These two registers from the parish of Saint-Jean-Baptiste church in Port-Royal are the only ones to have survived, predating the expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia in 1755. The first volume covers the period from 1702 to 1728, while the second covers the period from 1727 to 1755.
The missionary priests mainly recorded baptisms, marriages and burials of Port-Royal parishioners. Port-Royal was the capital of Acadia until 1710, and became Annapolis Royal in 1713. The original manuscripts have been at the Centre acadien since the early 2000s.