These maps show Kings County in north central
Nova
Scotia (the area of the red square in the
first map above). It is divided into three townships. Cornwallis and
Horton
townships are relevant to the family history.
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These maps show Kings County in north central
Nova
Scotia (the area of the red square in the
first map above). It is divided into three townships. Cornwallis and
Horton
townships are relevant to the family history.
| |
Sites of Interest on the Map:
Grand Pre - near Wolfville in Horton Township. John Givan's parents William and Olivia Given (with an 'e') and his brother Dr. William Givan were all residents of Horton Township and are buried with some other family members in the Covenanter Church Cemetery in Grand Pre.
Kentville - Kentville is the site of the Kings Historical Society and Museum. Just northeast of Kentville is Chipmans Corner (not marked on map) where are buried Martha MacMaster Givan and her offspring, including Kerrs. Martha was the widow of James Givan who we believe may have been William Given Sr.'s brother who died back in Ireland.
Harbourville - used to be called Givan Wharf before 1860, named after merchant John Givan, and was settled originally by Hamiltons as well. It was the site of shipbuilding and import/export. John and then his son James were the first Postmasters in Givan Wharf/Harbourville.
Grafton - Southeast of Harbourville is Grafton where John Givan and some family members are buried.
Waterville - Some say John Givan and Frances Hamilton may have been married in Waterville but we think they were married in Omagh, Ireland in 1828 and then settled in Givan's Wharf.
Berwick - John's son Alex Givan and his family are buried in Berwick Cemetery.
Billtown - James Givan (one of John's sons) married Hallah Lamont in Billtown. Hallah's mother was a Bill.
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Here John Givan purchased 800 acres of land in 1824, settled with his wife Frances Hamilton in 1828, built Givan Wharf and the surrounding roads, brought over settlers from Ireland and founded the Givan Wharf Company. It became a busy import/export community with a ship building yard at which son Alex built the schooner "Fannie Givan" and the brigantine "John Givan". John and son James also ran the General Store at the wharf. The name of the district was changed to Harbourville in 1860 to reflect the community it had become, and also included the lands west of John's land over to Turner's Brook (at the left edge of the above map). Three of John and Fannie's children (Henry Peel, William Roger and Mary Grear) moved to New Brunswick.
1) Nova Scotia GenWeb Project. http://www.rootsweb.com/~canns/
2) Nova Scotia Archives Records Management. http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/
3) The Kings Historical Society in Kings County. http://www.okcm.ca/
4) Harbourville, Nova Scotia Web Site (with a link
to historical information) http://www.harbourville.ednet.ns.ca/
5) Description of the forming of Nova Scotia
Townships
from Peter Landry's interesting website on the history of Nova Scotia.
http://www.blupete.com/Hist/NovaScotiaBk2/Part1/Ch04.htm
6) A listing of all the communities within Kings
County
with their historical names. http://www.rootsweb.com/~nskings/commun.html
7) Municipality of the County of Kings website from
which one can download driving maps of Kings County. http://www.county.kings.ns.ca/
8) The Annapolis
Valley Newspaper Extracts Project. Phil Vogler's website of
information mostly from the Berwick Register from 1897 onward. http://www.rootsweb.com/~canbrnep/index.html
Site maintained by Norman Franke. Last modified June 20, 2004