L-R: Joanne McCarthy O’Leary (local history librarian, Halifax Central Library), Pamela Punch (widow of Terrence M. Punch), Bruce Elliott (Carleton University Department of History), Sara Beanlands (president, Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society), and Pamela Wile (president, Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia).
Photo credit: Joe Ballard
On October 23, Prof. Bruce Elliott of Carleton’s Department of History delivered a public lecture The Legacy of Terry Punch in honour of the late Terrence M. Punch, a long-time advocate for the importance of genealogical method in history and the pioneering historian of the Irish in Halifax. Punch was a past president of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society and the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia, and for nearly thirty years until his death in 2017 was widely known for his monthly phone-in sessions on genealogy on CBC Radio’s Maritime Noon. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by St Mary’s University in 2010 and was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2011. The lecture took place in Paul O’Regan Hall of the new Halifax Central Library and attracted about 275 people. The lecture was sponsored by the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society, Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia, Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia, Saint Mary’s University Irish Studies program, Halifax Public Libraries, and several other agencies. Dr Elliott is the author of the award-winning Irish Migrants in the Canadas. He was introduced by Patti Bannister, the Provincial Archivist of Nova Scotia.