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Archival description
Only top-level descriptions British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works
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Water rights plans

  • CM/S5-7
  • Series
  • 1892-1981

The series consists of records created by the Water Rights Branch, its predecessor, the Dept. of Lands and Works and its successor, the Water Management Branch. Throughout its existence, the Water Rights Branch (WRB) acquired and created a large central set of plans, maps, and engineering drawings which was assigned a single set of sequential water rights plan numbers. Over time, the original plan series was divided into separate sub-series for the use of particular operational units.

The water rights plans series documents a broad range of WRB activities. It includes: plans and engineering drawings submitted to the WRB by individuals, corporations, and municipalities as part of their applications for water licences or for approval of works; survey plans and maps prepared by WRB field engineers and regional engineers in support of licensing activities, irrigation studies, water power investigations and dam inspections; general reference maps used by WRB staff; and a variety of charts, graphs, and other items used for WRB functions such as stream measurement and precipitation monitoring. Taken as a whole, this series constitutes a wealth of often highly detailed cartographic information on regions and communities throughout British Columbia, information which in many cases is not available elsewhere.

Of particular interest are early large-scale maps and plans which provide extensive topographic information and vegetation notes for many areas of B.C. well before those areas were covered by standard topographic maps, including areas which were later flooded due to dam construction. As well, some of the early plans of towns and of agricultural, commercial, and industrial sites include such detailed cultural and cadastral information as the location and identity of buildings and the names of property owners affected by proposed water projects. The series also contains invaluable documentation of specific major hydro-electric, irrigation, and waterworks projects in the form of site plans and engineering (structural) drawings. The series' value is enhanced by the fact that many of the items contain numbers which can be used to link the items with related records such as water records, conditional and final licences; correspondence files, water rights and reference maps, field notes, and a variety of reports.

British Columbia. Water Rights Branch

List of lands advertised to be sold for delinquent taxes, Ashcroft district

  • GR-0037
  • Series
  • 8 Oct 1902

The series consists of a volume probably created by the Government Agent in Ashcroft on behalf of the Dept. of Lands and Works. The volume contains a list of lands to be sold in October 1902 for non-payment of taxes and includes the name of the party assessed, the description of the land, the amount due, to whom sold and the signature of the new purchaser.

British Columbia. Government Agent (Ashcroft)

Public Works contracts and other material

  • GR-0054
  • Series
  • 1893-1926

The series consists of records created by the Dept. of Public Works between 1893 and 1926. The files contain contracts, specifications, and plans of Public Works buildings such as schools, gaols, court houses and hospitals. They are arranged chronologically.

British Columbia. Dept. of Public Works

Public Works specifications and other material

  • GR-0070
  • Series
  • 1872-1924

The series consists of specifications for Public Works buildings, including occasional plans and contract forms, created between 1872 and 1924 by the Dept. of Public Works.

British Columbia. Dept. of Public Works

Public Works correspondence, plans and specifications

  • GR-0080
  • Series
  • 1872-1896

The series consists of records created by the Dept. of Lands and Works between 1872 and 1896 regarding public works. The records contains contracts, specifications, correspondence, and some plans connected with the construction and repair of schools, government buildings, and smaller works.

A limited number of files contained plans and a few files contained plans only. These files are indicated in the finding aid by * and ** respectively. All plans have been removed from the files and accessioned in the Map Collection as M856047. Appendix 1 of the finding aid lists the plans.

The file list provides the file number assigned by Public Works, the original contract number in square brackets, the name of the building or work, and the date of the contract.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Public Works contracts, plans, and correspondence

  • GR-0087
  • Series
  • 1862-1909

The series consists of records created by the Dept. of Lands and Works between 1862 and 1909. The records include contracts, specifications, plans, correspondence, returns of work performed, reports and accounting material pertaining to the construction, maintenance, and repair of diverse roads, bridges, dams, wharves, and buildings. The records are arranged roughly by district.

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)

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)

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)

Lands Department executive records

  • GR-0440
  • Series
  • 1872-1918

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.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands. Deputy Minister

Commission on Allegations of Maladministration in Dept. of Lands and Works, 1898

  • GR-0478
  • Series
  • 1898

This series consists of records of the Commission on Allegations of Maladministration in Dept. of Lands and Works, 1898, including Report of Commissioner George A. Walkem and transcripts of evidence.

British Columbia. Commission on Allegations of Maladministration in Dept. of Lands and Works, 1898

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

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)

Land sale records

  • GR-0567
  • Series
  • 1858-1868

This series consists of receipt books and miscellaneous land sale records. Records consist largely of receipts for the sale of town lots, suburban and country lands, and unsurveyed rural lands, issued by Assistant Commissioners of Lands and Works for Cariboo District, Lillooet District, Yale District, and New Westminster District. The series also includes land sale records pertaining to Lytton, Seymour, Douglas, Port Moody, Fort Langley, and Similkameen district, and a trading licences receipt book issued by Frank Trevor, Collector at Quesnel.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Letterbook

  • GR-0763
  • Series
  • 1872

This series consists of a letterbook from the Department of Lands and Works. The book includes copies of letters signed by the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works and the Surveyor General, January 5 - August 1, 1872.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Certificates of improvement

  • GR-0765
  • Series
  • 1863-1878

This series consists of certificates of improvement nos. 1-276, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. Missing certificates are listed.

Certificates from before 1868 are created by the Colony of Vancouver Island Office of the Surveyor General.
Certificate from 1869-1871 are created by the Colony of British Columbia Department of Lands and Works. Certificates created after 1871 are created by the Province of British Columbia Department of Lands and Works.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Pre-emption records for west coast land

  • GR-0766
  • Series
  • 1861-1886

This series consists of pre-emption records for west coast land relating largely to Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. The records consist of pre-emption registrations, certificates of pre-emption, pre-emption sketches, certificates that certain lands are unoccupied and open for settlement, some certificates of improvement, and correspondence.

West Coast land districts and areas these records relate to include:

Alberni District, Cedar District, Chemainus District, Comiaken District, Comox District, Cowichan District, Cranberry District, Darcy Island, Denman Island, Departure Bay, Descanos Island, Discovery Island, Englishman River, Esquimalt District, Fanny Bay, Fort Rupert, Galiano Island, Hedley Islets, Highland District, Hornby Island, James Island, Jedidiah Island, Kennedy District, Koksaila River, Kuper Island, Lake District, Lake Matheson, Lasqueti Island, Mayne Island, Metchosin District, Moresby Island, Mountain District, Mousquito Island, Mudge Island, Nanaimo District, Nanoose District, Nootka Sound, Otter District, Oyster Bay, Pender Island, Piers Island, Point Home, Portland Island, Prevost Island, Qualicum, Quamichan District, Rocky Point, Saanich Districts, Saltspring District, Samuel Island, San Juan Island, Saturna Island, Shawnigan District, Sister Bay, Somas River, Alberni, Somenos District, Sooke District, Stikeen, Stuart Island, Stubb's Island, Thetis Island, Ucluelet Arm, Victoria District, Village Point, Wellington District.

Includes pre-emption records for Cassiar, Stikine, and Queen Charlotte Islands, 1873-1874, arranged numerically. Contains one pre-emption from Osoyoos District, 1884.

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.

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

  • GR-0824
  • Series
  • 1863-1893

This series consists of 11 volumes of records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Cariboo District, 1863-1893. Records include certificates of pre-emption, certificates of improvement, lot register of Group 1, Cariboo District, sale of town lots of Richfield, Barkerville, Cameronton, and Quesnellemouth, and certificates of purchase. Also contains water rights recorded for irrigation purposes and an accounts book.

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

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

  • GR-0827
  • Series
  • 1860-1874

This series consists of records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Lillooet District. Records include four volumes of pre-emption records. Volume 1, Records of Pre-empted Lands in the Lillooet District, nos. 1-330 (1860-1869); includes notices of water records nos. 1-114 (1865-1869) and later notices of cancellations and Crown grants. Volume 2, pre-emption claim certificates, nos. 331-418 (1870-1874, 1881). Volume 3, pre-emption claims, nos. 89-128 (1862-1863) consisting of sketches pasted into ledger of cash collected for road tolls, 1862-1865. Volume 4, preemption claims, nos. 20-88 (1861-1862), no. 120 (1863) and nos. 187-200 (1865-1866), including sketches.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Lands records

  • GR-0829
  • Series
  • 1864-1868; 1876-1879

This series consists of three volumes of miscellaneous land account books. Volume 1, Land Revenue, receipts paid into the Treasury, 26 December 1864 to 30 December 1865. Volume 2, Cash Book, receipts and payments, 8 January 1866 to 2 July 1868. Volume 3, Ledger Book, expenditures for roads, furniture, buildings and government offices generally, 1876-1879. Index in front of vol. 3.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Correspondence and other material

  • GR-0830
  • Series
  • 1900-1913; 1957

This series consists of correspondence and other records from the Department of Lands and Works, and its successor, the Department of Public Works. Records include correspondence inward and tenders for Victoria Court House, 1900-1904, Government House, 1900-1904, and Parliament Buildings, 1900; specifications for Victoria Graving Dock; specifications and agreement for Lytton highway bridge, 1913; and weekly building progress reports, Government House, 1957 (reports 30-75 only).

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

Lands and Works records

  • GR-0832
  • Series
  • 1888-1898

List of public works and the names of those submitting tenders, including accounts bids, 1888-1898. Includes file number references.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Land and mining record book

  • GR-0833
  • Series
  • 1859-1870

This series consists of a ledger and general record book, 1859-1871. The creator of the volume is not clear, but was likely the Government Agent who worked in or around Lytton. The volume was used for several purposes overtime. It includes the following types of information: list of pre-emptions for Lytton City; mining licences, free miner's certificates, liquor licences, trading licences, garden plots and ground rentals from the Lytton area (Fraser Canyon to Kamloops); records of miners and storekeepers occupying Crown land as garden plots and residences throughout the Fraser Canyon area; copies of bridge toll agreements and ferry operation contracts for places on the Fraser River, Thompson River, Nicola River, Savonna's ferry, Anderson River and Bridge River.

British Columbia. Government Agent (Lytton)

Water rights records

  • GR-0835
  • Series
  • 1902-1925

This series consists of letters inward to the Chief Commissioner of Lands, the Deputy Commissioner of Lands and the Minister of Lands regarding water rights generally, 1902-1912. These letters were transferred to Water Rights Branch files from Lands files and do not appear on the microfilm of Lands letters inward. Letters are arranged chronologically.

The series also includes a page regarding the disposition of Indian water rights by Board of Investigation from 1921-1925.

British Columbia. Water Rights Branch

Water Clauses Consolidation Act

  • GR-0838
  • Series
  • 1897

This series consists of the Water Clauses Consolidation Act, 1897, including an index at the front.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

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