Mallory Burton's List: Favourite Ripley Research Resources

Listing of the christenings, marriages, deaths in Ingleby Yorkshire from 1539. This book lists the baptisms of Robert Ripley and Isabella Beane's children who were born in Yorkshire. Indexed.

Excellent website containing information about early settlers to Cumberland County Nova Scotia including Ripleys by my cousin Gordon Ripley. Includes an essay on the Yorkshire Migration, ship passenger lists, births, deaths, and marriages for early Cumberland County.

This history of early Chignecto Isthmus was published in 1902 by Howard Trueman. I find there is considerable overlap with the Posterity of William Black which was published a little earlier. Contains information about the early forts and churches and many family descriptions and genealogies. I have found several inaccuracies but this is a good starting point. Online and downloadable as a .pdf. Not indexed so use the find command (Ctrl or Cmd +F) to search the document for a particular name.

Published in 1885 by Cyrus Black, a descendant of the Methodist preacher William Black. The book is a sketch of 23 families who settled mainly in the River Philip area. It has a chapter on early English Settlers which includes the Ripleys on page 176.

Contains great information on early settlers from Yorkshire and ships' passenger lists from the Yorkshire Migration. Portions of the book are viewable online and you can also purchase as a paper or e-reader book at Amazon. The first-ever comprehensive book written on early English immigration to Canada, Planters, Paupers, and Pioneers introduces a series of three titles on The English in Canada. Focusing on factors that brought the English to Atlantic Canada, it traces the English arrivals to their various settlements in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland, and considers their reasons for leaving their homeland. Who were they? When did they arrive? Were they successful? What was their lasting impact? Drawing on wide-ranging documentary sources, including passenger lists, newspaper shipping reports, and the wealth of material to be found in English county record offices and in Canadian national and provincial archives, the book provides extensive details of the immigrants and their settlements and gives details of more than 700 Atlantic crossings — essential reading for individuals wishing to trace English and Canadian family links or to deepen understanding of the emigration process.

Fantastic resource on the early Yorkshire Migration with sections on DesBarres, Blinkhorns, Harrisons. Also detailed account of the visit of Captain John MacDonald to the DesBarres leases in Maccan Nappan mentioning Thomas Coates and William Pipes. Portions of this book are viewable online and you can also purchase it in book or e-book form at Amazon. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the Saloutos Prize of the Immigration History SocietyBailyn's Pulitzer Prize-winning book uses an emigration roster that lists every person officially known to have left Britain for America from December 1773 to March 1776 to reconstruct the lives and motives of those who emigrated to the New World."Voyagers to the West is a superb book...It should be equally admired by and equally attractive to the general reader as to the professional historian."--R.C. Simmons, Journal of American Studies

Publication at Cumberland County Genealogical Centre in Amherst. Contains Family Group sheets for many of the original families. This is very useful for getting started on those families for whom it is difficult to find early records. Includes Robert Ripley and Isabella Beane.

My cousin Gord Ripley's indexed website contains a genealogy for the first 5 generations of Ripleys. It was originally based on the work of Ernest Coates (1910-1997) and Lawson Smith ( 1899-1984) who were able to collect a great deal of anecdotal information from descendants of original settlers. Gord updates the website regularly.

Located in Amherst Nova Scotia. They have a great website and many helpful resources online and for sale. They are able to do lookups for gravestones and early wills. The Ernest Coates Collection is a very helpful resource for many early families. Check out the 8 files on the Ripley family and don't forget to ask for the maps file.

Museum in Amherst also has genealogical services and resources.

Includes birth, marriage, and death records. These can be searched and viewed for free. You can also order copies for a fee. These records are supposedly linked to Ancestry but I am able to find more with a direct search here.

Provides marriage records for the years 1832-1894

Nova Scotia Archives early records for Cumberland County. Census records contains only the name of the head of the household and number of males and females. Some tax records include information about livestock and harvests. These are linked to Ancestry.com but they recently changed their url's so if you find the links are not repaired you can search directly here.

At Nova Scotia Archives, best place to search for early land petitions. In most cases, you can view the original petition, survey report, and grant online. The Yorkshire Grant and Southampton Grant are listed. Includes Robert Ripley, Henry Ripley, Luke Harrison, William Pipes, Thomas Coates.

You can order the A. F. Church map and Crown Land Index Maps here. There are links for viewing the Crown Land Index Maps online and for ordering maps. At the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources.

A bit dated but good explanation of the various holdings on townships records and where they can be found.

Contains some early records but certainly 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911, 1921 Censuses at Library and Archives Canada (LAC)

Will Book A covers wills probated in Cumberland County 1770 to 1830. The index is available online so you can check its contents. The entire will book is available on CD or you can request individual documents from Cumberland County Genealogical Society for a fee. I purchased this resource just for the will and estate papers of Robert Ripley but as my family tree expanded, I have also found it contains many other wills in which I am interested. the CCGS also has Will Book B on site and can do lookups but the CD and index are not yet available.

This is a must-have resource by the late Susan A. Hill. Includes transcriptions of the graves in each cemetery and maps of the locations of the individual graves which will save you hours or hunting. Covers many cemeteries around Amherst, Maccan, Nappan, Fenwick