Accession number(s): G80-088, 15666A, 15682A, 15687A
The Dept. of the Provincial Secretary was established in 1872. Prior to that, the origins of this department was in the offices of the Colonial Secretaries for the Colony of Vancouver Island (1863-1866), the Colony of British Columbia (1864-1866) and the united colony of British Columbia (1866-1871). When British Columbia joined confederation in 1871, the name Colonial Secretary remained in place until April 1872 when a Provincial Secretary was named to assume the duties and functions (SBC 1872, c. 15).
The mandate of the Provincial Secretary included all the powers, duties and functions held by provincial secretaries and registrars in other provinces of the Dominion of Canada. They included being the keeper of the Great Seal of the Province, with the authority to issue letters patent and commissions, and being the keeper of all registers and archives of the province and previous governments of the province. As with other departments, it was also the duty of the Provincial Secretary to make an annual report to the Lieutenant-Governor. The first annual report was produced in 1872.
At various times, different agencies have been under the direction of the Provincial Secretary such as treasury and audit branches, Bureau of Mines, gold commissioners, Returned Soldiers’ Commission, Provincial Library and Archives, Provincial Board of Health, Vital Statistics, Provincial Home, and others. In most instances these agencies were later transferred to the control of new ministries established to administer the specific function or functions.
At various times and for varying periods, the Provincial Secretary was responsible for industrial schools, mothers’ pensions, administration of the Infants’ Act, protection of historic sites, and arbitration of labour disputes. In 1947, the Dept. of the Provincial Secretary administered the Civil Service Commission, Government Printing Bureau, Superannuation Commission, mental hospitals, institution farms, homes for the aged, inspector of hospitals, and the Elections Act.
In 1976, with the addition of travel and tourism functions from the Dept. of Recreation and Travel Industry, the Dept. of the Provincial Secretary was renamed the Ministry of the Provincial Secretary and Travel Industry (OIC 3199/76).
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The series consists of miscellaneous correspondence inward and outward on diverse topics. Most of these records pertain to the 1920s and early 1930s. Included are files dealing with the exclusion of Orientals (1921), the preservation of Craigflower schoolhouse and other historic sites, acquisitions (of paintings and photographs) by the Archives department, removal of Indian totem poles, petitions protesting the dismissal of Judge Helen Gregory MacGill (1929), and the Bedaux Sub-Arctic Expedition (1934). Early files include a memorandum on the benefits of establishing a Treasury Board for the provincial government (1872) and a letter of introduction for John Blair, landscape architect (1896).
Also included is a schedule referred to in order-in-council no. 911, confirmation of reserves, reductions of cut-off's and new reserves, Ditchburn-Clark Commission.
These records were originally a part of the Provincial Secretary's Central Registry, and so may be used in conjunction with GR-0496, GR-0526 and other collections of general subject files.
The three files with map accession numbers 15666A, 15682A and 15687A were found in the Provincial Secretary's Topaz Avenue vault around 1974 and were accessioned as maps in 1980. They were added to this series in 2023.
* KHUGHES 2014-04-23
Revised Khughes 2023-09-21
For other copies of the Ditchburn-Clark schedule of reserves and cut-offs, see GR-0931 and GR-2039.
There are no access restrictions.
Finding aid: box/file list.
http://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Document/Finding_Aids_Atom/GR-1501_to_GR-2000/gr-1668.pdf
File location: Box 1, File 1.
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File location: Box 1, File 1.
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File location: Box 1, File 1.
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File location: Box 1, File 1.
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File location: Box 1, File 1.
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File location: Box 1, File 2.
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File location: Box 1, File 2.
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File location: Box 1, File 3.
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File location: Box 1, File 3.
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File location: Box 1, File 3.
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File location: Box 1, File 3.
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File location: Box 1, File 3.
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File location: Box 1, File 3.
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File location: Box 1, File 4.
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File location: Box 1, File 5.
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File location: Box 1, File 6.
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File location: Box 1, File 7.
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File location: Box 1, File 8.
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File location: Box 1, File 9.
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Digitized as part of the Chinese Historical Wrongs Legacy Initiative.
File location: Box 1, File 9.
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File location: Box 1, File 9.
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File location: Box 1, File 10.
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File location: Box 1, File 11.
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File location: Box 1, File 12.
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File location: Box 2, File 1.
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File location: Box 2, File 2.
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File location: Box 2, File 3.
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File location: Box 2, File 4.
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File location: Box 2, File 5.
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File location: Box 2, File 41826.
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File location: Box 2, File 8.
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File location: Box 2, File 9.
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File location: Box 2, File 10.
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File location: Box 2, File 11.
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File location: Box 2, File 12.
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File location: Box 2, File 13.
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File location: Box 2, File 14.
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File location: Box 2, File 15.
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Accession number(s): 15666A
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This file was found in the Prov. Sec. Topaz Avenue vault (env. 43) ca. 1974, accessioned as a map item in 1980 and added to this series of miscellaneous files in 2023.
Accession number(s): 15682A
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This file was found in the Prov. Sec. Topaz Avenue vault (env. 54) ca. 1974, accessioned as a map item in 1980 and added to this series of miscellaneous files in 2023.
Accession number(s): 15687A
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This file was found in the Prov. Sec. Topaz Avenue vault (env. 57) ca. 1974, accessioned as a map item in 1980 and added to this series of miscellaneous files in 2023.
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For a microfilm copy of this schedule see GR-2039.
For another copy of this schedule see GR-0931.