Old Loyalist Cemetery, Digby, N.S.

Old Loyalist Cemetery, Digby, N.S. United Empire Loyalists graveyard from 1783 in Digby, Nova Scotia

01/14/2026

An estimated 30,000 refugees came to Nova Scotia as United Empire Loyalists between 1776 and 1785.

By comparison it has been estimated 10,000 to 18,000 Acadians were deported between 1755 and 1764.

Also, about 8,000 New England Planters migrated to Nova Scotia from 1759 to 1768.

I am not related to any of them, however, my historical research encouraged me to author these four books about the United Empire Loyalists which include information on burial locations of many:

Loyalist Cemeteries & Headstones: Annapolis and Digby Counties https://www.amazon.ca/Loyalist-Cemeteries-Gravestones-Nova-Scotia/dp/B08R4F8P8Y

The Loyalists of Digby https://www.amazon.ca/Loyalists-Digby-Brian-McConnell/dp/B08WK2L9ZX

Old St. Edward's Church & the Loyalists https://www.amazon.ca/Old-St-Edwards-Church-Loyalists/dp/B09BYFX5RH

The First Church, Old Holy Trinity in Middleton, Nova Scotia https://www.amazon.ca/First-Church-Trinity-Middleton-Scotia/dp/B0C6BK4WTW

09/24/2025

United Empire Loyalists history

06/09/2025

"Admiral Digby's Vultures" published in today's Loyalist Trails. The entire article at:

https://uelac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Admiral-Digbys-Vultures-by-Brian-McConnell.pdf

09/14/2024

There are now 40 videos of Loyalist Cemeteries and gravestones in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick that can be viewed using the link below on YouTube. Approximately 10 years ago I started visiting these locations from Sydney in Nova Scotia to Fredericton in New Brunswick.

As I stated in my book "Loyalist Cemeteries & Gravestones of Nova Scotia: Annapolis & Digby Counties" these gravestones "can be considered as historical artifacts. They are part material culture and part historical document. They are dated , associated with known individuals, and were placed to convey information to future generations. For this reason it is worth learning about them and documenting where they exist."

See:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXLdY6woTzz4HdoiR2oecpytKPm_x486e"

09/03/2024

Yesterday I was interested to see in Westport, Digby County, NS mentioned on an information board the name Adam Hubbard who served with the King's Royal Regiment of New York during the American Revolution as well as his wife Catherine.

09/03/2024

Excerpt from Review by historian Stephen Davidson:

Brian McConnell’s latest book, “Loyalist Cemeteries and Gravestones of Nova Scotia: Annapolis and Digby Counties” is a vital resource for both genealogists and loyalist era historians. Richly illustrated with colour photographs of tombstones, the book takes its readers on a tour of 28 cemeteries located in two counties along the Fundy shore of Nova Scotia (Nov. 20, 2020).

Available: https://www.amazon.ca/Loyalist-Cemeteries-Gravestones-Nova-Scotia/dp/B08JDTNB3Y

07/23/2024

"Following the end of the American War of Independence in 1783, Digby evacuated many loyalist families from New York during the summer, having advised General Washington that should they not be allowed unhindered passage he would take up arms again. Many of the families were settled in Conway, Nova Scotia, which was renamed Digby in his honour."

https://morethannelson.com/officer/hon-robert-digby/

07/08/2024

Description of five books published about United Empire Loyalists by Brian McConnell, UE President of Nova Scotia Branch of United Empire Loyalists' Associa...

A presentation on "Digby's Loyalist Settlers " will be one of those at the Nova Scotia Genealogy Virtual Conference 2024...
01/02/2024

A presentation on "Digby's Loyalist Settlers " will be one of those at the Nova Scotia Genealogy Virtual Conference 2024 on May 4th and 5th by Brian McConnell.

10/15/2022

Not to be doomy or gloomy, but many people include an ancestral fact-finding component to their vacations, which often finds them traversing the old burying grounds of their ancestors. Such a graveyard exists in Digby - the Old Loyalist Cemetery at the corner of 1st Avenue and Warwick Street.

This graveyard provides an interesting insight into the early history of this Loyalist Town, founded in 1783 by United Empire Loyalist Settlers from the Eastern United States.

Originally a private family cemetery, the Old Loyalist Cemetery is one of the oldest burial grounds in Digby. It was established in 1783-84 as the burial ground for the Rutherford family.
The family patriarch was a native of the County of Waterford in Ireland. Rutherford emigrated to White Plains, New York in 1772, and came to Digby as a Loyalist after the American Revolution.

The cemetery contains many interesting headstones and markers whose epitaphs make entertaining reading.

Address

73 First Avenue
Digby, NS
B0V1A0

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Old Loyalist Cemetery in Digby, Nova Scotia

Reminder of United Empire Loyalist heritage in SW Nova Scotia is sign in Digby, near corner of Warwick Street and First Avenue, marking the "Old Loyalist Cemetery, 1783”.