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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 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.

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 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 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 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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Series consists of one Richfield Assize calendar for September 9, 1878.

This series consists of subject files, correspondence and other records from the Office of the Attorney General from 1945-1972, 1974-2001. The records document all aspects of the Attorney General's role, including: advice to Cabinet; political oversight of the ministry; and involvement in inter-ministerial and inter-governmental initiatives. Files relate to all branches and functions of the Ministry of Attorney General and many include an overview of the work conducted by various branches of the ministry.

The majority of records are annual subject or correspondence files documenting the Attorney General’s liaison with government ministries and other government bodies, such as BC Ferries and BC Hydro. For earlier records, this includes annual correspondence files with Members of the Legislative Assembly, Ministers, and a few members of the public such as concerned citizens, and representatives of various organizations or companies. These files may contain correspondence in and out, alongside related reference material. In later series outgoing correspondence may be filed separately as flimsies (outgoing correspondence sent by the Attorney General). Some of the flimsies reply to correspondence written by members of the public and subsequently forwarded to the Attorney General from various officials for a response.

In addition, many records are copies requiring review or approval by the Attorney General, such as requests for legislation, and orders in council (OICs) and related background information.

Other types of records vary over the years and may include: Police Board records, including minutes; settlement offers with First Nations; Police Services complaints commission records; Human Rights Tribunal records, including reasons for decision; annual reports; legal opinions; press releases; newspaper clippings; staff personnel records; newsletters; correspondence; statistics; reports; budgets; audits; Freedom of Information requests; Treasury Board submissions; newspaper clippings; court records; files related to sessions of parliament including Bills, notes and responses to questions; daily journals or agendas (these are the only records in the series covering the years 1945-1951); briefs submitted to Cabinet from interested third parties. Many records appear to be informational to keep the Attorney General informed about various issues or the progress of programs and projects.

The subjects included in these records are extremely diverse, as the Attorney General interacted with all branches of government. A few prominent subjects include: liquor control, Doukhobors, Policing, allegations of corruption and abuse of authority by government officials or police, horse racing, conferences, Royal Commissions, Bank of British Columbia, Columbia River Treaty and power development project, and Dominion Provincial Conferences.

The records include a VHS videotape providing an overview of Thomas R. Berger’s report addressing claims of sexual abuse at Jericho Hill School for the Deaf. The videotape also contains the Attorney General at the time, the Honorable Colin Gablemann’s ministerial statement tabling Berger’s report to the Legislature on June 28th, 1995.

Names and dates of Attorney Generals covering these records are:
Robert Bonner (1952–1968)
Leslie Peterson (1968–1972)
Alex MacDonald (1972–1975)
Brian Smith (1983-1988)
Bud Smith (1988-1990)
Russell Fraser (1990-1991)
Colin Gabelmann (1991-1995)
Ujjal Dosanjh (1995–2000)
Andrew Petter (2000)
Graeme Bowbrick (2000–2001)
Geoff Plant (2001–2005)

These records are covered under Executive Records schedule 102906. Accession 86-0270 is covered under onetime schedule number 860140.

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

The series consists of three volumes of Victoria Gaol Warden's diaries dated 1893, 1896 and 1899.

The series consists of certified copies of records pertaining to Indian lands obtained by the Dept. of the Attorney-General in 1976 from the Public Record Office, London.

It includes selected page copies of proclamations (PC 2/110), correspondence, and despatches (C.O.5/65, C.O.42/24 and C.O.398) from successive Secretaries of State to the Governor of British Columbia pertaining to Indian lands and Crown lands in North America as well as British Columbia.

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 consists of registers and indexes to coroners' inquiries and inquests, 1874-1937. In the registers (1889-1937), names are listed chronologically by year. In the indexes (1879-1937), names are arranged alphabetically by year.

Coroners' inquiries and inquests that are registered and indexed in this accession are held in GR-1327 and GR-1323.

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 a subject index to Department of Attorney-General correspondence inward found within GR-1323. The index is primarily for the years 1911-1919, although there are some entries as early as 1901 and as late as 1937.

Between 1911-1919, each year has a separate index arranged by subject (also known as 'boxes' or 'drawers'). Within each subject, entries are arranged chronologically. Note that the year is marked on only the first page of each index. The series also includes descriptions of the 1919-1937 filing system, listing the acts, sub-headings, and file code numbers used. Though specific correspondence are not listed here, it is possible to use this index to estimate where records might appear within the correspondence (GR-1323).

This series contains selected inward Department of the Attorney-General correspondence from 1872 to 1950, although most of the items date from 1872 to 1937. Records cover all aspects of work conducted by the Attorney General and discuss a wide variety of subject matter.

The 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.

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