The first European settlers to establish a colony on the peninsula now known as Nova Scotia and the traditional land of the Mi’kmaq nation, were the French. In 1605, they founded the first permanent European settlement north of Florida on the north shore of the peninsula, which they named Acadia. The exact origins of the name are unclear. One theory is that it is derived from the mythical Greek region of Arcadia, a place of unspoiled and harmonious wilderness. The new colony may have claimed unspoiled land, but harmonious it was not. For most of the 17th and 18th century, Acadia found itself tossed between various European countries, gaining its current name of Nova Scotia during a brief period as a Scottish colony, while the term Acadia followed its original French colonizers who were exiled during the conflict, an episode known as the Great Upheaval. Nova Scotia even toyed with the idea of joining the American Revolution before opting to remain British.

This decision was partly motivated by the colony gradually gaining independence, in particular with the establishment of a Legislative Assembly in 1758. In 1809, after half a century of meeting in a series of temporary locations, the legislature deemed necessary the construction of a permanent government seat in Halifax. Who exactly drafted the plans for the Nova Scotia Province House is a matter of debate. Official records credit the building’s design to John Merrick, while the name Richard Scott appears on other documents. It appears likely that the two men collaborated on the final Neoclassical design, which exhibits Palladian elements and Adam style interiors. The building opened in 1819 and remains the seat of the Nova Scotia Legislature to this day, making it the oldest government building in Canada (and possibly the smallest).



Three large rooms occupy the second floor of the building. On either side of a grand staircase sit the semicircular Legislative Assembly hall and the rectangular Legislative Council chambers. The third room was originally the seat of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia where, among other notable affairs, the pirates of the Saladin were tried and condemned in 1844. After the court moved to a dedicated building, the room was repurposed in 1862 by architect Henry Frederick Busch to welcome the Legislative Library, which until then had been scattered throughout the building. To maximize shelf space, a balcony was constructed on three sides of the room, forming a series of alcoves on the lower floor and accessed by twin wrought iron staircases.
The intricate decorative ironwork of the balcony railing is a departure from the original Adamesque decor and is more in line with the Victorian era of its construction. The cast iron details were crafted by the Mitchell foundry in nearby Chebucto, while the firm Graham and Davidson produced the woodwork.

Today, the Nova Scotia Legislative Library manages a collection of over 64’000 print volumes and electronic resources for the benefit of the 55 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). Although borrowing privileges are limited to MLAs and government employees, the library is open to the public. Of particular interest are the over 21,000 volumes of the Novascotiana collection, as well as historical documents and the official archive of the Legislative Assembly since its first meeting in 1758.


Despite being a working library, the decor hasn’t changed much since the Victorian era, earning it an appearance in period movies. In fact, scenes for the Washington Black mini-series were filmed here shortly before my visit in January 2023, the set designers leaving behind some traces of their passage in the form of fake book covers left on the shelves and wooden boxes to hide metal filing cabinets, which the librarians opted to keep in place once filming was over!




Excerpts from this post appeared in the April-May 2023 edition of Information Professional.
References
- Elliott, S. (1964). A history of Government House and Province House. Informational Lectures on Parliamentary Law and Procedure as Practised in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (Established 1758), pp. 107–124.
- Elliott, S. (1980). Notes on Province House. Legislative Library. pp. 6-7
- Gowans, A. (1966). Building Canada: An architectural history of Canadian life. Oxford University Press. pp. 76-78
- MacNutt, J. W. (2010). Building for democracy: The history and architecture of the legislative buildings of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Formac Publishing Company Limited. pp. 12-18, 46-47
- McDonald, D. (Ed.). (2019). Nova Scotia’s Province House. Formac Publishing Company Limited. pp. 42-48
- Wallace, A. W. (1976). An album of drawings of early buildings in Nova Scotia. Heritage trust of Nova Scotia and The Nova Scotia Museum.
- Province House. (2017). Nova Scotia Legislature.
- McDonald, D. (2019). Looking back on 200 years at Province House. Canadian Parliamentary Review, 42(1).
- McDonald, D. (n.d.). Building Province House. Historic Nova Scotia. Retrieved April 23, 2023
- Province House National Historic Site of Canada. (n.d.). Parks Canada Directory of Federal Heritage Designations. Retrieved April 23, 2023