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The series consists of records relating to the pre-emption, sale, and registration of land in New Westminster, Sayward, and Coast (Range 1-5) Land Districts, created by the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works and Vancouver District Land Commissioners, pursuant to the Land Act.

The records include pre-emption applications, 1887-1911 (11 vols.); certificates of pre-emption, 1884-1938 (57 vols.); certificates of purchase, 1874-1944 (95 vols.); registers of sales of unsurveyed lands, 1884-1911 (4 vols.); lot register, City of Vancouver, 1886-1892 (3 vols.) and a register of lot owners, Town of Granville, 1874-1884.

The series consists of files created by Judge William Evans dealing with disposal of crown lands to members of the Sons of Freedom sect of Doukhobors. The records cover the period 1959 to 1975 and contain correspondence, maps, registers, and accounting material. The maps were transferred to the Archives Map Division (see photocopy of map accession slips attached to print finding aid).

This series consists of selected correspondence files from the several branches of the Department of Lands and works, and its successor the Department of Lands: Lands, Surveys, Water Rights, and Forests. Records include requests for information concerning the availability of land in British Columbia, Water Rights Branch correspondence concerning various power projects and irrigation, forest fire reports, and files on Forest Branch launches. Note: "WRB" refers to Water Rights Branch.

This series consists of letterpress copies of letters outward from the Deputy Minister of Lands, Deputy Commissioner of Lands, Surveyor-General, Deputy Commissioner of Lands and Water, and Chief Commissioner of Lands & Works, and associated registers. Volumes 1-241 are accessed through separate registers (series II, vols. 1-22); volumes 242-314 contain their own registers.

The series consists of the business records, 1877-1977, of the office of the Kamloops Government Agent, including the records of several additional positions usually held by the same individual: Gold Commissioner, Mining Recorder, and Land Commissioner for the Kamloops Land District. The series also includes records of the Canadian Department of the Interior; most created and received by the Dominion Lands Agent at Kamloops as part of the administration of the Railway Belt.

Record types and subject matter include, but are not limited to the following: land alienation through pre-emption or purchase from the provincial government and homesteading or purchase from the federal government; a variety of leases of Crown land; other more general types of records; and records regarding Indigenous peoples and Indian Reserves.

Records related to land alienation include: applications for pre-emption records; land classification reports; forms completed by land inspectors of the Department of Lands Inspection Branch; declarations of occupation and permanent improvement on pre-emption claims; applications for homestead entry, cancellation, and abandonment; homestead Inspector’s reports; affidavits in support of an Application for Entry for a homestead, pre-emption or purchased homestead; land sales records including applications to purchase and certificates of purchase.

Records related to a variety of leases and other uses of Crown lands include: grazing leases; foreshore leases; dredging leases; indentures to reassign leases; special use permits; timber permits; water records including conditional water licenses, and permanent water licenses; applications for irrigation schemes; petroleum and natural gas leases; quarry leases; bar leases; coal leases; mining leases regarding surface and subsurface rights; applications for lease of crown-granted mineral claims; applications for placer leases under the Placer-Mining Act; and the lapse of a lease or forfeiture of a mineral claim to the Crown.

Other more general types of records include: correspondence regarding Crown grants; inquiries about land availability; surveyor’s reports; preliminary plans and correspondence for the surveys of townships; Soldier Settlement Board records including forms, correspondence and records of soldier land grants; attestation papers and discharge certificates; naturalization papers; personal correspondence; correspondence files on specific topics such as hay permit regulations or precipitation measurements; records regarding taxes; and business records of the office, including inter-department correspondence, circulars, and memorandum related to matters of land administration.

Files also exist for specific Indian Reserves, and can include correspondence; water records; surveys; and inspection reports created in the process of allotting new, and canceling existing Indian Reserves. Some files document instances of overlapping land use and conflict between settlers and Indigenous peoples on specific parcels of land.

Files are generally either correspondence files on a particular subject, or a variety of records related to a particular piece of land. Many files cover a wide time period and may be associated with multiple individuals or companies as land rights were often transferred to others or cancelled and reapplied for. Only the name of the first and last individual listed on the file is included in the file list. This means there may be additional names associated with files not included on the file list. The file list may also only include part of the legal description of land in cases where the description was exceptionally long, or included many different pieces of land. Single individuals may also have multiple files for each piece of land they are associated with.

Cartographic materials, consisting of blueprints and hand-drawn maps or plans, indicating the parcels of land relevant to the file, are commonly found throughout the records.

No file list or indexes were transferred with these records from the Kamloops Government Agent. Most files only included numbers with no clear names, so titles were created by the archives based on the contents of the files or by transcribing information on relevant file backs.

A fire on 17 September 1893 at the Dominion Lands Office in Kamloops destroyed some files. The contents for these files are marked [empty]. Files marked as [file back only] were likely destroyed in the fire, but then had their titles and some additional information transcribed by Lands employees onto file backs from letter books or other surviving records which were not transferred with these records.

This series consists of records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands, Similkameen Division, Yale District, 1905-1920. Records include two volumes of declarations for Certificates of Improvement, nos. 1-182 and 183-561. The declarations give a description of improvements made on preempted lands. Some certificates are from Osoyoos Division, Yale District. There is an index at the back of each volume. Some records may relate to Vernon and Fairview as well.

The series consists of indexes to correspondence files relating to the administration of Crown lands and natural resources. The records were created in 1980 from a computer print-out of various departmental indexes and includes references to files created by various branches of the Dept. of Lands and Works (1872-1908), the Dept. of Lands (1908-1945), the Dept. of Lands and Forests (1945-1962), the Dept. of Lands, Forest and Water Resources (1962-1975) and the Ministry of Lands, Parks and Housing. It provides access to active, microfilmed and obsolete O series files and pre-1918 files.

The records consist of one subject index and two lists which can be used to identify and locate Lands Correspondence files. They are not comprehensive, as they do not cover all the correspondence files created between 1871 and 1986.

The index and lists may be used to locate a file number for a subject area of interest, or to determine the subject of a file when only the number of the file is known.

Note that a listing in these documents does not necessarily mean that the file is held at the BC Archives. Many active files remain with the Crown Land Registry.

This series consists of pre-emption records for Vancouver Island, including Alberni, Barclay, Clayoquot, Nootka, and Rupert Districts. Consists of Certificate of Pre-emption Books (20 vols.), arranged numerically with nominal indexes. Includes name of pre-emptors date and location of pre-emption, disposition and further transactions, with some sketches.

This series contains records relating to pre-emptions, subdivisions, Crown Grants, and town sites in Similkameen District. Consists of five registers, including Register of Town Lots, Tulameen, B.C.

This series includes correspondence files relating to the administration, management, conservation and development of Crown lands and natural resources. Series 1: early chronological series (files created, 1877-1911). Series 2: 1912 series (files created, 1912-1917). Includes correspondence, memoranda, reports, plans, 1877-1980.

Contains land records file relating to the Vancouver Island Settlers' Rights Acts, 1903 and 1904. Includes correspondence, memoranda, reports, legal briefs and sketches pertaining to land disputes between settlers and the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Company. File 145321/12, 1912 Series.

This series includes registers relating to Crown Grants, Similkameen Division and Osoyoos Division, Yale District (2 vols.) Volume 1 is a register of Crown Grant applications forwarded to Victoria and includes date and disposition of application, name and address of applicant, legal description of land, Crown Grant number. Volume 2 is a register of Crown Grants and includes date of notice, number of grant, legal description of land, payment schedule, disposition and Grown Grant number. The registers are arranged chronologically.

This series contains a list of lands resumed by the Crown under B.C. Soldiers' Homestead Act, 1916. Includes legal description and file references. Also contains an undated letter of John William McIntosh, Member of the Legislative Assembly, to the Deputy Minister of Lands regarding moneys owed on land by a wounded veteran.

This series contains land administration records of the Government Agent and District Land Commissioner for the Cariboo Land District and Lillooet Land District from 1910-1973. Records consists of selected purchase, Crown grant, and lease files.

This series contains a record book of resumed lands under the Soldiers' Homestead Act, 1916. The information is arranged by Land District. The records list pre-emptions and land purchase applications canceled or resumed by the Crown during the Great War (1914-1918). The reverted lands were to be used for returned soldiers' homesteads.

This series contains lists of Vancouver Island settlers who made Crown grant applications under provisions of the Vancouver Island Settlers' Rights Act, 1904, and subsequent amendments. Information includes name, acreage, and legal description of lands.

This series contains certificates granted with the object of facilitating registration of title to a portion of Crown lands granted to the Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway Company and the Kaslo and Slocan Railway Company (2 vols.), 1901-1904. It includes notices from the Deputy Minister of Lands certifying grants, 1920, 1937, 1941, and 1952.

This series contains acknowledgements of moneys received by the Lands Department pursuant to the pre-emption or sale of crown land. These certificates of purchase include district, legal description of land, acreage, date and terms of payment, name of payer, pre-emption record number, certificate of improvement number, crown grant number and departmental file numbers. The certificates are divided into four series.

SERIES 1. CERTIFICATES OF PURCHASE BY LAND DISTRICT, 1859-1913. Volumes have alphabetical indexes.
SERIES 2. CERTIFICATES OF PURCHASE, 1874-1890. TOWN LOTS AND MISCELLANEOUS DISTRICT CERTIFICATES. Volumes have alphabetical indexes.
SERIES 3. CERTIFICATES OF PURCHASE, SERIES 4. CERTIFICATES OF PURCHASE, 1907-1944. Vancouver Island certificate books.

This series consists of Cariboo Land District lot registers, or land registers. The volumes cover lots 1-10026. The earliest entries start in 1862 and the volumes were superseded by 1922 (i.e. no further entries were made after 1922). The registers that supersede this series may be found in GR-2592.

The registers list lots in numerical order and record the alienation of land from the Crown (by purchase, pre-emption, lease, etc.). Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including (Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books. There is an alphabetical name index in each volume.

This series consists of Cariboo Land District, lot registers, or land registers. The volumes cover lots 1-11700. The earliest entries start in 1890 and all volumes were superceded by 1951 (i.e. no further entries were made after 1951). The volumes in this series superceded the earlier volumes found in GR-2591.

The registers list lots in numerical order and record the alienation of land from the Crown (by purchase, pre-emption, lease, etc.): information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books. There is an alphabetical index of names in each volume.

This series consists of one Cariboo Land District township register, for Townships 21 and 39-42.The earliest entries begin in 1913 and the volume was superseded by 1956 (i.e. no further entries were made after 1956). The registers list land in numerical order by Sections within Townships and record the alienation of land from the Crown (by purchase, pre-emption, lease, etc.): information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books. There is an alphabetical name index in the volume.

This series consists of Cariboo Land District town lot and townsite registers. This includes subdivision lot registers for Fort George, Summit Lake, Red Pass, and a McBride townsite register with a list of reverted lots offered for sale by public auction in 1923. Earliest entries dated 1914 and all volumes were superseded by 1949 (i.e. no further entries were made after 1949).

The registers list lots in numerical order and record the alienation of land from the Crown (by purchase, auction, etc.). Information may include name of purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and references to correspondence files and field books. Upset prices are also listed. There is an alphabetical name index in each volume.

This series consists of Cariboo Land District, auctioneer's agreements, subdivision lots 11385, at Fort George from 1914. The lots were subdivided from District Lots 343, 933, 934, 936, 938, and 1429, and are arranged randomly by lot and sublot, but numerically by certificate number, in each volume. Information may include date of sale, name and address of highest bidder and amount bid, deposit, and terms of sale. No index is available.

The series includes two volumes. Volume 1 includes entries for certificates 1-721, and volume 2 is 722-1385.

This series consists of Cassiar Land District subdivision lot registers for the townsite of Atlin. Records dated 1899-1947. The registers list lots in numerical order by block and lot numbers, and record the alienation of land from the Crown (by purchase). Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and references to correspondence files. Upset prices are also listed.

The series consists of two volumes

1. Atlin townsite (includes alphabetical name index), 1899-1948
2. Atlin townsite, and additional, 1910-1947

The series consists of records created by the Department of Lands in 1910. It contains a volume of Cassiar Land District auctioneers agreements of sale for Stewart townsite lots 1-232, subdivided from District Lots 466 and 468. Information in the certificates may include the date of sale, name and address of highest bidder, amount bid, deposit, and terms of sale. The certificates are arranged randomly and no index is available.

The series consists records created by the Department of Lands between 1882 and 1923. It contains Coast Land District, Range 1 lot registers in two volumes: lots 1-721 in vol. 1 and lots 722-1493 in vol. 2. The registers list the lots in numerical order and record the alienation of land from the Crown (by purchaser, pre-emption, lease, etc.). Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments and reference numbers to correspondence files and field notes. There is an alphabetical name index in each volume.

The series consists of records created by the Department of Lands between 1882 and 1923. It contains a Coast Land District, Range 2 lot register for lots 1-693. The register lists the lots in numerical order and records the alienation of land from the Crown (by purchaser, pre-emption, lease, etc.). Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books. The volume contains an alphabetical name index.

The series consists of records created by the Department of Lands between 1888 and 1953. It contains a Coast Land District, Range 3 lot register, covering lots 1-720. The register lists the lots in numerical order and records the alienation of land from the Crown (by purchaser, pre-emption, lease, etc.). Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books. The volume contains an alphabetical name index.

The series consists of records created by the Department of Lands between 1889 and 1951. It contains six Coast Land District, Range 4 lot registers covering lots 1-2956. The registers list the lots in numerical order and record the alienation of land from the Crown (by purchaser, pre-emption, lease, etc.). Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books. There is an alphabetical name index in each volume.

The series consists of records created by the Department of Lands between 1873 and 1923. It contains 14 Coast Land District, Range 5 lot registers covering lots 1-7008. The registers list lots in numerical order and record the alienation of land from the Crown (by purchaser, pre-emption, lease, etc.). Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books.