Cambridge Military Library is a public library building in Royal Artillery Park in
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...
, Canada which was created in 1886. The building was created to house the garrison library collection, which had been moved from various locations in the city since its creation in 1817. It is the oldest library collection in Atlantic Canada. (When the library was established, there were still no bookstores in the region.) This building was the social and literary centre of military Halifax. In 1902, the officers of the garrison requested the library be named after the
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (George William Frederick Charles; 26 March 1819 – 17 March 1904) was a member of the British royal family, a grandson of King George III and cousin of Queen Victoria. The Duke was an army officer by professio ...
.
History
Along with Dalhousie College, Lord Dalhousie established the book collection with the Castine Fund, established from the fortune taken from
New Ireland (Maine)
New Ireland was a Crown colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain twice established in modern-day Maine after British forces captured the area during the American Revolutionary War and again during the War of 1812. The colony lasted four years durin ...
during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
. Dalhousie housed the collection in a building adjacent to the Glacis Barracks. It was later moved to Water Street before being re-established in its current location.
The original membership of the library in 1818 included:
*Col.
Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres
Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres (22 November 1721 or April–May 1729 – 24 or 27 October 1824) was a Canadian cartographer who served in the Seven Years' War, as the aide-de-camp to General James Wolfe. He later went on to serve as the L ...
*
Oliver Goldsmith (Canadian poet)
Oliver Goldsmith (1794–1861) was a Canadian poet born in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. In 1822 he wrote some verses for an amateur theatre in Halifax. He is best known for ''The Rising Village'', which appeared in 1825. It was at once the first ...
*Sir
George Head
Sir George Head (1782–1855) was an English commissariat officer and deputy Knight Marshal, also known for the publication 'A Home Tour through the Manufacturing Districts of England in the Summer of 1835', and other literary works.
Biography ...
*Sir
Howard Douglas
General Sir Howard Douglas, 3rd Baronet, (23 January 1776 – 9 November 1861) was a British Army officer born in Gosport, England, the younger son of Admiral Sir Charles Douglas, and a descendant of the Earls of Morton. He was an English ...
*John Frederick Fitzgerald de Roos
*Captain
William Moorsom
;
Captain William Scarth Moorsom (1804–1863) was an English soldier and engineer. After assisting Robert Stephenson he created railway lines in England, Belgium, Germany and Ceylon.
Early life and career
Moorsom was born at Whitby into a milit ...
By 1835, the library included the best works published in the English language. In the 1860s the library holdings were considerably augmented by a very valuable collection of books transferred from
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
, which originated from the Garrison Library at
Messinia
Messenia or Messinia ( ; el, Μεσσηνία ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a p ...
in 1810. By 1886, by the time the Cambridge Military Library was built, the library collection totaled 3,000 volumes.
Commemoration
On October 29, 1934 a tablet was unveiled by Lt. Gov.
Walter Harold Covert
Walter Harold Covert (September 13, 1865 – May 13, 1949), was a corporate lawyer based in Nova Scotia, influential member of the Conservative Party, and served as the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Nova ScotiaAngus MacDonald
*Halifax Mayor Edward Joseph Cragg
* Chief Justice Gordon Harrington
* Frank Patterson,
* Dr. Carleton Stanley
*
Harry Piers
Harry Piers (1870–1940) was a Canadian historian. He was a long-serving and influential historian and curator at the Nova Scotia Museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Piers was born on February 12, 1870, in Halifax.
He became the second curator of ...
Frederick Henry Sexton Frederic Henry Sexton OBE (June 9, 1879 – January 12, 1955) was a Canadian engineer and higher education administrator.
On April 25, 1907 Sexton was appointed the first Principal of the Nova Scotia Technical College (NSTC) and held the dual ...
*Colonel Eaton (Annapolis)
*General Foster (Kentville)
*Brigadier General
Halfdan Hertzberg
Major General Halfdan Fenton Harboe Hertzberg (3 September 1884 – 21 December 1959) was a Canadian general and Commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada during the Second World War. He also served as Quartermaster General and Adjutant ...
*Lt. Col. H.T. Goodeve
* Band of the Princess Louise Fusiliers
See also
*
Military history of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia (also known as Mi'kma'ki and Acadia) is a Canadian province located in Canada's Maritimes. The region was initially occupied by Mi'kmaq. The colonial history of Nova Scotia includes the present-day Canadian Maritime provinces and th ...
List of oldest buildings and structures in Halifax, Nova Scotia
This is a list of oldest buildings and structures in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada that were constructed before 1935.
1750-1799
1800-1849
1850-1899
1900-1935
See also
* History of Nova Scotia
* List of historic places in the Hal ...