09 Oct The missing history of Nova Scotia’s lieutenant governors

Contrarian’s old friend Ivan Smith—retired teacher, railway buff, and citizen watchdog—writes to decry the inexplicable removal from Lieutenant Governor Mayann Francis’s official website of the brief biographies of former L-Gs it once contained:

Nowadays there is a simple list of the previous office-holders, showing names, dates of service, and nothing else. Contrast this sparse treatment with the list that was available in 2005. At first glance, the two look similar, but there is a crucial difference. In the website’s 2005 list, each name was a link to a brief but informative biographical note about that Lieutenant Governor or Governor. In the website’s 2009 list, the links have disappeared. All we get are the names and dates — no biographical information of any kind.

To illustrate the loss, check out the 2005 biographical note for Sir John Wentworth (missing from the official website and available only as an archived copy stored in the Wayback Machine).

A call to Christopher McCreery, her honor’s personal secretary, elicited assurances that historical sketches will be reinstated when the website is revamped in conjunction with soon-to-be completed renovations to Government House. You have to wonder why they were excised in the first place, but at least they are coming back. Score one for Citizen Smith.