Charles Inglis was the first Anglican Bishop of Nova Scotia from 1787 to 1816. Born in Glencolumbkille, County Donegal, Ireland in 1734, he moved to America sometime prior to age 21. There, he taught at an Anglican school in Pennsylvania until he was able to be ordained as a deacon and priest by the Bishop of Rochester in 1758. He then worked as a missionary in Delaware until 1766, when he became a curate at Trinity Church, New York.
Inglis was loyal to England during the American Revolutionary War, and faced hostility from American revolutionaries. However, he was kept safe when, in 1776, the British occupied New York, and in 1777, he was appointed the rector of Trinity Church upon the death of the previous. Unfortunately, he had to resign after the Americans won the war in 1783, and travelled back to England, where he stayed for three years until he was appointed the Bishop of Nova Scotia in 1787.
After moving to Nova Scotia with his family, Inglis would spend the rest of his life there. Though he faced early obstacles in the form of a hostile Lieutenant Governor and clergy, his time was made easier when a fellow friendly loyalist was appointed Lieutenant Governor. As for the clergy, he instituted mandatory visitations, and invited them to discuss their ideas with him rather than dictate, and tried to interfere in their affairs as little as possible. These actions won him respect among the Nova Scotia Anglican community.
In 1788, Inglis established the King's Collegiate School, and then the University of King's College in 1789, with the express purpose of training more clergy for the Anglican church in Nova Scotia. He partially retired in 1795, moved from Halifax to Windsor, then to Aylesford, to live on a large estate, and it was there that he passed away in 1816. He had brought up his son, John, to take over for him after his death, and though this goal was not achieved immediately after his death, John eventually became the third Bishop of Nova Scotia in 1825.
In 1883, the office of Collector, or Agent w~s created by the Board.76The Collector canvassed for the College around the Maritime provinces. He kept subscription books recording all the donors and pledges collecting during their work. The position of Agent was later known as Traveling Secretary.77 None of the agents hired were particularly successful. The position was abolished in 1911, to be resurrected only on the direction of a Committee.
The Library was founded in 1799 through the efforts of Charles Inglis, first Bishop of Nova Scotia and founder of the University.
When King's was established in 1789, the Board of Governors collected funds for a Library, but it was not until a decade later that efforts were made to obtain books. The Board entrusted the money to alumnus John Inglis, son of the Bishop (and later Bishop himself), who sailed to England in 1800 to purchase books. He assembled books worth over £1250 and was promised further gifts once potential donors were satisfied that there was a real connection between the College and the Anglican Church. Through John Inglis' efforts, the nucleus of the collection was accumulated by 1802: books in classics, history, foreign languages, literature, the natural sciences and theology.
While in England, John Inglis also pursued a Royal Charter for King's, which was drafted in May 1802 and arrived in Aug 1802 with news of a grant of £1000 from Parliament. Once the Charter was in force, supporters circulated a printed plea for support of the young University: "The original character of the Institution was preserved by the Charter, which was henceforward to be its fundamental law. The connection with the Church was secured. The Archbishop of Canterbury, through whom all that had been effected in England for its welfare, had been obtained, was made its Patron, with the power of a negative on all Statutes, which may be regarded as the key-stone of the connection between the College and the Church. The Bishop of the Diocese was also appointed Visitor of the College; and it is well known to be the first duty of the Visitor, to take care that the intentions of the Founder are always preserved inviolate."
In Windsor, the early collection was housed in a room on the cast end of the main building, below what is now called North Pole Bay. The first recorded circulation transaction was on 20 Sep 1857. When Convocation Hall was constructed in 1858, the Library and Museum moved to the second floor. When the University moved to Halifax in the 1920s, the Library was installed on the third floor of the main building.
The University's first recorded Librarian was Benjamin Gerrish Grey. The University hired its first professional Librarian, Rebecca Nash, in 1963. Librarians have consisted of either Professors receiving honoraria for additional responsibilities or other staff performing Librarian duties.
Plans for a new Library building evolved during the 1980s, and fund-raising for it became a University bicentennial project, "A Rare Find." The University's first building dedicated solely to the Library and Archives was opened on 14 May 1991.
More information on the history and structure of the University of King's College Library can be found in the finding aid linked below.
The position of Registrar was established by The Statutes, Rules and Ordinances of the University of King's College at Windsor in the Province of Nova Scotia, 1803. The other officers of the University were the "Vice-President, or Dean, Bursar, and Proctors." The structure of this element of the University of King’s College administration continued with minor adjustments through to the 1950s.
In 1954, the Board of Governors moved that "a small committee be appointed to review the whole internal administration of the College, and to define the respective duties of the Treasurer, the Bursar, the Registrar, the Dean of Residence, the Dean of Divinity, the Public Relations Officer, and other officers of administration, and to confer with the incoming President at their mutual convenience and to report to the Executive at the earliest possible date. The Report of the Bishop's Committee on Personnel, presented to the Board in Nov 1954, recommended the creation of the position of Vice President and combining the Registrar and Public Relations Officer positions into one role.
In recent decades, the Registrar's role has grown from a part time position held by a professor who also had teaching responsibilities, to a full time Registrar whose office has several staff members and operates on a business model designed to maintain and even increase revenue to the University.
The Office takes care of students' day-to-day requests and assists them throughout their undergraduate years. In addition to recruitment, admissions, registration, academic advising and Encaenia, the Registrar's activities include retention of students; presiding at Matriculation; distributing scholarships and bursaries; calculating grade point averages; determining eligibility for graduation and Encaenia award winners; and issuing transcripts. The Registrar's Office responds to requests for information and assistance from students who present a wide range of questions, problems or concerns; staff are in regular contact with other student service units at King's and Dalhousie to provide individual support, referral and case management.
The Registrar's Office is a student's primary resource for scholarships, bursaries and financial aid. Staff provide individual financial advising and budgeting assistance, offer information about bursaries and temporary loan programs, and assist in resolving problems with student loans.