Early education in Lunenburg County

Abstract

In this study I propose to give an historical outline of early educational conditions in Lunenburg County. After describing the efforts of the first teachers, missionaries sponsored by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, I shall give attention to those interesting and colorful personages, known as itinerant teachers. From the passing of the first Nova Scotia Education Act in 1766, I shall show the growth and significant changes which took place in the educational life of the county until 1900. I wish to place the emphasis on the attitudes of the citizens towards education, specific problems in Lunenburg County, general conditions under which some of the outstanding teachers worked, and the kind of instruction given. To make this study, I am indebted for information to the works of Bingay, DesBrisay, Akins, Murdoch and to important reports and documents preserved at the Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia.