If you are interested in the history of Rockingham and surrounding area, check your library for the following publications.
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Sweet Suburb: A History of Prince's Lodge, Birch Cove & Rockingham
Sharon & Wayne Ingalls. Glen Margaret Publishing, 2010.
"Sweet Suburb" chronicles the history of three communities located along the western shore of Bedford Basin between 1746 and 1946. While referencing provincial, national, and international stories and how they affected the communities of Prince's Lodge, Birch Cove, and Rockingham, the book also chronicles the lives of local families and individuals such as the Donaldsons and His Royal Highness Prince Edward, Duke of Kent.
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A Colonial Portrait, the Halifax Diaries of Lady Sherbrooke 1811-1816
Edited by G. Brenton Haliburton. LuLu Press Inc., 2011.
Between 1811 and 1816, Lady Sherbrooke lived in Nova Scotia and kept a diary. While residing primarily at Government House in Halifax, she and Sir John Sherbrooke, Lt. Gov. of Nova Scotia also maintained a summer home in Birch Cove. "A Colonial Portrait" contains numerous entries describing their time in Birch Cove, Prince's Lodge, and Rockingham.
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High Seas and Yankee Gunboats, a Blockade-Running Adventure from the diary of James Dickson
Roger Durham. University of South Carolina Press, 2005.
To describe the life of James Dickson as an adventure is an understatement. Born in Georgia, at the outbreak of the American Civil War, Dickson decided to support the South by becoming a blockade runner. His one and only trip took him from the United States to Birch Cove where stayed with relatives, the Donaldsons, for six weeks during the winter of 1862. He records his time in Birch Cove before beginning his perilous trip south. Dickson returned a second time to Birch Cove in 1864 to marry Emma Donaldson with whom he had fallen in love in 1862.
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The Prince and His Lady
Mollie Gillen, Formac Publishing, 1970, 2nd edition 2005.
More than an incredible love story, "The Prince and His Lady" describes the public and behind the scenes drama of the lives of Prince Edward Duke of Kent and Julie de St. Laurent over a 27 year period in Gibraltar, Quebec and, most importantly for us, Halifax and Prince's Lodge. Gillen's book describes, in vivid detail, the six year period from 1794 to 1800 when 'Julie and the Duke' resided in their summer home on the shores of Bedford Basin. By reading "The Prince and His Lady" readers will gain valuable insights into the Duke's development of his unique English Landscape Garden in what was, at the time, a North American forest and what is now known as Prince's Lodge.
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Underground Halifax, Stories of Archaeology in the City
Edited by Paul Erickson, Nimbus Publishing, 2005.
While the book " Underground Halifax" introduces readers to an extensive number of archaeological projects in Halifax, it is the chapter entitled, "The Rockingham Inn Project" that will be of particular interest to those researching Prince's Lodge. David Williamson describes an exciting archaeological dig in 1994/95 initiated by the Rockingham Heritage Society. The dig centered on the Rockingham Inn, once a barrack for troops under the command of Prince Edward Duke of Kent.
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Barometer Rising
Hugh MacLennan , McLelland and Stewart Limited, 1941
In his introduction to "Barometer Rising" Hugo McPherson describes Hugh MacLennan's novel as 'a major weather sign in the history of Canadian writing.' He went on to add that MacLennan 'dramatically revealed the nature of his country's character.' McPherson ended by stating that 'Barometer Rising marks a major advance in Canadian fiction. To Hugh MacLennan belongs the distinction of opening a frontier of the richest promise.' For those interested in Rockingham, Birch Cove and Prince's Lodge however, is the fact that part of the story takes place in Prince's Lodge. 'Barometer Rising' is set in Halifax with the story unfolding over eight days from Dec. 2nd to the 10th 1917, the eight days that surround and include the infamous Halifax Explosion.