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Only top-level descriptions British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works
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Register of land pre-emptions and other material

  • GR-0514
  • Series
  • 1867-1884

This series consists of one volume entitled "Mr. Morley's Old Book Land Records - List of Squatters on Railway Lands p. 51". The volume is a register of land pre-emptions, certificates of improvement, purchases and transfers, 1867-1879. Entries include a date, pre-emption or certificate number, district name, personal or corporate name, number of acres, range and section or "unsurveyed" and name of land recorder, John. Morley. The districts include Comiaken, Somenos, Quamichan, Cowichan, Shawnigan, and Salt Spring Island, Portland Island, Thetis Island, Pender Island, Mayne Island and Saturna Island. Entries on pages 51-54 list squatters on Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway land, 1877-1884 indicating the date, name, district (includes above plus Chemainus), section and number of acres. There is also a single sheet letter from Chad Wallader Blayney, June 13, 1876, requesting land.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Yale District

  • GR-0826
  • Series
  • 1859-1886

This series consists of the records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Yale District, 1859-1886. Records include five volumes of pre-emption records. Volume 1, nos. 1-392 (1859-1872); Volume 2, nos. 275-312 and 1-24 (1870-1871); Volume 3, nos. 25-279 (1871-1884); Volume 4, certificates of record of unsurveyed land, nos. 250-294 (1874-1885); Volume 5, certificates of record of unsurveyed land, nos. 292-295 (1883-1886). Volumes 1 and 4 have nominal indexes.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Lands and Works records regarding Cariboo District roads

  • GR-0831
  • Series
  • 1899; 1912-1914

This series consists of three volumes of records relating to road construction and repairs in Cariboo district. Volume 1, road expenditures, 1899 created by the Department of Lands and Works. Volume 2, road appropriations and expenditures, 1912-1913. Volume 3, road appropriations and expenditures, 1913-1914. Volume 2 and 3 created by the Department of Public Works.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Orders-in-council relating to water works and water power projects

  • GR-0839
  • Series
  • 1892-1913

This series consists of an index and list of orders-in-council relating to water works and water power projects pursuant to the Rivers and Streams Act, 1890, the Water Clauses Consolidation Act, 1897, and the Water Act, 1909. Includes alphabetical index of companies and cities granted certificates of approval and chronological lists.

British Columbia. Water Rights Branch

Yale District water rights records

  • GR-0845
  • Series
  • 1857-1906

This series consists of three volumes of records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Yale District, relating to water rights. Volume 1 contains Irrigation Water Records for Yale and Ashcroft Water Districts, 1873-1885, Book No. 4. Volume 2 is an index to Water Records, 1859 to 1900, Books 1, 2, 3, 4. Volume 3 is a list of Water Records, Yale District, 1857-1906.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Correspondence index to lands files

  • GR-0993
  • Series
  • 1980

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.

British Columbia. Surveys and Land Records Branch

Correspondence relating to safes and locks at the Parliament Buildings

  • GR-1155
  • Series
  • 1874-1894

This series contains miscellaneous correspondence relating to safes and locks at the Parliament Buildings. It includes a letter to F.M. Rattenbury from M.W. Waitt regarding vault door combinations.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Accounts ledger

  • GR-1171
  • Series
  • 1865-1866

This series contains one volume of an accounts ledger, receipts and payments. It also includes a ledger of expenditures for road construction, surveys and explorations, salaries, supplies, etc.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Appeal book and judgements

  • GR-1208
  • Series
  • 1906

This series contains an appeal book and judgements of the British Columbia Supreme Court in the case of James S. Emerson, timber dealer v. Robert T. Skinner, Provincial Timber Inspector, regarding the seizure of three booms of cedar under the Timber Manufacturing Act, 1906.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Certificates of purchase

  • GR-1521
  • Series
  • 1859-1944

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.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands

Records relating to miners' certificates and permits

  • GR-1057
  • Series
  • 1895-1918

This series consists of records relating to miners' certificates and permits issued by the Dept. of Lands and Works and the Dept. of Lands at Victoria. Includes Free Miner's Certificates, 1897-1912; Special Miner's Certificates, 1899-1906; Leave of Absence permits, 1895-1906; mining receipts, 1897-1903; Crown Grant fee receipts pursuant to the Mineral Act, 1911-1918.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands

Yale Government Agent records

  • GR-0252
  • Series
  • 1858-1914

The series consists of records created by the Government Agent in Yale between 1858 and 1914. The records include correspondence inward and outward; records of placer and mineral claims, water records, land records and financial records.

The series includes one file transferred from container 913433-0222 that relates to the Ashton v. Agassiz case. This correspondence can be found in the letterbook in GR-1780.

British Columbia. Government Agent (Yale)

Comiaken Land District land register

  • GR-2626
  • Series
  • 1859-1885

This series consists of a Comiaken Land District land register for Range 1, Section 1 to Range 3, Section 19 on Vancouver Island. The volume date 1859-1885.

The register is arranged numerically by Range and Section and records the alienation of land from the Crown (by purchase, pre-emption, 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 and field books. The volume includes an alphabetical name index.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Indentures of Conveyance

  • GR-1066
  • Series
  • 1874-1878

Indentures of Conveyance of church lands by the Bishop of British Columbia to Charles Thomas Wood, Archdeacon of Columbia, Henry P. Wright, Archdeacon of Vancouver, and John Foster McCreight; includes lands and church sites at Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich, Cowichan, Comox, and New Westminster.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Day book of expenditures and correspondence

  • GR-1029
  • Series
  • 1862-1865

This series consists of a day book of expenditures of road and bridge construction, surveys and transport, 1862-1864; goods received from grocers, Hope, B.C., 1865; correspondence and specifications relating to the construction of the Burrard Inlet road, 1864-1865.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Records relating to the South African War Land Grant Act

  • GR-1173
  • Series
  • 1901-1903

This series contains papers relating to the South African War Land Grant Act. It includes statutes with notations, published nominal rolls of Canadian contingents for special service in the field in South Africa, and lists of applicants for land pursuant to the Act.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Certificates of title of country lands

  • GR-1398
  • Series
  • 1860-1861

This series contains certificates of title of country lands in B.C. (2 vols.) Volume 1 contains nos. 1-35 (1860-1861). Volume 2 contains nos. 36-39 (1861). The records are counterfoil books containing name of purchaser, acreage and description of lands.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Registers of auction land sales held at Vancouver

  • GR-1406
  • Series
  • 1901-1908

This series contains registers of auction land sales held at Vancouver. Volume 1 contains information from an auction sale that took place November 20-23, 1901. Volume 2 contains information from an auction sale that took place September 29, 1908. The registers include information such as lot number, name of purchaser and sale prices.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands

Correspondence and other material, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works

  • GR-1381
  • Series
  • 1863-1896

This series contains miscellaneous records of the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works. The records consist of correspondence, receipts, accounts, petitions relating to pre-emptions, ferries, roads, public works, leases, and tax assessments. Includes (1) Metchosin District assessment roll, 1863; (2) pre-emption correspondence with William G. Cox and Peter O'Reilly, 1865, 1869; (3) receipt book for rental of crown lands, including waterfrontage and timber cutting, 1868-1869; (4) indenture for ferry charter at Omineca, 1872; (5) accounts relating to roads and bridges 1872-1873; (6) an 1880 petition re the graving dock; (7) report on Thompson River Bridge, 1876, 1882; (8) an 1892 pre-emption of Allison, Carefoot and Cameron in Yale District; (9) copy of a letter re road to Montgomery Landing, Kootenay District, 1896.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Lands records

  • GR-0767
  • Series
  • 1858-1863

This series consists of land records from the Colony of British Columbia Lands and Works Department, 1858-1863. Most records are related to the sale of town lots at Langley, 1858-1859, and New Westminster, 1860-1862, including records of exchanges of lots at Langley for lots at New Westminster. The series also include various other land records related to New Westminster, Douglas, Hope, Yale, Lytton and Lillooet, including pre-emptions, lot registers, accounts for sales of town and suburban lots, and lists of deeds issued.

British Columbia (Colony). Lands and Works Dept.

Crown Lands records

  • GR-1088
  • Series
  • 1877-1980

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.

British Columbia. Surveys and Land Records Branch

Pre-emption records

  • GR-1182
  • Series
  • 1860-1874, 1884

This series contains records relating to pre-emptions in the Cariboo, Lillooet, Lytton and Kootenay Districts recorded by various Gold Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners of Lands and Works. The records consist of correspondence, notices of claim, sketches and affidavits and pertains largely to records in the vicinities of Quesnel, Alexandria, Williams Lake, Lytton and Cache Creek. The series also includes a detailed account of town lot sales at Quesnellemouth held on 13 October 1863 as well as an application for wages due, correspondence on various land disputes, several water records, and proposed leases of government reserves.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Cariboo Government Agent correspondence and other material

  • GR-0216
  • Series
  • 1860-1938

The series consists of records created by the Government Agent and the Gold Commissioner of the Cariboo District, between 1860 and 1938. It includes correspondence inward and outward; court, mining, land, financial and administrative records.

British Columbia. Gold Commissioner (Cariboo)

Kamloops Government Agent land records

  • GR-0522
  • Series
  • 1877-1977

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.

British Columbia. Government Agent (Kamloops)

Minutes of decision of Joint Indian Reserve Commission

  • GR-2982
  • Series
  • 1876-1949; predominant 1876-1907

The series consists of minutes of decision of the Joint Indian Reserve Commission (1876-1878) of governments of Canada and British Columbia and of the Indian Reserve Commission (1878-1907) of the government of Canada regarding allotment of Indian reserves in British Columbia.

Records consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports and coloured maps of the reserve allotments. Although these records are called Joint Reserve Commission records, they probably form part of the British Columbia Department of Lands and Works fonds. Most of the records are stamped with the Lands and Works Dept. stamp and also have Lands and Works file numbers assigned to each, after they were received from the Commission. Some files then had additional related records added to by Department staff, as reserves were surveyed or related issues came up. Additional records were added to several files by Department of Lands staff up to 1949.

In addition, the series includes an item level precis of each document, created by the Dept. of Lands in 1980. The precis are filed in the first file of each box.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Letters inward to John Clapperton, Government Agent, Nicola

  • GR-0369
  • Series
  • 1885

Letter inward to John Clapperton, Government Agent, Nicola, from William Smithe, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 15 September 1885, concerning a water dispute between Messrs. Palmer and Scott.

British Columbia. Government Agent (Nicola)

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