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Attorney-General index

  • GR-1721
  • Series
  • 1921-1934

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.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Attorney-General indexes to correspondence

  • GR-1722
  • Series
  • 1924-1957

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.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Records of the Attorney-General’s office

  • GR-3775
  • Series
  • 1876-1894

This series contains several draft documents and letters, the majority of which appear to have originated from the office of Theodore Davie, Attorney General of British Columbia from 1889 to 1892.
The records cover a diverse range of topics and do not appear to be arranged in any specific order. The majority of documents appear to be drafts of court documents or correspondence, many of which are hand-written or have hand-written annotations and corrections. There are also copies of pamphlets, published reports of select committees (court proceedings) and papers related to various Supreme Court of British Columbia cases.
Many of the records in this series appear to be related to matters of transportation, health, new legislation and legal cases in the Supreme Court. At least four files are related to railway or ferry transportation subsidies in the province and include indentures or other agreements between the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works and the Kootenay Valley Company, the Canadian Pacific Railway, James Uren of the Savona Ferry, the Victoria and Sidney Railway Company, the Alberta and British Columbia Exploration Company Ltd, Nakusp & Slocan Railway Company and the Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway.
Records related to health issues can be found in at least two files and mainly concern legislation around preventing the spread of smallpox including the appointment of Health Officers, the appointment of a commission to investigate outbreaks of smallpox, and mandatory vaccination. There are also letters and pamphlets sent to Chief Justice Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie from anti-vaccinators asking to repeal compulsory vaccination.
Drafts for new legislation and orders in council submitted by the President Executive Council can be found in at least three files and relate to welfare for new settler families arriving in BC from Scotland to work in the fishing industry (Crofter Settlement Act, 1892), education including the establishment of the University of British Columbia (British Columbia University Amendment Act), the census, amendments to city limits, appointments of public servants, issues around expenditures (Royal Commission for Investigating the Municipal Management of the City of Victoria), the alleged hostility of the Chilcotin, and the amendments or new drafts of the Act of Incorporation, the Court Act, the Juror’s Act, the Land Registry Act, The Magistrate’s Act, An Act to enable the Lieutenant Governor in Council to establish courts of revision from cities of the Province, the Municipal Act, The Land Agents Regulation Act, The British Columbia Railway Act, an Act respecting the unauthorized use of the provincial coat of arms, the Constitution Act, and the Mining Partnerships Act among other legislation.
There is also a significant amount of draft records related to legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. These include cases such as John Nicholson Muir vs. the Queen, the Queen vs J.D. Demers and Numa Demers, The Esquimalt Graving Dock Contract case, the Attack on Funeral Procession of Ellis Roberts case regarding hostilities between union and non-union miners, Horace S. Shepard vs. Samuel Maxwell regarding revenue taxes, and Cooley et al. vs. Fitzstubbs regarding rights to mining plots.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Victoria Gaol employment registers

  • GR-0305
  • Series
  • 1861-1914

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.

Victoria Gaol

Victoria Gaol records

  • GR-0308
  • Series
  • 1859-1914

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.

Victoria Gaol

Provincial Gaol punishment book

  • GR-0349
  • Series
  • 1914-1917

Punishment book showing "punishments awarded for breaches of prison discipline in Provincial Gaol". The volume indicates the date, prisoner's name, nature of the offence, by whom reported, sentence, date of sentence and the signature of the warden, J. Munro.

Saanich Prison Farm

Court decisions and exhibits

  • GR-0607
  • Series
  • 1903-1904

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.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Victoria Gaol charge and sentence book

  • GR-0662
  • Series
  • 1904-1914

This series consists of a charge and sentence book from Victoria Gaol, 1904-1914. Information recorded includes date entered, name, date of sentence, charge, admitting officer, time and date prisoner received, sentence, by whom sentenced, property received, cash received, and receipt for propensity on discharge.

Victoria Gaol

Drafts of proclamations, ordinances, acts, bills

  • GR-0673
  • Series
  • 1858-1910

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.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Draft bills and other material regarding mining

  • GR-0675
  • Series
  • 1859-1871

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.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Workmens' Compensation Board and Mothers' Pensions Act annual reports

  • GR-0676
  • Series
  • 1924-1927

This series consists of annual reports submitted to the Minister of the Attorney General from the Workmens' Compensation Board and Mothers' Pensions Act. The Dept. of Attorney General was the department responsible for administering these programs. The annual reports for the Workmens' Compensation Board include the years ending in 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1927. The annual report for the Mothers' Pensions Act is for the year ending 30 September 1927.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Correspondence regarding Skeena River uprising

  • GR-0677
  • Series
  • 1888

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

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Assize calendar

  • GR-0704
  • Series
  • 1956-1964

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

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Supreme Court calendars

  • GR-0703
  • Series
  • 1917-1933; 1964-1969

This series consists of Supreme Court calendars, 1917-1933 (v.1), 1964-1966 (v.2), 1967-1969 (v.3).

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Legal opinions offered by Attorney General

  • GR-1459
  • Series
  • 1864-1879

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.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Attorney General document series

  • GR-0419
  • Series
  • 1857-1966

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.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Nelson County Court civil case files

  • GR-2230
  • Series
  • 1909-1950

Series consists of civil case files from the Nelson County Court for 1909, 1913, 1917, 1919, 1922 and 1936-1950.

British Columbia. County Court (Nelson)

Assistant Deputy Minister of Court Services Branch records

  • GR-3931
  • Series
  • 1973-1994

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)

British Columbia. Court Services

Attorney General correspondence

  • GR-1625
  • Series
  • 1907-1914

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

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Records of the Inspector of Legal Offices

  • GR-3983
  • Series
  • 1918-1921

This series consists of records created by the Inspector of Legal Offices in the Department of the Attorney-General from 1918-1921. There is one file labelled Department of Industries, as well as one file of some additional records. Most records are correspondence with the Commissioner of Industries regarding loans and mortgages to various companies. Some records also relate to the Superintendent of BC Soldier Settlement regarding housing and loans for soldiers.

Records include correspondence, minutes, memoranda, agreements, indentures and copies of Orders-in-Council.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Bills and other material

  • GR-0556
  • Series
  • 1867-1868

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.

British Columbia. Legislative Council

Guides and indexes to correspondence

  • GR-0702
  • Series
  • 1902-1937

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.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Railway Belt and Peace River Block lands dispute records

  • GR-0997
  • Series
  • ca. 1922-1933

This series consists of correspondence, memos, notes, reports and agreements accumulated in the course of presenting British Columbia's case to the Commission on Reconveyance of Land to British Columbia. Records were used to receive and inquire into the arguments of the Government of the Province of British Columbia in support of its claim for the reconveyance to the Province by the Government of Canada of the land conveyed by the Province to the Dominion pursuant to paragraph 11 of the Terms of Union and in arriving at the Agreement of Feb. 20, 1930, between Canada and British Columbia on the subject of the transfer of the Railway Belt and the Peace River Block.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Attorney General correspondence to the Governor

  • GR-0752
  • Series
  • 1864-1870

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.

British Columbia (Colony). Attorney-General

Registrar's records

  • GR-0847
  • Series
  • 1948-1951

This series consists of the Registrar's monthly returns of criminal appeals, including appeals from summary convictions, 1948-1951.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Speedy trials and returns

  • GR-0705
  • Series
  • 1934; 1955-1956; 1964-1968

This series consists of County Court Criminal Court records regarding speedy trials and returns. Volume 1 covers 1934; volume 2, 1955; volume 3, 1956-1957; and volume 4, 1964-1968.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Policing subject and personnel files

  • GR-0750
  • Series
  • 1942-1965

This series consists of a variety of administrative files related to the British Columbia Provincial Police Force. This includes Attorney General files P-291-2 and P-291-7, Policing of British Columbia, consisting of files on the take over of the B.C. Provincial Police by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and of various personnel files, 1942-1965.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Provincial Game Warden records

  • GR-0446
  • Series
  • 1905-1927

This collection is comprised of records relating to the development, implementation and administration of game management policies in British Columbia from 1905-1927. It includes correspondence, reports, vouchers and licences, as well as information regarding firearms regulation and prosecutions under game laws. Records were created by the Provincial Game Warden, Deputy Game Wardens and other related staff.

Researchers will find these records particularly useful for tracking the development and implementation of early provincial game management policies. General correspondence and reports from Deputy Game Wardens throughout the province contain information regarding the status of game in various areas over time. Difficulties in enforcing policies such as regulation of trophy hunters and the need for firearms licences are documented in these materials. Development of the game base as an economic resource through payment of licence fees, and international promotion of the province as a sportsperson's centre, were key components of A. Bryan Williams' approach to game management and the results of this can also be studied in these records. Conflicts between the provincial approach to the game resource and that taken by some Indigenous peoples can be studied in this collection. Additional subjects include fishing, fur farming, wildlife management and conflict between hunting with other forms and land and resource use. Many of the Deputy Game Wardens saw military service abroad during World War I and the records include some relevant correspondence.

See Table of Contents below for a general sense of the collection organization and finding aid for a detailed file/item list. The contents of some files are listed in a hardcopy index (i.e. an item list) available in the reference room. The series is arranged by record type into the following sub series and sub-sub series:

A. Indexes
B. Correspondence
B(1) Personal and semi-official correspondence of A. Bryan Williams, Provincial Game Warden
B(2) Correspondence out
B(3) Letterbooks of correspondence out
B(4) General correspondence inward and outward
B(5) Correspondence re: firearms licences
C. Deputy Game Wardens
C(1) Monthly reports Boxes
C(2) Correspondence Boxes
D. Returns re: firearms licences
E. Vouchers
F. Licences
G. Prosecutions
H. Miscellaneous

British Columbia. Provincial Game and Forest Warden

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