Material/Index:
There are 6645 records in this index: it includes the name of every teacher requesting a license or payment for teaching services. In the case where many teachers appear on a single document, the document is filed under the first name and all other names are cross-referenced. Many of the same names appear often since teachers or the school board had to apply for reimbursement on a yearly basis. The index also indicates the county where the teacher lives and/or taught.
Scope and Content:
This series comprises petitions, certifications and copies of licenses. The extant records in this series are records of action when teachers asking for government licenses submitted petitions between 1812 and 1882. These documents contain biographical data such as names, country of birth, education, teaching experience, church affiliation and samples of handwriting. Local school trustees and clergymen attached certificates verifying the petitioner's teaching ability and his/her moral and religious character. Certificates were submitted by the justices of the courts of general sessions giving the names of the teachers entitled to pay. The files are arranged alphabetically within a year.
Historical Information:
When New Brunswick was established in 1784, instructions to Governor Thomas Carleton included direction that the Province licence and make provision to pay teachers of education. As a result, the Governor-in-Council (cum Lieutenant Governor-in-Council after 1786) oversaw matters of education until well into the nineteenth cenury.
In 1837, in an attempt to improve the quality of education, an act was passed approving the establishment of county school boards to provide unified examining services for the schools at the county level, and to receive applications from persons desiring to obtain parish school licenses. Acceptable candidates were recommended to the Lieutenant Governor in Council. Teachers received their pay after local officials submitted a petition to government containing a list of their names and the salaries to which they were entitled.
The Provincial Board of Education (later Department of Education) assumed this function in the late-nineteenth century.
In 1969, an Office of Teacher Certification was established to conduct reviews of teacher education and teacher certification. Just as teachers in the nineteenth century had to have their credentials reviewed, teachers of the late-twentieth century had to meet academic and professional qualifications.
Records on Microfilm:
Microfilm | Date and first file on film | Date and last file on film |
F10318 | 1812 Hayward, John | 1823 Gough, Maurice |
F10319 | 1823 Gray, William | 1828 Arseneau, Charles |
F10320 | 1828 Babbit, Samuel | 1830 Gray, Benjamin |
F10321 | 1830 Hackett, Patrick | 1832 Doran, Michael |
F10322 | 1832 Eagles, William | 1833 McEldowney, James |
F10323 | 1833 McEwen, Jane | 1834 Wood, Rebecca |
F10324 | 1834 Wood, Thomas W. | 1836 Morton, John O. |
F10325 | 1836 Mount, Hugh A. | 1837 McEwen, Jane |
F10326 | 1837 McGravey, John Keys | 1839 Wood, Thomas |
F10327 | 1840 Atkinson, Thomas | 1841 McNamara, Michael |
F10328 | 1841 Nesbit, Sophia Meliora | 1842 Enery, Paul |
F10329 | 1842 Eppes, Henry | 1842 Murphy, Dennis |
F10330 | 1842 Murray, Edward | 1842 Stark, James |
F10331 | 1842 Stevenson, Alexander | 1843 King, William |
F10332 | 1843 Laird, James | 1844 Borthwick, Elizabeth |
F10333 | 1844 Boyd, Michael | 1844 Summers, William E. |
F10334 | 1844 Terrice, William F. | 1845 Newcomb, James |
F10335 | 1845 O'Corcoran, John | 1846 Leary, Dennis |
F10336 | 1846 LeBlanc, Dominique M. | 1847 Cassidy, Hugh |
F10337 | 1847 Caulfield, William | 1847 Peters, Catharine Jane |
F10338 | 1847 Phinney, John S. | 1851 Fillmore, King D. |
F10339 | 1851 Harvey, Mary | 1859 Roberts, J. C. Edward |
F10440 | 1860 Barclay, Ann | 1882 Harley, Timothy F. |