Essays in the History of Canadian Law: Nova Scotia

This third volume of Essays in the History of Canadian Law presents thoroughly researched,
original essays in Nova Scotian legal history. An introduction by the editors is followed by ten
essays grouped into four main areas of study. The first is the legal system as a whole: essays in
this section discuss the juridical failure of the Annapolis regime, present a collective biography
of the province's superior court judiciary to 1900, and examine the property rights of married
women in the nineteenth century. The second section deals with criminal law, exploring
vagrancy laws in Halifax in the late nineteenth century, aspects of prisons and punishments
before 1880, and female petty crime in Halifax.

The third section, on family law, examines the

issues of divorce from 1750 to 1890 and child custody from 1866 to 1910. Finally, two essays relate

to law and the economy: one examines the Mines Arbitration Act of 1888; the other considers the

question of private property and public resources in the context of the administrative control of

water in Nova Scotia.