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This series consists of executive records of the Court Services Branch, including those of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of the Attorney General. Records range in date from 1973-1994. This includes operational and administrative files from the Court Services Headquarters in Victoria and may relate to all court registries throughout BC.

The majority of records consist of correspondence, minutes, reference material, forms, drafts, legislation, and manuals. The first two accessions are arranged according to a Court Services specific file code system.

Files may regard: legislation drafting, amending or reference; circulars; news releases and clippings; statistics; executive correspondence referral replies or complaints, many related to issues with members of the public obtaining copies of documents or other services from Court Services; liaison and co-operation with other political bodies; creation of forms; administrative records related to staffing and appointments; wrongful imprisonment; staff errors and complaints against staff; escape incident case files; escort and security procedures; registry policy and procedures including their development, legal requirements and circulation to all registries; Family Court procedures, including the enforcement of Family Maintenance orders; personal property and debt collection case files; executions and serving of documents including procedures, complaints and staff appointments; interpleader files and actions against sheriffs; and, subject files on a variety of topics.

There are also many committee and meeting records, including those of Court Services Policy Board, Board of Sheriffs, Regional Court Administrators, Board of District Managers, Court Services Advisory Board, Court Services Status of Women Committee, Ministerial Case Management Evaluation Task Force Committee, Victim Assistance Committee, Justice Institute, Corrections Branch, Executive Policy Board, Canadian Bar Association, BC Association of Chiefs of Police, and various committees reviewing legislation and planning its implementation.

Files in accession 92-4831 were created from the mid-1980s on and utilize a different file system known as the Operational Records Classification System (ORCS) and Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS). These records relate to IT projects, budgets, various committee files, and the procedural analysis of the Provincial Family Court and Family Maintenance Enforcement Program (FMEP).

The Ministry responsible for these records and associated dates are:

British Columbia. Ministry of Attorney General (1979-)
British Columbia. Ministry of the Attorney-General (1976-1979)
British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General (1871-1976)

This series consists of Vancouver Assize calendar, 1956-1964.

The series consists of inward and outward Attorney-General’s Department correspondence created between 1912 and ca. 1969, but predominantly between 1959-1965. Records relate to a variety of matters for which the Attorney-General was responsible.

Records are arranged by act and then by file code as assigned by the Attorney-General. File codes represent an act and specific subject matters under the act. Within the files, records are arranged chronologically. Original textual records were destroyed after microfilming. The records were scheduled for full retention.

The series consists of inward and outward Attorney-General’s Department correspondence created between 1926 and 1970, but predominantly between 1956-1965. Records relate to a variety of matters for which the Attorney-General was responsible.

Records are arranged by act and then by file code as assigned by the Attorney-General. File codes represent an act and specific subject matters under the act. Within the files, records are arranged chronologically. Original textual records were destroyed after microfilming. The records were scheduled for full retention.

The series consists of inward and outward Attorney-General’s Department correspondence created between 1937 and ca. 1963, but predominantly between 1952-1959. Records relate to a variety of matters for which the Attorney-General was responsible.

Records are arranged by act and then by file code as assigned by the Attorney-General. File codes represent an act and specific subject matters under the act. Within the files, records are arranged chronologically. Original textual records were destroyed after microfilming. The records were scheduled for full retention.

This series contains selected inward correspondence from 1872 to 1950, although most of the items date from 1872 to 1937. The Attorney General's Department used several numbering and filling systems during this time period. From 1872 to 1911 letters were assigned a number as they were received, and then filed in numerical order by year. From 1911 to 1917 a subject file drawer system was used, and thereafter correspondence was coded and filed according to the Act which applied to the issue under discussion in the correspondence.

The records cover all aspects of work conducted by the Attorney General over the years, and discuss a wide variety of subject matter. See the file list for descriptions of files or individual folios within the files.

The series is arranged into the following subseries:

-- Correspondence inward, 1872-1911
-- Reports on coal miners’ strike, 1912-1913
-- Memos and correspondence, 1899, 1912-1933, 1950
-- Correspondence regarding unemployment administration and communist activity (Attorney General Department file number L-125), 1930-1937

This series contains Cranbrook court registry correspondence with the Dept. of the Attorney-General. It includes some Magistrate's and Police court records.

The series consists of inward and outward Attorney-General’s Department correspondence created between 1938 and ca. 1961. Records relate to a variety of matters for which the Attorney-General was responsible.

Records are arranged by act and then by file code as assigned by the Attorney-General. File codes represent an act and specific subject matters under the act. Within the files, records are arranged chronologically. Original textual records were destroyed after microfilming. The records were scheduled for full retention.

This series consists of letters and copies of letters from the Colonial Attorney General to the Governor forwarding ordinances and commenting on bills and ordinances, 1864-1870.

The Attorney-General Document series consists mainly of transcripts of depositions and preliminary hearings and trials, forwarded to the Attorney-General and numbered consecutively by year they were filed. Registers and indexes (volumes 879 to 885) are available on microfilm reel B00395.

The series consists of an index volume created by the Dept. of the Attorney-General between 1921 and 1934. The volume is arranged in alphabetical groups by date, ranging from 1921 to 1934 within each alphabetical grouping. The volume appears to index appointments, OIC's, memos and other documents issued by the office.

There are three fields for each entry: file or document number, file title (name of Act, last name of person etc.) and a brief description of the document or file.

The series consists of two index volumes created by the Dept. of the Attorney-General between 1924 and 1957. Volume 1 indexes letters outward from 1925 to 1957 and volume 2 indexes letters inward from 1924 to 1957. The volumes are arranged in the following sorts: Departments, Alphabetical sections, Vancouver Courts, Victoria Courts and Land Registry Offices. Within each group, the arrangement is by date.

There are five fields for each entry: Letters outward: date, number, name , purport and file number. Letters inward: date received, date of letter, number, name and purport.

This series contains bench books from various judges/justices, geographic locations and levels of court in British Columbia.

This series consists of bills, draft ordinances, orders of the day and other working papers for the Legislative Council of the colony of British Columbia.

This series consists of bills, draft bills, orders of the day, notes on debates, estimates, draft legislation, statutes, subject files and other records of the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly, 1868-1872.

The first versions or drafts of a bill or act are known as the Blues version, after the blue paper used for the printing. The final version, printed by the Queen’s Printer, is on white paper. All blues versions will be identified as draft. Final versions will be noted at “Statute”.

The series consists of the Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada western railway rates case. The western railway rates case investigated the rates for the carriage of freight traffic on railway lines operating in Canada, west of Port Arthur, Ontario. The case commenced in Ottawa on February 14, 1912, meeting over the next several months at various locations across Canada such as Toronto, Fort William, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Victoria; meetings continued through to the end of 1913. These records were created by the Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada. The results of the investigation concluded that the higher freight rates in Western Canada might be discriminatory, but they were justified and reasonable because of the greater competition that the railway companies faced in the eastern provinces.

These four bound volumes are arranged chronologically. The first volume, volume 145 (1912) contains a complete record and a detailed index and transcript of the western rates case previous to a special meeting in Ottawa on October 7th, 1912. The series also includes detailed transcripts of the investigation contained in volumes 168 (1913) and 189 (1913); volume 192 (1913) includes the arguments. These records are classified under one-time schedule 860591.

Inquisitions/inquests conducted by coroners in British Columbia and selected by archives staff for retention in their original formats. Most, if not all, of these Inquests also occur in GR-1327 and GR-1328.

This series contains correspondence files, inward and outward, covering all topics for which the Attorney General was responsible, including legislation and opinions to other departments. During this period, Attorney General responsibilities included industrial schools, motor vehicles, Liquor Control Board, Game Commissioner, Inspector of Municipalities, Registrar of Companies, Inspector of Factories, Inspector of Electrical Energy and Inspector of Tramways.

The finding aid (see Notes area) consists of a guide to Attorney General correspondence records held by BC Archives, and a file list showing file numbers, dates, and microfilm reel numbers. The guide relates not only to this body of records, but also to related records; the file list relates only to GR-1323.

The file consists of Attorney-General correspondence file 12/09. It contains a file of signatures on a petition to Messrs. Hon. Bowser, J.F. Ford, A.H. MeGowan, G.A. McGuire, J.F. Garden and Hon. R.G. Tatlow, Members of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for the Electoral District of Vancouver City, 14-26 January 1909. The petition concerns the idea of including with the balloting at municipal elections "a local option system to determine whether or not the traffic in intoxicating liquors shall be permitted or prohibited." The petition was received by the Attorney General's office 28 January 1909.

This series contains selected correspondence inward received by the Attorney General from 1883 to 1888, and was originally part of an inward correspondence series created by the Attorney General’s Department. The bulk of the surviving inward correspondence from 1872 to 1937 may be found in GR-0429. Records in this series include correspondence inward, notes regarding cases and assize calendars.

The Attorney General’s Department used several numbering and filing systems during this time period; from 1872 to 1911 letters were assigned a number as they were received, and then filed in numerical order by year. There is no contemporary index for letters inward prior to 1911. Although the items of correspondence from 1872 to 1911 were assigned numbers sequentially, the original order was not always maintained while the records were in the Attorney-General’s Department. This means that the items are no longer in strict numerical order within a year, and items relating to a single topic may sometimes be found together, regardless of the date when they were first received.

The series consists of Alexander Malcolm Manson’s correspondence written between December 1922 and December 1923 in British Columbia. The correspondence documents his personal life and career during this time period. Some of the correspondence relates to Malcom’s time at his law firm, Williams & Manson, in Prince Rupert, BC, where he practiced law until 1922. Other correspondence in this series relates to his time as a member of the provincial legislature representing the Omineca riding (1916-1933) and his appointment as Attorney-General, King’s Counsel, and as Minister of Labour on April 12, 1922. Some of the files document personal matters relating to his family. The records were created by Alexander Malcolm Manson during his tenure as Attorney General (1922-1928) and were maintained by the Department of the Attorney-General.

These outgoing correspondence files are arranged chronologically by date. They are classified under one-time schedule 860591.

This series consists of a transcript of correspondence in and out regarding the Skeena River uprising, 1888.

This series consists of printed records relating to the following court cases: the Attorney General of the Province of British Columbia versus Theodore Ludgate, and the Attorney General of the Dominion of Canada regarding ownership of Deadman's Island, Burrard Inlet.

Records include Attorney-General vs. Ludgate report by Robert Cassidy to the Attorney General for British Columbia on the appeal of the Dominion of Canada from the 1901 judgment of Martin, J. (Queen's Printer, 1904, 7 p.). The series also includes various exhibits and other records, such as exhibit 6, "Extracts from blue book containing papers relating to the affairs of British Columbia, 1859-1864" (pp. 307-307(81)); "Evidence before Full Court in addition to that taken at trial" and Exhibits V,W,X,Y (pp. 366-430); reasons for judgment of Chief Justice Gordon Hunter, Justice M.W. Tyrwhitt Drake, and Justice P. A. Irving (pp. 431-445); and B.C. Supreme Court decisions (pp. 446-449). Box 2 contains several duplicates of pp. 307-307(81) and pp. 366-450.

This series consists of papers, mainly draft bills, regarding mining, 1859-1871. Records created before 1871 were created in the office of the Attorney-General of the Colony of British Columbia, and possibly the Attorney-General of the Colony of Vancouver Island, if the records relate to Vancouver Island and were created before 1866 when the two colonies merged. Records created in 1871 were created by the Attorney-General for the Province of British Columbia.

This series consists of drafts of proclamations, ordinances, acts, and bills, 1858-1910. Records created before 1871 were created by the Attorney-General of the Colony of British Columbia, and possibly by the Attorney-General for the Colony of Vancouver Island. Records created after 1871 were created by the Department of the Attorney-General for the Province in British Columbia.

This series consists of guides and indexes to correspondence from the Department of the Attorney General. Records include a subject index, 1911-1918; a guide to filing system, 1902-1911, including index to subject drawers; a guide to filing system, 1919-1924; and a guide to filing system, 1925-1937.

The series consists of a microfilmed subject index to Attorney-General correspondence inward, created between 1911 and 1937. The index is primarily for the years 1911-1919, although there are some entries from as early as 1901 and references to as late as 1937. For the period 1911 to 1919, each year has a separate index, arranged by boxes or drawers. Within each drawer entries were made chronologically. The year of the index is marked on only the first page of each volume.

The record also contain descriptions of the filing systems for the periods 1919-1924 and 1925-1937. In these it lists the acts, their sub-headings, and their file code numbers. Although specific letters are not given individual numbers in the index, it is possible to use it to estimate where they might appear in the correspondence series GR-1323.

This series consists of one volume titled "Index to letters received" covering the years 1858 to 1864. It was likely used by the colonial Department of Lands and Works to track incoming correspondence and reports. The index is arranged by the sender, then chronologically. This includes sections for miscellaneous correspondence and reports and correspondence from Boards of Survey, Courts of Enquiry, the Governor, the Attorney-General, the Assistant Commissioners of Lands and Works, Gold Commissioners, and to letters from the Royal Engineers or Military.

Some sections are missing: Military (p. 26-33), Captain J.M. Grant R.E. (p. 37-44), Captain R.M. Parsons (p. 45-50), Boards of Survey (p. 51-52), and Courts of Enquiry (p. 52-54).

This series contains indexes to coroners' inquiries and inquests, 1950-1953.

This series contains indexes to coroners' inquiries and inquests.