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Archival description
Series Livestock--Breeding
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Registers of brands (cattle and horses)

  • GR-1487
  • Series
  • 1873-1914

This series contains registers of brands (for both cattle and horses) kept by district recording offices prior to 1914. Registers pertain to brands registered in Cariboo, Similkameen, Okanagan, and Nanaimo districts. This series may be used in conjunction with other district brands registers (GR-0409 - GR-0412) and with post-1914 brands registers (GR-1488). A regulated system of branding or marking livestock in British Columbia began with the Cattle Ordinance of 1869 (32 Vic., No. 114) which established a procedure whereby cattle brands and other distinctive markings could be registered with district magistrates for a fee of 25¢. The system developed further with the Cattle Marking Act, 1875 (BCS 38 Vic. c.14) which defined "cattle" to include "horses, mares, fillies, foals, geldings, colts, bulls, bullocks, cows, heifers, steers, calves, sheep, hogs, mules and asses." Recording officers were appointed by cabinet for each electoral district and were authorized to keep a register of brands and markings; local justices of the peace were empowered to ensure that brands were not duplicated, obliterated, or defaced and penalties were set for infractions. In 1881 the registration fee was raised to 50 ¢ (Cattle Brands Act, 44 Vic. c.4) and in 1888 provisions were made for regional cattle districts, whose boundaries were not necessarily identical to those of electoral districts. A distinction was also made in 1888 between the Mainland and Vancouver Island: in Mainland districts, brands were to be registered by an "authorized recording officer" usually the local Government Agent while on the Island brands were to be recorded by district magistrates. These distinctions were abolished in 1894 by the Cattle Act Amendment Act which confirmed Government Agents as "authorized recording officers" throughout the province. The procedure of registering brands was streamlined and centralized by the Brand Act of 1914 (4 Geo. 5 c.9). With this act, provision was made for a Recorder of Brands (responsible to the Minister of Agriculture) and a three man Board of Brand Commissioners. After 1 July 1914 all applications for brand registers or transfers were made through the Recorder's office in Victoria. The fee for brand registration was increased to $1.00 and henceforth all brands were to be renewed annually at a cost of 50 ¢. GR 1487 consists of brands registers and indexes kept prior to 1914. In most cases, the registers show the name and address of brand owners, the date and certificate number of the brand registration, and a description of registered brands and markings. Registers pertain to both cattle and horses. Since the districts covered by the registers were not rigidly defined, researchers may have to consult more than one volume to locate specific brands or brand owners. This series may be used in conjunction with GR 0409 GR 0412 (Registers for Cariboo, Lillooet, and New Westminster, 18701913) and with GR 1488 (post1914 brands registers and indexes).

British Columbia. Recorder of Brands

Kenneth McKenzie family personal and business papers

The McKenzie Family collection consists of the business and personal papers of Kenneth McKenzie (1811-1874), his ancestors and descendants, including correspondence, notebooks, diaries, and other papers. It documents over one hundred and fifty years of family history. The collection is divided into those records relating to Vancouver Island (Boxes 1-19) and those relating to Scotland (Boxes 20-25). The Vancouver Island papers contain correspondence and documents pertaining to Lakehill Farm, the settlement of estates, official appointments, and other family matters. They also chronicle the organization and operation of Craigflower Farm and, to a lesser extent, the other farms operated by the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company on Vancouver Island. The Scottish papers document family events, relationships and property from 1779 to 1852. Included is an extensive record of the protracted settlement of the estate of William Blair (Boxes 22-23). William Blair was the father of Janet McKenzie (Blair).

Born in Edinburgh October 5, 1811, the son of Dr. Kenneth McKenzie (1786-1844) and Janet Blair (1784-1820), Kenneth McKenzie was raised and educated in the same city. Later he moved to his father's estate of Rentonhall, Haddingtonshire, East Lothian where he managed the operations. The estate was sold in 1851 and McKenzie, his wife Agnes Russell (1823-1897) and their six children emigrated to Vancouver Island in 1853. McKenzie had been hired by the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company to oversee the establishment and operation of Craigflower Farm near Victoria. In 1866 the family, now with eight children, moved to Lakehill Farm just north of Victoria. Kenneth McKenzie died there April 10, 1874. A comprehensive biography of Kenneth McKenzie by William R. Sampson is in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, X, pp.477-479. A rough genealogy of the McKenzie Family is provided in the hardcopy version of the finding aid.

Numbers appearing at the upper left corner of documents are references to the old catalogue system and should not be used for citation.

Boxes 1-4: Kenneth McKenzie (1811-1874) and family: correspondence inward
Box 5: McKenzie, Kenneth (1846-1906): correspondence inward
Box 6: Kenneth McKenzie (1811-1874) and Kenneth McKenzie (1846-1906): correspondence outward
Box 7: Kenneth McKenzie (1811-1874): notebooks and personal papers
Box 8: McKenzie Family: notebooks, diaries, correspondence and personal papers
Box 9: McKenzie Family: material relating to Lakehill property
Boxes 10-18: Craigflower Farm
Box 19: Puget's Sound Agricultural Company
Boxes 20-25: McKenzie family: material relating to Scotland. N.B. See also box 25 for further material relating to the estate of William Blair, d.1800

Hat Creek Ranch business records

The Hat Creek Ranch was formed in 1910 by Charles Gottfried Doering when he purchased the McCosh, O'Hara and original Hat Creek Ranches and amalgamated them. The ranch, which was located in the Bonaparte Valley near Ashcroft, was a cattle and horse-breeding, as well as an agricultural centre. Hotel Hat Creek was also situated on the ranch and was operated by Doering.

In addition to his ranching interests, Doering was involved in the brewing industry and associated hotel trade. He was president of the British Columbia Breweries, Ltd., which was incorporated in 1911 following an amalgamation of three other breweries. Until prohibition in 1917, he was also involved in the operation of several Vancouver hotels.

Business records of the Hat Creek Ranch, including account books and land, water and livestock records, and of British Columbia Breweries and Hotel Hat Creek. The business records reflect the day-to-day business operations of Hat Creek Ranch and, to a lesser degree, Hat Creek Hotel, first under Doering and later under John Basil Jackson. There are also records related to land transactions, grazing leases, water rights applications and breeding. Also included is correspondence regarding Doering's brewery and non-local hotel interests which deals primarily with the windup of British Columbia Breweries, Ltd., and his divestiture of his hotels.

Brands register and other material

  • GR-1491
  • Series
  • 1906-1959

This series contains a brands register (interim or working copy) covering the years 1916-1918. Other records in this series include minutes, correspondence, and reports of B.C. Stock Breeders' Association from 1906-1918 as well as minutes of B.C. Brands Commissioners from 1930-1959.

British Columbia. Recorder of Brands