First Published Paper in Canada Visits Province House

Visitors to Province House this weekend will have a rare opportunity to view the first newspaper published in Canada.

Province House will add to its extensive rare publications collection, the only copy of Issue No. 1 of the Halifax Gazette, published in Halifax on March 23rd, 1752. The newspaper will be on display from Thursday, July 14, to Sunday, July 17, in the Legislative Library.

"The Halifax Gazette started the tradition of printing and journalism in Nova Scotia and in Canada," said Murray Scott, Speaker of the House of Assembly. "It's great to have it here so visitors to Province House can see first hand, an example of how our province helped shape Canadian heritage."

In 1751, Bartholomew Green, a printer from Boston, moved to Halifax with the intention of publishing a newspaper. Mr. Green's printing press was delayed in shipping and he passed away just two weeks after it arrived.

When John Bushell, Mr. Green's partner at the print shop in Boston, heard the news he decided to move his family to Halifax and establish himself as the first printer. His daughter, Elizabeth, worked with him in the printing shop.

The Halifax Gazette exists today as the Royal Gazette, the weekly official publication for legal notices and proclamations of the Nova Scotia government.

This one-and-only first issue of the Halifax Gazette and earliest surviving production of a printing press in Canada is part of the permanent newspaper collection at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa and is on loan to Province House for four days. A later issue of the Halifax Gazette, published in April 1752, will be on display throughout the summer in the Legislative Library, 2nd floor, Province House, 1726 Hollis St., Halifax.

In July and August guided tours of Province House are offered on a regular basis from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

For a complete list of the Legislative Library's catalogued publications see the website at www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/library/library.html .