Showing 164 results

The series consists of copies of British Columbia baptism, marriage and death registers created by churches that conducted the ceremonies. Currently only records (baptisms 1849-1899; marriages 1864-1903) of St. Andrews Cathedral, Victoria , are available.

Churches were required to submit their baptismal registers to the Vital Statistics Division in the 1940s so the registers could be microfilmed. Vital Statistics subsequently created an alphabetical index to the microfilmed registers, and a database was created from the index volumes with supplementary information from the microfilmed registers added to the entries. This information is searchable via the BC Archives Genealogy database. The microfilm copies of the original registers may include some additional information or context that was not included in the database.

Each bound volume was created by one church. Each entry corresponds with one ceremony, but may involve multiple individuals. The entries within each volume are ordered chronologically and may be numbered. Every volume varies in the type and presentation of information included and may not be consistent throughout one volume. All entries include the date of the ceremony, name of individual(s) involved in the ceremony, and the name of the priest who conducted the ceremony.

Baptism register entries may also include name of child, date of birth, place of birth, sex of child, name and surname of father, name and maiden name of mother, residence of parents, profession of parents, religion of parents, name and surname of grandparents, religion of grandparents, and name and surname of godparents.

Marriage register entries may also include name and surname of groom, name and maiden name of bride, age of bride, age of groom, name and surname of their parents, name and surname of witnesses present, religion of named individuals, place of birth, and signatures of parties involved.

Death register entries may also include: death dates, cause of death, age at death, location of internment and information about the funeral ceremony.

Indigenous people are included in the registers (as Indians or Sauvages). Some Indigenous names are included. Many baptisms of Indigenous people were in groups and may only consist of a list of the Christian names the priest gave to the baptized individuals. Tribal or community affiliations may be included.

Some entries include the geographical location that the ceremony took place. This location may vary from the location of the church, as some priests travelled quite widely to conduct ceremonies.

Series consists of one bench book for Colony of Vancouver Island Supreme Court of Civil Justice civil and criminal cases heard by Judge David Cameron at Fort Victoria from November 1853 to January 1856 and one criminal case at Nanaimo in May 1854. It also includes civil cases heard at Victoria in the Inferior Court of Civil Justice in 1856. The volume additionally served as a criminal record book for 1853, a cause book for 1856, and a Registrar's record book for 1853. It opens with a notation that Judge Cameron's commission was read and that he took his seat on 6 October 1853. The Registrar also notes that he received the court seal from Judge Cameron.

Plaint and procedure books. Volume 1 contains a guide for several court orders.

The series consists of a letter book created by the Collector of Customs in the Vancouver Island Customs Dept. between 1858 and 1871 and the Canada Customs Department between 1871 and 1876. It contains copies of correspondence outward from the Customs Houses in Victoria and New Westminster. There is an index to the volume.
The Collector of Customs was based as follows:
A.C. Anderson, Victoria, July 1858 - April 1859
W. Hamley, Victoria, April 1859 - June 1859
W. Hamley, Queensborough, New Westminster, June 1859 - December 1868
W. Hamley, Victoria, January 1869 - June 1876

This series consist of Vancouver Island Police and Prisons Department charge books. Volumes also contain magistrate's sentence and gaoler's reports. Volumes 6 and 7 are indexes.

Cause book, Oct 1858 - Oct 1861. 1 vol. with plaintiff index.

This series consists of civil cause books from the Supreme Court of Vancouver Island, 1858-1870 and Supreme Court of British Columbia (Victoria), 1870-1882. All volumes are indexed. From 29 October 1866 fees relating to these cases are entered in the mainland fees book.

Financial records from Victoria's Supreme Court of Civil Justice. There is a receipt book, 1859-1964 recording payments made by Registrar Thomas G. William to suitors. The date, the number of the plaint, the "Full amount of judgment and costs" and/or the amount of cash received [pounds, shillings, pence] and the signature of the suitor receiving the money. In 1862 the format and handwriting changes. Registrar's account book, 1866-1970 showing daily entries of sheriff fees and court fees (in dollars and cents). A booklet of "Fees collected during the Circuit of 1870, 21 June to 26 August" marked Duplicate.

This series consists of the records of the Victoria Gaol, 1859-1914. The 107 volumes include lists of prisoners, descriptions of prisoners, sentence books, work records, charge books, employment registers, registers of clothing issued, reports of prisoners' conduct, punishment books, gaolers' reports, duty rosters and daily diaries, ration books, food account books, stores and provisions account books, financial records, doctors' record books, medical order books, receipts and 1875 correspondence from the Superintendent of Police.

Records have been grouped by subject matter, then arranged chronologically when possible. The groupings are as follows: Volumes 1 to 6, Lists of prisoners in Victoria gaol; Volumes 7 to 13, Description lists; Volumes 14 to 17, Sentence books; Volumes 18 to 22, Work records; Volumes 23 to 35, Charge books; Volumes 36 to 40, Prisoners conduct records; Volumes 41 to 107, Gaolers' records.

The series consists of naturalization applications and oaths of allegiance issued by the Victoria County Court between 1859 and 1917; 1926. They are arranged numerically by file number from 1 to 4118 and include oaths of allegiance from 1859 to 1865 and applications and oaths from 1871 to 1917; 1926. The files may also include oath of residence and certificates of naturalization.

This series contains probate files for estates probated in Victoria, ca. 1859-1941. The probate files from 1859 to 1917 are organized more or less alphabetically within date groups or ranges and have been numbered, sequentially, from 1 to 5307. From 1918 onwards, probate files were assigned numbers by year in the order of filing and are more or less in chronological order. The originals of files 1 to 5307 have been retained as well as being microfilmed. Files from 1918 onwards are only available on microfilm.

In addition to the file names provided in the finding aid, an index for this collection is also available on microfilm (see GR-1417, reel B01990). Reel B01990 should be used if a name is not found on the file list, as there are 103 missing files. If a will number is provided, it can be used to locate a copy of the will in GR-1052 or GR-1574.

This series consists of 7 volumes of Vancouver Island Supreme Court fee books maintained by the Registrar, 1859-1870. The volumes record fees owing to the Supreme Court. Volume 2 also includes the registrar's office diary.

Although the colonies of Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia were united in 1866, the Supreme Court of each Colony remained as two separate Supreme Courts until they were merged in 1870 as the Supreme Court of British Columbia, based in Victoria.

This series consists of correspondence, petitions, accounts, statements of population, and reports relating to land of Indigenous peoples in British Columbia from the Department of the Provincial Secretary.

This series contains employment registers from the Victoria Gaol, 1861-1914. These volumes contain daily reports showing the prisoner's name, with or without labour, how/where employed and sometimes "remarks". The following Volumes are missing : 1 May 1900 - 16 Sep 1901 and 1 Feb 1903 - 14 Jun 1904. The final volume contains a notes that prisoners were transferred to Saanich Prison Farm on 12 Sep 1914.

Letters probate and letters of administration (indexed) from the Supreme Court of Civil Justice of Vancouver Island, 1861-1869 and from the British Columbia Supreme Court (Victoria) 1870-1875.

Register of Victoria District School, 1861-1865, and school account book, 1862-1864. The Register shows the names and attendance of students at the school. "Accounts" include supply list of food staples, etc., showing prices and customs duties, along with student fee payments. As well, the volume contains addresses and a "Story of Moses" by schoolmaster W. H. Burr. Also included are newspaper cuttings re: the early history of Victoria schools and an annotated list of pupils attending the Victoria District School, ca. 1862. The list was prepared for the Provincial Archivist, John Forsyth, by Edgar Fawcett in April 1922.

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.

This series consists of records created by Road Commissioners from various road districts in the Colony of Vancouver Island, from 1861-1875. This includes the Victoria, Esquimalt, Esquimalt Town, Lake, Saanich, Metchosin, Sooke and Highlands Road Districts.

The records include financial records such as cash books, account books, road tax assessment rolls and ledgers. These track the fines and taxes collected for each district, and the expenses for road construction and maintenance. Some records indicate the individuals who paid for and worked on specific roads in the Victoria area that are still in existence today.

Other records include correspondence and minute books recording the decisions and priorities of the commissioners. These indicate where and how roads were constructed as the colony was growing.

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.

This series includes records of the Colony of Vancouver Island Police. Volume one is a charge book, 1862-1866; this volume also includes complaints of the Victoria Police Office, July - September 1866, and a census of householders in Victoria by street, 1871. Volume 2 is a daily report book, April 26, 1863-Dec. 23, 1864.

This series contains voters' lists for the Colony of Vancouver Island, 1862 and 1866. The series also includes poll books for Saltspring Island and Chemainus District (1863), for Victoria District (1863) and Victoria City (1863-1866). This unit should be used in conjunction with GR-0484 [Voters' lists, 1865-1866] and GR-1714 [Voters' lists and poll books, 1856-1866].

This series consists of Colony of Vancouver Island Police Sergeant's report book, Jan. 20, 1863 April 3, 1865, and April 8, 1865 - Oct. 25, 1866.

Series consists of one bench book and minute book for Colony of Vancouver Island Supreme Court of Civil Justice civil cases heard before Chief Justice David Cameron between 18 October 1863 and 9 May 1864.

This series consists of cash book, 1863-1864, 1865-1873, 1865-1867. Also a partial duplicate volume November 20, 1866 - December 1870

This series contains legal opinions offered by Attorney General on a wide range of subjects. For more information on the subjects covered, please consult the attached finding aid.

Suitor's Funds bank book from the Bank of British North America.

This series consists of Victoria Police Court record books, 1890-1924; magistrate's cash books, 1865-1871, recording fines and trade and liquor licenses; and a transcript of Regina vs. Lawrence, ca. 1896.

This series consists of property tax assessment rolls and other records related to real estate or land tax in Victoria and the surrounding area. The records range in date from 1865-1886. The records may have been created by local government tax Assessors and Collectors, or the Surveyor of Taxes. Property tax assessment rolls are administered according to the Taxation Act and the Public Schools Act for the collection of real property taxes, income taxes, school taxes etc. Records record the name of the property owner, date, a description of the property and its value. Some records include additional information or also document the collection of fees related to trade licences, liquor licences, fire insurance companies, etc.

Bench book of criminal cases heard by Judge Joseph Needham, Nov 23, 1865 - Feb 2, 1867. 1 bound volume.

Letterbooks (indexed) of correspondence outward by Registrar and Sheriff, 1866-1890. The first section of vol. 2 also serves as a letterbook of correspondence outward for the Dominion Saw Mill Co., 1884-1885. 2 vols.