Somewhat arbitrarily, this list defines a "First Family" as someone who was either present at the first arrival June 8, 1753 or showed up in church, land grant, or victualling records over the next 20 years or so. This list is also restricted to Lunenburg Township and does not cover any settlement of Chester or Dublin Townships.

Ideally, all of the data presented here should have come from my perusal only of original documentation. In that way, any errors would be mine (assuming that the originals were correct). Regretably, I do not have access to all data in its original form. Thus, secondary sources (the works of others) have also been consulted; this means both their and my errors may have crept in. All this makes the Founding Families listing a tertiary site. It should therefore be used with some caution. At least it will point you where to go for confirmation (or correction) of data.

All data sources are cited. To save space, these sources are abbreviated. For example,

• [TR1] stands for Lunenburg Town Lot Registry of 1753 and 1762. The 1 means this is a Primary source - I used the original documentation (microfilm) and any errors in transcription are mine.
• [VL2] stands for Victualing List of 1756. The 2 means that the data was taken from a Secondary source. In this case, the book "Historic Saga of Lehève (LaHave)" by Ruth E Kaulback, 1970.

For a given family name, the data is presented in four sections: FAMILY NAME, DOCUMENTS CITING THE NAME, EUROPEAN HOMELAND AND LUNENBURG LAND GRANTS, and FAMILY MEMBERS DETAILS. In all cases, if any of the data is located on an Internet site, a link to that site is provided.

In the FAMILY NAMES Section, the following information is provided:

• The main FAMILY NAME spelling generally in use today;
• ALTERNATE SPELLINGS of the name as found in a variety of sources.

In the DOCUMENTS CITING THE NAME Section, the following information is provided:

• [NS2] Page reference in the book "Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867", by Leonard H. Smith Jr. and Norma H Smith, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD, 1992, ISBN 0-8063-1343-9; This book draws upon the authors' survey of 467 documents. For Lunenburg devotees, references to original passenger lists are given.
• [PP2] Page reference in the book "Planters & Pioneers" Revised Edition, by Esther Clark Wright, Lancelot Press Ltd., Hantsport, NS, 1982, ISBN 0-88999-087-5; In addition to family names, family compositions and some dates are given. Original sources are not documented.
• [FP2] Page reference in the book "The 'Foreign Protestants' and the Settlement of Nova Scotia" 2nd Edition, by Winthrop P. Bell, Centre for Canadian Studies, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, 1990, ISBN 0-919107-28-1; This book is an in depth look at why and how Lunenburg came to be settled. It is very detailed with extensive references to original documents. It is not, however, a source book for individuals, although some are mentioned. In preparation for this book, Bell made extensive notes of families and individuals. These so-called Bells' Notes have never been published; they are available on microfilm. Numerous volunteers have typed up individual notes of interest and forwarded them to Don Shankle, who will redistribute on request. The list currently available is posted on the Lunenburg GenWeb site.
• [HL2] Page reference in the book "History of the County of Lunenburg" 2nd Edition, by Mather B. DesBrisay, William Briggs, Toronto, ON, 1895; This book details what research DesBresay was able to conduct about the time of Confederation; the first edition was published in 1870. The index does not cover individuals, although they are mentioned throughout. An index of names can be found at the Lunenburg GenWeb site.
• [BC2][DR2][DS2][PC2][SJ2][ZL2] If the name appears in Birth, Marriage or Death records kept by the various churches. Since the early records were written in German all have been translated and copies of these translations are available. I surveyed all of the St John's Anglican Church records of 1753-1773 and some subsequent Dutch Reform and Zion Lutheran Churches records as well. Don Shankle has surveyed all the church records he was able to find and has placed details of over 25,000 birth, marriage and death records on the Lunenburg GenWeb site. These records were also surveyed.
• [CI2] If the name appears in the four volume "Cemetery Inscriptions" published by the South Shore Genealogical Society of Lunenburg. The first two volumes have been updated and are available in print or on disk.
• [HO2] If the name appears the Index of Obituaries 1962-1992 put out by the Halifax Newspapers; There are some 220,000 names listed. the records give only Name, date the Obituary was first published, and Place of death. For obituary details, one would have to consult archives and libraries. More recent obituaries are available on disk or CD and give full details.
• [PW1] If the name appears in the Index to Probated Wills. This index lists names of about 15,000 individuals whose wills have been probated in Lunenburg County from 1770-1996. Individual wills are available for viewing at the County Probate Offices in Bridgewater.,
• [CM1] If the name appears on the AF Church & Co Map of Heads of Households produced about 1864.
• [CC2] If the name appears in The Surname Index to Canadian Census Returns for 1871 prepared by the Bridgewater Business & Information Service.
• [MM1] If the name appears on the Montbeliard Monument erected on Blockhouse Hill in Lunenburg; the photos were taken by Gail Facini.
• Other citations to this name (e.g. militia).

In the EUROPEAN HOMELAND AND LUNENBURG LAND GRANTS Section, the following information is provided:

• Given Name(s) of heads of housholds
• Birth - Death dates
• [PL2] Stated Age and Occupation at time of immigration (from Passenger Lists. The passenger lists were largely taken from those published in the book "Historic Saga of Lehève (LaHave)" by Ruth E Kaulback, 1970.)
• [PL2] Home Village/area and country (from Passenger Lists).
• [PL2] Ship and year of passage (from Passenger Lists). Known passenger lists and Public Archives of Nova Scotia (PANS) availability for the following ships' passages include:
  • Ann 1750 Public Record Office, Kew, Surrey, UK: CO-217/9 gives list of passengers.
  • Betty 1752 Public Record Office, Kew, Surrey, UK: CO-217/14/List No. 4 gives list of arrivals.
  • Gale 1751 PANS MG-4, No. 83, pp. 17-30 gives list of passengers.
  • Gale 1752 PANS MG-100, Vol. 39, No. 86 gives list of passengers; PANS MG-4, No. 83, pp. 59-64 gives list of passengers victualed in Halifax 19 Feb-15 Apr 1753.
  • Murdoch 1751 PANS MG-4, No. 83, pp. 31-36 gives list of passengers.
  • Pearl 1751 PANS MG-4, No. 83, pp. 37-42 gives list of passengers.
  • Pearl 1752 PANS MG-4, No. 83, pp. 65-70 gives list of passengers victualed in Halifax 19 Feb-15 Apr 1753.
  • Sally 1752 PANS MG-4, No. 83, pp. 51-58 gives list of passengers victualed in Halifax 19 Feb-15 Apr 1753.
  • Speedwell 1751 PANS MG-4, No. 83, pp. 13-16 gives list of passengers.
  • Speedwell 1752 PANS MG-4, No. 83, pp. 45-46, 48-50 gives list of passengers victualed in Halifax 19 Feb-15 Apr 1753.
  • Two other ships, the Alderney and the Nancy sailed with passengers in 1750. Regretably, the passenger lists have never been located; a partial list of presumed passengers has been created.
  • The first wave of settlers came in 1749 to Halifax with Corwallis. A List of Foreigners has been created.
  • A complete list of 1100 settlers who sailed to Halifax on 13 ships in 1749 is available.
  Names of passengers who have no record of travelling to Lunenburg are not included.
• [VL2] Whether the name appeared on the Lunenburg Victualing List of 1756 as published in the book "Historic Saga of Lehève (LaHave)" by Ruth E Kaulback, 1970.
• [TR1] What Town Lot was assigned in 1753 (from Bell's Notes) and occupied in the 1762 Registry
• [GR1] What Garden Lot was occupied in 1762 Registry
• [30A1] What 30 Acre Farm Lot was assigned in 1753 (from Bell's Notes) and occupied in the 1760 Registry
• [300A1] What 300 Acre Lot was assigned in 1763-6
• [TG1] What Township Grant was given in 1784. Until then, those that had been given land did not hold complete title to their land even though they were able to buy and sell; this grant formally transferred ownership. The acreages listed are a consolidation of that held by individuals at the time. The original document was viewed (microfilm held at the NS Department of Lands in Halifax); the list is published in the book "History of the County of Lunenburg" 2nd Edition, by Mather B. DesBrisay.

In the FAMILY MEMBERS DETAILS Section, the following information taken from various church records is provided:

• When married.
• Name(s) of the wife, maiden name, and Birth - Death dates.
• Names of the children, their Birth - Death dates, and who they married and when.
• Other data of interest.

Some of the boxes in the presentations is shaded in red. This indicates that information was not available or could not be located.

IS THERE MORE DATA TO COME?
Further helpful data could include the Halifax Victualing records and other Lunenburg Victualing records. If located, these will be added.

Also helpful would be information on what happened to families who made only a brief appearance.

CAN YOU HELP?
You bet!!!

Errors may have occured in my transcription from the Primary and Secondary sources, and there may have been errors in the Secondary sources to begin with. If any of you have had the good fortune to see primary sources and have corrected data, or new data, please forward to me for inclusion. I will cite all submissions.

Also, if you have, or know of web sites that deal with any of the founding families, please forward that for inclusion as well.