This fonds consists of records created by The Sisters of St. Ann over the approximately 160 years that they have operated in the West.

St. Joseph’s Province, as an organizational structure, was formed in 1891 and incorporated by the Province of British Columbia in 1892. Prior to that, the governing body of the Sisters of St. Ann in the west was primarily the Vicariate, and the Vicariate’s records and functions were absorbed by the Provincial Administration within St. Joseph’s Province. The Province encompassed all the western provinces and the two territories of Canada as well as Alaska and Washington State. The Administration was composed of the Provincial Superior or Leader, her secretary and Councilors, the Provincial Bursar or Treasurer, the Provincial Archivist, and at one time, the Prefect of Studies, Prefect of Music, Mistress of Novices, and Directress of Juniorate. In 2004 co-leadership roles were established, with two Sisters as co-leaders in 2004 and a triumvirate created in 2017. In 2019, St. Joseph’s Province was suspended and a new Local Community was founded.

As it was an intermediate form of government, the Provincial Administration raised issues with the General Administration on behalf of the local houses, but was free to act on its own within the constraints of the Constitution and Rules of the Sisters of Saint Anne, particularly with regard to dispensations, permissions, finances, and establishment or closing of ministries. The Provincial Administration of St. Joseph's Province has always been maintained in Victoria, B.C., as a separate juridical entity and until 1974, was housed at St. Ann's Academy in Victoria. After the closure of the school and the sale of the buildings, the administration was moved to Begbie House at 1550 Begbie Street, Victoria, B.C.

Recording activities, transactions, and persons has always been a policy with the Sisters of St. Ann and these are found in ledgers, registers, and forms throughout the fonds, particularly in the context of schools. There are files of correspondence relating to certain subjects or activities, reports and copies of reports made to counterparts in the General Administration and vice versa, minutes of meetings, chronicles (house journals), journals of official visitations, school records, records of Sisters' studies, and a great deal of miscellaneous reference, "orphaned", or ephemeral material.

The series consists of specifications for Public Works buildings, including occasional plans and contract forms, created between 1872 and 1924 by the Dept. of Public Works.

This series consists of a three page report and four pages of evidence taken by the commission appointed to examine into the conduct and management of the Royal Columbian Hospital. Report printed in Sessional Papers, 1883-84, p. 283-284.

This series consists of correspondence relating to the Royal Columbian Hospital. Contains copy of printed "Report of an investigation held at the Royal Columbian Hospital on the 13th day of February, 1883."

This series consists of a four page report and evidence taken by the commission to inquire into the management of the Provincial Asylum for Insane, New Westminster. Report printed in Sessional Papers, 1883-84, p. 281-282.

This series contains miscellaneous correspondence and reports. These records were originally a part of the Provincial Secretary's central registry but, for reasons unknown, became separated from the department's main files. A wide variety of subjects are addressed in these records.

Many of the records in this unit concern investigations carried out under the authority of the Departmental Inquiries Act and the Public Inquiries Act. Many relate to conditions in public institutions and activities of government employees. Many inquiries relate to hospitals and schools in the province, including Vernon Mental Hospital, Tranquille Sanatorium, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and Provincial Mental Hospital at Essondale. Other inquiries and Commissions include bribery of the Liquor Control Board, the Beban Mine disaster, Royal Commission on Dominion Provincial Relations, Inquiry into the death of John Meredith Sweeney and the state and management of the Quartermaster Stores of the Provincial Police Force.

The records also relate to child welfare programs, including the general management of the Provincial Industrial School for Boys and to the Girls' Industrial School, ca. 1930-1945. Additional documents in this collection relate to subjects such as squatters' claims at the Granville Townsite [Vancouver (1887)], to the Fraser River Flood Relief programme (1894), applications for seed, the Victoria Consolidated Hydraulic Mining Co., government perquisites, legislation, estates, and to proposed sites for the University of British Columbia (1910). "Anti-Oriental" petitions and voting returns of the 1924 beer-by-the-glass plebiscite also included.

The Provincial Secretary was responsible for the administration of grants to public hospitals, and later regulation of the the hospitals, until the Hospital Insurance Service was established as the third branch of the Department of Health and Welfare in 1948. At that time the regulation of hospitals became the responsibility of the Hospital Insurance Service Branch. This collection is comprised of 6 series of records relating to the administration of the public hospitals of B.C.: files for individual public hospitals relating to special grants (1915-1947), annual reports of the public hospitals (1921-1933), correspondence of the Provincial Secretary and the Deputy Provincial Secretary with the public hospitals (1921-1933), a card series detailing monthly grants to the individual hospitals (1923-1941), a card series entitled "Liquor profits to hospitals" (1922-1929) and a card series detailing grants to orphanages and other charitable institutions and organizations (1890-1934). The series are not all complete. While there are annual reports of the hospitals for the years 1921-1937, the only complete sets are for 1921, 1923-1925, 1934 and 1936. Boxes 1-11 : Files re: special grants to individual hospitals (may contain blueprints, photos, reports, correspondence, etc.) 1915-1947 Boxes 12-15 : Annual reports of hospitals 1921-1937 Boxes 16-19 : Correspondence of the Provincial Secretary and Deputy Provincial Secretary re: hospital funding 1921-1933 Boxes 20-22 : 3 card sets detailing funding to hospitals and other charitable institutions 1890-1941

The series consists of records created by the Dept. of Public Works between 1893 and 1926. The files contain contracts, specifications, and plans of Public Works buildings such as schools, gaols, court houses and hospitals. They are arranged chronologically.

Series consists of a record of hospital patients, 1898, 1901, 1905 (3 vols.); record of outdoor patients, June 1898 - October 1900.

The file consists of a black and white acetate negative and a black and white print from the negative. The image shows the first St. Bartholomew's hospital on fire. The hospital was in Lytton, BC and the fire took place in 1904.

Minute book of the Bella Coola Hospital Board.

In 1907 the British Columbia Anti-Tuberculosis Society built the Tranquille sanatorium for the care of persons afflicted with Tuberculosis. The provincial government purchased the sanatorium in 1921 from the Society. This unit includes a small amount of material from the pre-1921 period (1909-1920).

This unit includes records of the Anti-Tuberculosis Society, correspondence of the medical superintendent of Tranquille Sanatorium with his counterparts at many sanatoria in North America and with the Deputy Provincial Secretary. The reports of the Central Council of the Tuberculosis Division and the Coordinating Committee at Tranquille give a good picture of life in the institution, as does the file labelled "Pests". The lectures and examinations for student nurses give a useful view of the understanding and treatment of the disease. The unit also includes packages for various departmental conferences in the 1930s which show how the various branches of the Department of the Provincial Secretary were coordinated.

In 1958, when it was no longer required as a tuberculosis hospital, Tranquille was transferred to Mental Health Services.

Specifications and correspondence concerning residential and commercial structures designed by James; Loring P. Rixford's 1913 specifications for the proposed East Wing of the Provincial Royal Jubilee Hospital; specifications, plans, notebooks, committee meetings, etc. concerning the East Wing of the Provincial Royal Jubilee Hospital designed by James and constructed during the 1920s. Percy Leonard James, AIBC, AIC, FRAIC, RAIC, was born in England where he began his architectural career and specialized in the design of hospitals and infirmaries. In 1908, James moved to Victoria and practiced until the outbreak of hostilities in August, 1914 when he returned to England to join the Army. Upon completion of his military service overseas, James returned to Victoria and resumed his architectural practice which he continued until his retirement in 1954. James died on January 3rd, 1970, at the age of 91, in Victoria. The architectural papers of James span the years 1913-1940 and have been arranged in four series: I Residential Arranged alphabetically by the name of the architect's client, this group of papers consists of specifications and correspondence concerning residential structures, alterations and additions designed by James. II Commercial Arranged alphabetically by the name of the structure, or the name of the company concerned, this group consists of specifications, correspondence, etc. regarding commercial structures designed by James. III Provincial Royal Jubilee Hospital: Loring P. Rixford's specifications Loring P. Rixford's 1913 specifications for the proposed new East Wing of the hospital. IV Provincial Royal Jubilee Hospital: Percy Leonard James This group of papers consists of specifications, plans, notebooks, committee minutes, etc. concerning the East Wing of the hospital designed by James and constructed during the 1920's. Original photographs have been removed from the collection and transferred to Visual Records and accessioned as 198109-003. Some sketches and plans have been removed and replaced by photocopies. Originals may be found in map accession M856029, registration numbers 14970-14978. (see list at the end of this finding aid).

The series consists of general correspondence files created by the Dept. of Public Works between 1910 and 1970.
The files are concerned primarily with Provincial Government buildings including the Parliament Buildings, Provincial Archives, Provincial Museum, as well as jails, courthouses, hospitals, office buildings, etc. throughout the province. The series also contains files relating to the control of Japanese nationals during World War II.

The series consists of correspondence, memos, annual reports, draft bylaws, procedures, short reports, constitutions, certificates created under the Societies Act, and small booklets, usually pertaining to a hospital society’s constitution and bylaws. The records provide evidence of the process of developing and amending constitutions and bylaws for hospital societies across British Columbia. Hospital societies appear to have been governed under both the Hospitals Act and the Societies Act, and the Revised Statutes of British Columbia has noted that “notwithstanding the Society Act, a society that owns or operates a hospital shall not exercise any of the borrowing powers conferred by the Society Act without the prior approval of the minister.” (RSBC 1979, c. 176) Under later iterations of the Hospitals Act, a society could not change its constitution or bylaws without ministerial approval. In many cases, however, amendments appear to have been made to the consitutions and bylaws in this series in order to comply with changes made to the Societies Act.

Records in this series are arranged alphabetically by institution name. The BC Cancer Foundation has been filed under “c” for “Cancer Foundation,” and the Mount Waddington Hospital Society was filed under “P” for Port McNeill.

Some of the files originally had records on both the left and right side of the file folder. The metal clips holding these records in place have been removed for preservation purposes. Records that were originally on the left side of the file can be found on the top of the records and are face down. Records that were originally on the right side of the file are on the bottom of the pile, and are face up.

This series contains Hospital Programmes Administration files covering the period 1911-1946. Records include correspondence and reports relating to the operations of community hospitals throughout the province. Includes correspondence pertaining to resident physicians, local hospital boards, and the administration of the Hospital Act.

The fonds consists of diaries, correspondence and miscellaneous papers. Fonds includes photographs of Garibaldi Park and of the Bell Family, as well as copies of prints from the National Archives of Canada and approximately 37 published maps. The fonds also includes files on hospital accreditation created by F.C. Bell between 1955 and 1959.

The series consists of a register of licences to private hospitals created by the Hospital Insurance Service and its predecessor, the Provincial Board of Health, between 1913 and 1957.

The series consists of correspondence, 1913-1916, that was originally a part of the Provincial Secretary's Central Registry. The records include grant applications from charitable organizations (e.g. Salvation Army Rescue and Maternity Home, Vancouver); petitions from various citizens groups and trades organizations (e.g. re: Pacific Great Eastern railway, prohibition, and Weekly Half Holiday Act); plus files on diverse topics such as the Belgian Relief Fund (which was administered by the Provincial Secretary), the Progress Club of Vancouver, the provincial coat-of-arms, prohibition, half-day closing, the Provincial Archives and W.W. Walkem's "Stories of Early British Columbia".

The series consists of records created by the Provincial Secretary between 1916 and 1920, in his capacity as chairman of the British Columbia Returned Soldiers' Aid Commission. Appointed by Order-in-Council on 29 Nov 1915, the Commission was established to help with the resettlement of soldiers, sailors, and airmen who had served in the First World War.

The records include daily orders issued by Col. J.S. Harvey, Commander of Unit "J", Military Hospitals, No. XI District Depot Casualty Company and Hospital Section (Victoria, B.C. and Hastings Park, Vancouver, B.C.). The series also includes lists of B.C. men who served in the armed forces of Canada and Great Britain during the First World War. The lists are arranged by servicemen's former civilian occupation.

The records are arranged into two subseries:
A. Daily orders
B. Lists

The fonds consists of the records of the Health Association of British Columbia and its predecessor organization the British Columbia Hospitals' Association. The records date from 1918 to 2002.

The series includes minutes, 1918-1956; correspondence 1939-1962; clippings, 1937-1965; cash book, 1918-1941; and files relating to bylaws, membership lists, etc. The series also includes records of the Western Canada Institute for Hospital Administrators and Trustees, 1948 and 1956 and photographs, ca. 1923-1963.

The series consists of photograph files created by the British Columbia Hospital Insurance Service between 1949 and 1974 and including photographs back to 1920. The photographs, mostly black and white prints, are arranged in files alphabetically by community and consist of photographs of interior and exterior shots of hospitals and hospital construction, In addition to the files, there is a scrapbook of hospital photographs, also arranged alphabetically by community. The accompanying negatives are arranged by number.

The item consists of a black and white photographic print of the St. George's hospital on fire. The hospital was in Alert Bay, BC and the fire took place in 1923. This photograph has been matted and may have been hung.

The series consists of contract sets for diverse public works: buildings, bridges, roads and road works, ferries and ferry facilities, etc. The contract sets, usually signed by the contractor and the minister, often include the notices to contractors as they appeared in The British Columbia Gazette, tender forms, schedules of quantities, specifications, contracts, insurance policies, correspondence, and plans.

The series consists of photographs created by the British Columbia Hospital Programs and its predecessor body, the British Columbia Hospital Insurance Service, between 1949 and 1975 and including photographs back to 1929. The photographs are mostly black and white prints but there are also negatives and some colour prints. The photographs are in no particular order and document proposals, construction, ceremonies and openings of provincial hospitals. There are also press photos of senior staff, ministers, MLA's and branch staff. Occasionally a piece of correspondence relating to the photograph is included in the file.