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The series consists of civil orders issued by the Supreme Court in Victoria between 1880 and 2008. Orders dating from 1880 until December 1946 were microfilmed and the originals destroyed. Records after this period are maintained in their original form. Many, but not all, volumes dating up to the late 1970s include nominal indexes. Orders are the formal expression of the ruling of the court. The records relate to a variety of civil matters including adoptions, divorces, and bankruptcies.

The records were scheduled for full retention under Court Services ORCS (schedule 100152) 51400-25.

Victoria Supreme Court probate/estate files, 1950-2007. See GR-1417 for index to files 761/1963 to 1606/1981.

NOTE: Microfilming was ongoing for many years so the date ranges for microfilm and originals given above may not be current.

File names are provided for 67/1950 to 760/1963. An index for 1963-1981 is available on microfilm (see GR-1417). This index can be found on Reels B11792 - B11794. If a will number is provided, it can be used to locate a copy of the will in GR-2009.

The series consists of original probated wills from the Victoria court registry. The wills appear to have been deliberately removed from the original probate file and refiled in a second accession. Records in this series are arranged by probate number, an index to which is found in GR-3016. After the wills were removed from the original probate file, they were replaced with a photocopy.

For wills predating 1986, see GR-1052, GR-1574, and GR-2009, with an index in GR-1417.

Series consists of decrees nisi, decrees absolute, and divorce orders issued by the Supreme Court of Victoria between 1877 and 1998. Decrees nisi were used inconsistently prior to the 1930s and required a waiting period before a decree absolute could be issued. Between 1968 and 1985, the waiting period was three months. A divorce was not legally in effect without a decree absolute. After 1985, divorce orders automatically came into effect 31 days after the divorce was granted, barring an appeal.

Volumes 1-11 and 19-43 are indexed. The records were scheduled for full retention under Court Services ORCS (schedule 100152) 51440-25.

The series consists of bankruptcy orders issued by the Supreme Court in Victoria between 1920 and 1978, 1981 to 1989, and 1992 to 1994. Records for the period 1920 and 1978 are indexed, however, indexes have not been located for the later records.

Records in this series were organized by filing date.

The series consists of several different indexes relating to bankruptcy in Victoria and across the country. The records were maintained in the Victoria Supreme Court, and although they generally relate to records created in the 1960s to 1990s, at least one volume dates to the 1920s and 1930s. Early indexes are arranged alphabetically by the surname of the bankrupt individual. Later indexes, particularly those dealing with the late 1980s, are divided first by year and then arranged alphabetically. The 1989 to 1990 index provides the name of the individual, the name of the trustee, and a file number. All file numbers appear to refer to cause book entries, which give a more detailed account of proceedings in the case.

The series also consists of a subseries of records maintained by the Victoria Supreme Court that relate to bankruptcy cases heard outside of Victoria. Many of these volumes index entries in the Canada Gazette, and list individuals in Ontario and across the country. There are also several volumes that index bankruptcies across the province, and include entries from places such as Barriere, Penticton, and Rossland.

This series consists of letters of administration (Form C) from the Supreme Court of British Columbia, from 1876-1989.

This series contains letters of administration with will annexed (Form B) from the Supreme Court of Victoria, from 1915-1989.

The series consists of both bound and loose grants of letters probate created by the Victoria Supreme Court between 1946 and 1989. Grants of letters probate were issued by the court system to grant authority to an estate’s executor/trix to administer the estate in question.

Grants of letters probate provide the name of the deceased, the date and place of death, the usual residence of the deceased, and the name of the executor.

The series is arranged by volume and folio, a system which is also broadly chronological. Grants are stamped with the volume and folio number, but also with the probate number of the deceased. An index to probate numbers can be found in GR-3016 (1950-2000) or GR-2083 (1941-1950).

The series consists of indexes to divorce cause books and case cards created by the Supreme Court of Victoria between 1965 and 1989. The indexes are arranged alphabetically and provide a case file number. This can then be used to locate the volume and folio number in the relevant cause book or case card, which can then in turn be used to obtain a copy of the divorce order.

The series consists of cause books and case record cards for divorces at the Victoria Supreme Court between 1968 and 1989. Cause books and case records cards can be used to find a volume and folio number, which can then be used to obtain a copy of the final divorce order. Cause books and case record cards are also often the only source of information for divorce cases that were dropped and never completed, as no final order would have been granted, and case files would have been destroyed.

Cause books were generally used until the mid 1970s. They were replaced by case cards, which were used until the courts turned to digital systems in the 1990s. The records are organized by case file number and provide a list of actions in a case.

The series consists of indexes to Victoria probate files and to probated wills in the Central registry.

The index serves two purposes because the Victoria court registry was responsible for maintaining the Victoria probate files and - until the late 1980s - kept the Central Will Registry for the Department of the Attorney General. The Victoria probate numbers (for files which are in GR-1304, GR-2083 and GR-3016) appear in the left-hand column under "papers". The will numbers (for wills found in GR-1052, GR-1574 and GR-2009) appear in the right-hand column of the indexes under remarks.

Users should note that index cards for the period 1982 to 1988 cover estates probated across the province, and provide the probate number, the registry where the estate was probated, and the central will registry number.

Notes regarding the Central Will Registry :

Until July 1986, all wills in BC were kept in a separate, central location, maintained by the Victoria Court Registry. When a person died, leaving a will, the will was submitted to a court registry for probate. Staff in that registry forwarded the original will to Victoria, where it was assigned a number in a sequence that included wills from all registries in the province. Copies of the wills were often kept in the probate files for working purposes. In some cases, however, wills were sometimes returned to the custody of the respective court registries. Researchers should keep this in mind if searching for an original will.

In July 1986, Vancouver, New Westminster, Nanaimo, Chilliwack, Penticton, Vernon, Kamloops, Prince George and Kelowna began to track their own original probated wills. All other registries continued to send their original probated wills to the Central Wills Registry in Victoria.

As of August 1998 each registry is responsible for their own wills.

The series consists of cause books for bankruptcies tried in the Victoria Supreme Court between 1920 and 1981. Entries are arranged chronologically by the date the case commenced, and provide a list of proceedings in the case. Entries also provide the date of the final order. Orders are found in GR-2876, and an index to the cause books can be found in GR-3743

Series consists of judgements created between November 1880 and October 1977 by the Victoria Supreme Court. Orders are the formal expression of the ruling of the court and judgements are the final orders issued in a case. Early records relate to a variety of matters, including adoption and divorce. Records after 1958 primarily relate to financial matters such as damages, costs, payments, bankruptcy recovery, and divorce costs and maintenance. Original textual records up to the end of 1958 appear to have been destroyed after microfilming; retrieve those records using microfilm.

Records are arranged by volume and folio number as assigned by the court registry. The records were scheduled for full retention under Court Services ORCS (schedule 100152) 51400-25.

Fence viewer's awards nos.1-10; index.

Miscellaneous published materials, some annotated, relating to operations of British Columbia courts at all levels, 1880-1970. Includes Supreme Court Rules, Magistrate's Manual, etc.

Criminal assize calendars for Victoria. Also includes criminal assize calendars for Yale, Nanaimo, New Westminster, Clinton, Richfield, Kamloops, Quesnellemouth, Cassiar, Laketon, Glenora and Lytton, 1870s.

Registrar's cash books.

The series consists of 11 volumes of a bills of sale indexes and registers created by the Victoria Supreme Court between 1861 and 1956. The registers list bills of sale for chattel mortgages and conditional sales and related volumes of nominal indexes. Most of the volumes relate to bills of sale in Victoria but one volume is an index to bills of sale on the mainland.

The file consists of a civil case file from the British Columbia Supreme Court (Victoria). It is numbered A 374/55. The action was James Audain vs Robin James Dunsmuir re: damages for slander of plaintiff's book "From Coalmine to Castle". The file includes a transcript.

Jury records for Victoria Supreme and County Courts, 1907-1953, including the following: rolls and lists of Grand and Petit Jurors compiled under the Jurors Act, 1907-1953; and jury exemptions, 1909-1926.

Civil record books (indexed at the front of each volume).

Bankruptcy case files.

Probates/estate files (nos. 411/1941 - 66/1950).

This series contains Victoria Supreme Court reasons for judgement.

This series contains Letters of Administration granted to the Official Administrator for estates probated in the Victoria Court Registry in cases where the deceased died intestate or did not name an executor who was able to act, and the Official Administrator handled the probate process. Indexes to Victoria probate records are found in GR-1417.

Series consists of divorce case files created between 1940 and 1949 by the Victoria Supreme Court registry. Orders have been removed from this series and are filed separately as GR-1587. Typical divorce case files can include petitions, affidavits, summons, correspondence and other records relating to the case.

Records are arranged by case file numbers, which were assigned chronologically by the court registry and include the year a divorce was initiated. The records were scheduled for full retention under Court Services ORCS (schedule 100152) 51440-20.

Assize criminal record book (indexed), May 1917 - May 1948.

This series contains probate cause books for the periods 1875-1882 and 1918-1947.

This series contains indexes to causes for actions heard in the Victoria Supreme Court. It contains two volumes. Volume 1 covers the period ca. 1898-1919. Volume 2 covers the period 1920-1947.