Trinity Historical Society Archives
Mandate
The Trinity
Historical Society Archives collects and preserves records
and manuscripts of enduring value, relating to the history
of the town and citizens of Trinity and of the Trinity area.
The Trinity
Historical Society
The Trinity
Historical Society preserves and promotes the history of
Trinity, through the acquisition and preservation of
artifacts and archives, and through the promotion and
acquisition of historic properties. Material for the
archives was collected by founding members of the community.
As the collection grew, the Historical Society recognized
that the archives required dedicated housing, separate from
the museum, and that the material should be catalogued,
preserved and accessible to the public. In 1997 the archives
moved to the Court House and with the assistance of the
Canadian Council of Archives and the Association of
Newfoundland and Labrador Archives, we began the process of
organizing the collections. In 2001 it was decided to move
the archives to the Lester-Garland House as it has a better
controlled environment for the preservation of the archival
material.
The Collections
The Archives'
20 metres of textual records date from the 18th to the 20th
century. They include the records of businesses such as
Slade's, Grieve and Bremner, Ryan Brothers, the Green Family
Forge; court records and magistrates records; parish and
church records, including records of many of the churches of
the resettled communities that were formerly part of the
Parish of Trinity; records of the Trinity Benefit Club,
going back to its inaugural meeting in 1838; The Trinity
Mutual Marine Insurance Company, and other societies and
organizations; school records; crew agreements; voters'
lists; census material; records of the Commissioners of
Roads; and Poor Relief, as well as a collection of
individual manuscripts, and an extensive, fully catalogued
collection of historic and contemporary photographs.
The archives has extensive material available for people researching their family history. Sources include:
Cemetery inscriptions
Parish records for Trinity, Port Rexton and Bonavista
Voters' Lists
Census material
School registers
Wills and land grants
Poor relief books
Family trees
Directories and yearbooks
Donations
The archives is always pleased to receive donations of all kinds of archival material to add to its collections. Any and all material that provides insight into the people and communities of the Trinity area are of value to the archives.
Anyone wishing to donate material to the archives should contact the Archivist.
Research
The Archives will conduct research for people who are unable to visit in person. Please feel free to contact the Archivist for futher assistance. A nominal fee is charged for this service.