Phyllis Blakeley

Phyllis Ruth Blakeley (2 August 192225 October 1986) was a Canadian historian, biographer and archivist who served as the Provincial Archivist of Nova Scotia from 1982 to 1985.

Biography Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Blakeley received a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Bachelor of Education degree, and a Master of Arts degree from Dalhousie University. In 1945, she became a research assistant at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. She became assistant archivist in 1959 and associate archivist in 1977. In 1982, she was appointed as the provincial archivist for Nova Scotia and was the first woman to hold that position. She retired in 1985.

Her publications include Glimpses of Halifax (1949), Nova Scotia - A Brief History (1956), The Story of Prince Edward Island (1963), and Nova Scotia's Two Remarkable Giants: Angus McAskill and Anna Swan (1970). She was also a contributor to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, having contributed 31 historical biographies. She received a Doctor of Law degree from Dalhousie University in 1977 and a Doctor of Letters from St. Mary's University in 1983. In 1979, she was made a Fellow of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society.