Cambridge Military Library Halifax Nova Scotia

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

Cambridge Military Library Plaque Halifax Nova Scotia

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 ...

* Commander Leonard W. Murray *Mr. D.C. Harvey *

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

References

Sources

* Shirley Elliott. A library for the garrison and town: A history of the Cambridge Military Library, Royal Military Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Wolfville, Nova Scotia. 1989.
Cambridge Military Library Royal Artillery Park of Halifax NS and GOC Residence
* Early Libraries In Halifax, by Karen Smith; NSHS, Journal #7 (2004); pp. 15.
Rules and catalogue of the Halifax Garrison Library: with a list of the subscribers. 1835

History

Commemoration

See also

References

Sources

See also