA, 2008; MA 2009) and Queen’s University Belfast (2014) and the author of The Crimean War and Irish Society (2015). His research has been published in several edited volumes and multiple peer-reviewed journals, including the British Journal for Military History, Women’s History Review, and Mariner’s Mirror, and he is also the co-editor of New Perspectives on Conflict and Ireland in the Nineteenth Century, which will be published by Liverpool University Press in Spring 2025. He is currently employed as a Research Project Manager at University College Dublin, where he supports three prestigious European Research Council-funded projects.

Abstract: 
How did Canadians’ experience of the Crimean War of 1854-56 compare to people in Ireland (or Britain)?  Using the Welsford-Parker Monument in Halifax as its focal point, this lecture will explore the themes of popular culture, identity, and memory within both the imperial and settler-colonial contexts of Atlantic Canada and contrast them with the Irish experience. All with a view to identify shared experiences of imperial warfare in the nineteenth century. This research and lecture has been supported by the Ireland Canada University Foundation’s Craig Dobbin Legacy Programme.

Paul Huddie, UCD Centre for War Studies