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RECORDED: [location unknown], 1987-1988 SUMMARY: Eleven oral history interviews on the work of B.C. government agents; Victoria, B.C. provincial police administration; and personalities in the public service.;

This collection contains both British Columbia Provincial Police Veteran's Association (BCPPVA) records and British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP) records which were collected by the BCPPVA. The BCPPVA records consist of minutes (1978-1985) bulletins and correspondence (1964-1983); membership lists; correspondence re BCPP exhibits at museums; a scrapbook, 1905-1988 compiled by the BCPPVA on microfilm reel A01724(3); and "Off Patrol", the magazine of the BCPPVA, 1980-1984. BCPP records include General Orders; C.I.B. special circulars; seniority lists; nominal rolls; police pocket diaries, including those kept by Constable Tom Scales on Highway Patrol in the Fraser Canyon, Fraser Valley and New Westminster areas; Air Raid Precaution training lectures and pamphlets; and the daily diary of the Savona Detachment.

Photographs have been transferred to Visual Records as accession 199009-004. The map has been registered with the map collection as registration number 24332A.

Record book, Sept 1973 - March 1978.

Record books. Vol. 1: July 1938 - June 1960; vol. 2: July 1960 - Aug 1973.

The series consists of records created between 1909 and 1972 by the Northern Division or Northern Region of the Fish and Wildlife Branch and the "D" Division of its predecessor bodies, that relate to the registration and administration of traplines and the trapping industry. For most of the years covered in these records, this division/region consisted of all of British Columbia north of a line from Quesnel to Bella Coola, including these two places as well as Prince Rupert, Kitimat, Queen Charlotte Islands, the Stikine region, Cassiar, McDames Creek, Fort Nelson, Fort St. John and the Peace River region, the upper Fraser River valley of the McBride-Tete Jaune Cache area, the Nechako valley, the Skeena region, and the Prince George area.

The series include early files transferred from the B.C. Police, files regarding First Nations traplines, and individual trapline files, 1922-1969; records on registered guides, including guide report forms and nominal files, 1948-1972; crime investigation reports and conviction record books of violation of fish and game laws, 1930-1967; game management records including subject files on wildlife organization, management activities, and data on various species.

This series contains a large number of maps and sketches from 1909 to 1972, especially relating to the trapline and guide files. Many of these were removed from their files in 1982 and catalogued as two separate sub-series by the Map Division of the BC Archives. An index map of guiding territories was also removed.

See index map of guiding territories catalogued as CM/G6
See sub-series CM/E117 for trapline maps, 1909-1968
See sub-series CM/C2054 (previously CM/S2) for trapline sketches, 1922-1972.

This series consists of police court record books from Williams Lake, covering 1947-1969.

The series consists of letters inward re service with British Columbia Provincial Police, including notices of appointment and transfers, 1932-1947; police forms, including letterhead and blank Christmas cards; police records collected by MacAlpine, including information and warrants, Port Essington, 1909-1913 and prisoners' effects and description book, Bella Coola, 1914-1934; clippings re BCPP, mainly 1950; National Parks licence, Banff, 1922; published material including programmes for Christmas celebrations, Victoria, 1928, Victoria Day celebrations, Victoria, 1946, visit of Princess Alexandra, 1967, revised rules of the road, 1922; Gaol rules, 1940, BCPP regulations, 1945 and 1947, Criminal law in twelve lessons. Photographs transferred to Visual Records accession 198207-18.

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.

The series consists of records created by T.W.S. Parsons. Parsons wrote extensively on topics mostly related to policing and to British Columbia history, including diaries covering three decades, addresses to police conventions, radio scripts, and articles for periodicals, as well as some fictional stories. He also wrote about his travels.

Records include correspondence, official and private, including letters relating to his work with the Boy Scouts and the Queen Alexandra Solarium; diaries, account, and appointment books, 1931-1955; certificates, membership cards; scrapbooks; notes re Fort George Hazleton Police District; notes and correspondence on various police cases; report on Northern Patrol, 1935; notes on Tahltan bear dogs; horoscope; manuscripts of articles on police matters; manuscripts re radio plays. Also includes maps of Tweedsmuir Park, Alaska and various district maps.
The ca. 400 photographs include scenes of the BCPP, Indigenous people, Parsons' Pacific trip, Canadian Pacific Railway, Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway and Tweedsmuir park.

The series consists of five files created or acquired by the Chief Mining Engineer between 1938 and 1955. The files include: an illustrated 1938 report on Zeballos written by T.W.S. Parsons, Assistant Commissioner of the B.C. Police; a distribution list for a 1942 report on iron and steel; an illustrated copy of a 1948 report of Canadian National Railways on use of coal from Hasler Creek, B.C. in railroad locomotives; correspondence relating to the 4th Empire Mining and Metallurgical Congress and other staff matters from 1947 to 1950 and correspondence re Alaska Pine and Cellulose operations in Peace River district, 1955.

Provincial Police Court record books showing name of prosecutor, name of defendant, nature of the charge, costs, name of arresting officer, name of gaol or lockup, order or conviction, amount of fine, name of presiding magistrate or justice and "remarks".

Provincial Police Court record books for 1910-1929 and 1932-1950 showing name of prosecutor, name of defendant, nature of the charge, costs, name of arresting officer, name of gaol or lockup, order or conviction, amount of fine, name of presiding magistrate or justice and "remarks" .

The series consists of Provincial Police Force personnel records created between 1858 and 1950, mostly from after 1900. The records include applications, correspondence regarding applications, oath books, pay lists and other salary records, staff registers, nominal rolls and personnel cards. Some records may relate to staffing provincial gaols and game wardens.

The series consists of records acquired and created by Colin Clarence Campbell, Clerk in the British Columbia Provincial Police Force, between 1941 and ca. 1950. There are copies of general orders, 1941-1947; nominal rolls, 1941-1948; salary lists, 1947-1949, and seniority lists, 1941-1948. In addition there are two police publications: regulations from 1945 and consolidated general orders from 1947, some lists of officers working in Oakalla Prison, 1944-1948, a list of officers and their dependents, 1948 and a list from about 1950 of the city and district municipalities policed by the R.C.M.P.

This series consists of a variety of records created by the Provincial Police Force with an unclear provenance. This means the specific person or office that created or used the records may be unknown, or the records may not fit in with other existing series. The records were created between 1867 and 1950 and relate to several areas of the province.

The series currently consists of the following items and files:

-- Blank prisoner’s effects and description book, c. 1910;
-- Blank Liquor Act form and letterhead, c. 1910;
-- Receipts for miner’s licences issued by Constable Frank Trevor at Quesnelle Forks, 1867;
-- Bridge pass form book [mostly blank], 1950;
-- Lists of prisoner transfers to Victoria Gaol, 1914-1915;
-- Lock up calendars sent to the Chief Constable, Kamloops from police in Chase, Sicamous, Savona and an unidentified location, 1918.

This series consists of a variety of circulars (later referred to as orders), wanted posters, informations and warrants. The records were created and used by the Provincial Police Force from 1884-1920s and general orders from the 1920s-1948. The series contains several volumes with have both types of records intermingled. Some volumes are indexed by subject or name of the wanted person.

Circulars and orders provide a concise summary of changes to criminal charges, and other the directives and instructions sent to police staff. Most circulars are copied and provided to all constables and inspectors from the Police Superintendent or police Headquarters in Victoria, but some are sent from regional offices or other officials to their subordinates. General circulars or orders would have been sent to all offices.

Most of the wanted posters, informations, and warrants were received from police in other provinces or the United States, in hopes of locating wanted or missing persons. Some were created by the BC Provincial Police and are related to crimes committed in British Columbia. Photos or drawings of the individuals, fingerprints and writing samples may be included on the posters.

Two volumes were created by the central Provincial Police Force office from 1914 to 1923. Records include written circulars provided as instructions to various police force staff across the province; notices of changes to legislation or regulations; and wanted posters or descriptions of wanted persons. Records have been glued into volumes by the date they were created or received by the office.

There are also several files of loose circulars and wanted posters, some from the Nelson office of the Provincial Police Force and the Motor Vehicle Branch in Victoria. Some circulars may have be received from other members of government, such as the Attorney General. One file of circulars relates specifically to the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB).

There is also one file of nominal rolls from 1927 listing each staff and their position.

The series consists of copies of telegrams sent by the British Columbia Provincial Police in 1913 and from 1941 to 1945.

The series consists of a letterbook containing crime reports produced or collected by Sergeant John William Hooker during the course of his duties as a British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP) officer while posted to Coquitlam, Grand Forks, Nelson, Smithers, Prince George, Clinton, Ashcroft, Spence’s Bridge, Merritt, and Kamloops between 1932 and 1944. The records cover a variety of crimes and social issues—particularly in small, rural communities. In addition to generic social issues, the records from Grand Forks (file 3) relate primarily to Doukhobors, and include reports on the settlement of Gilpin.

The majority of the reports were produced by Hooker. Some supplemental records (copies), such as an inquest, inward correspondence in relation to particular cases, and a reason for judgement are interfiled with the crime reports.

The records are arranged chronologically and by detachment location. The records do not capture all crime reports filed in a particular district, but were likely selected by Hooker. Some of these files have been labeled in pencil “Personal file.” The records consist primarily of crime reports on standard BCPP letterhead. Each report contains the district, detachment, and the date, as well as an overview of the case and persons involved.

Some of these records may also be available in GR-1388: Correspondence and other material created by the British Columbia Provincial Police Force of the Yale district. John William Hooker's personnel card, which provides details of the service of constables, including marital status, date of first appointment, station, and various postings, can be found in GR-0091, vol. 30-31.

Record books, 1928-1943. Vol. 1 (1928-1937) includes cases from Tofino.

The series consists of correspondence relating to the Royal Visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to British Columbia in 1939.

Diary, January 27, 1922 - December 31, 1937, of C.D. Muirhead. Muirhead worked in the vicinity of Strathnaver, helping on the family homestead, trapping, cutting ties, etc., and at Summit Lake before joining the B.C. Provincial Police, as a Special Constable in August 1923 and as a regular constable in October 1924. He served as a Game Constable at Finlay Forks and Fort St. James, and from 1929, following the separation of the Game Department from the Provincial Police, as Game Warden, first at Telkwa and then Smithers. The transcripts were made by C.D. Muirhead's brother, William Muirhead.

Copied from photocopies borrowed from Mrs. A.A. Mallery, Prince George, 1986 (niece of C.D. Muirhead).

This series consists of a variety of administrative and operational records from the office of the Superintendent of the BC Provincial Police Force. The series includes records from 1861-1936, but records are predominantly from 1903-1936.

The wide variety of records have been arranged into 6 sub-series of records:

1. Administrative : equipment, statistics and finances. Most files consist of forms, correspondence or reports and statistics submitted from police divisions, districts and stations across the province to the Superintendent’s office. Some of this information was compiled into various ledgers in the Superintendent's office. Records regard lockups and stations; car, launch and mileage reports; Gasoline Tax Act exemptions; monthly financial analysis; monthly crime analysis, revenue analysis and collections; monthly revenue analysis submitted to the Attorney-General; monthly and annual financial statements for provincial police expenses in each municipality; and inventories of government property or equipment.

2. Administrative : personnel. Records include staff pay lists; lists of constables; and advances for constable expenses. This includes staffing data complied to answer questions asked of the Attorney General in the Legislative Assembly regarding staff who left police service and soldiers returned from World War I.

3. Operational : licences. This includes correspondence regarding the issuing of licences and records regarding the applications and issuance of licences. Licences issued by the Superintendent of Police evolved over time and include firearm licences, retail licences, trade licences, wholesale licences, liquor licences, and licences to operate an employment agency. See sub-series 4 for motor vehicle licence and GR-0446 for additional records regarding firearm, fishing, hunting and game licences.

4. Operational : motor vehicles licencing. Records regard the application, issuing, renewal and transferring of licences; payment and refund of licencing fees; accidents; as well as incidents related to the cancellation or suspension of licences throughout the province.

5. Operational : miscellaneous correspondence. Relates to a variety of subjects such as Special Constables at Sooke Lake Reservoir, licence districts, Industrial School supplies, and other subjects.

6. Operational : miscellaneous subject files and other records. Subjects include murders of August Carlson and Indigenous men Zelak and Kwa-zitl, Pinkertons investigations looking for wanted persons, a 1909 Cariboo stage coach robbery, hotel and liquor licence inspections, and the admittance of Lord Verney to a mental hospital. This subseries also includes some 1918 circulars and examples of cattle brands burned onto pieces of wood.

This series consists of ten volumes of Provincial Police Force monthly crime analysis and statement of fines, 1923-1926 and 1930-1935. Volume 1 is arranged by division, then district. All other volumes are arranged alphabetically by district or municipality.

This series consists of one bound day book from the Provincial Police Detective Office. The book contains daily entries by several detectives describing what they did each day, including places they traveled to, cases worked on, people interviewed and suspects apprehended. The located in Vancouver, but detective covered cases across the province, including Kamloops and Vancouver Island.

The first half of the book is written by one unnamed detective and covers the days 1 April 1914 – 10 May 1918. The second half of the book is labelled as “Vancouver District Headquarters C.I.B. Memos : C. Ledoux – M.J. Phillips” and covers the days 1 January 1933 to 31 December 1934. A variety of crimes are included, such as theft, murder and fraud. CIB likely reference to the Criminal Investigation Branch.

The series consists of records created by the British Columbia Provincial Police Force between 1858 and ca. 1933.
The records include correspondence and other material regarding financial matters such as budgets, estimates, vouchers issued, revenue returns, bills, statements and receipts. The records also include correspondence and lists regarding stores, uniforms, equipment and supplies; vehicle reports and some colonial era records relating to Victoria and Vancouver Island police, prison, fire department and prisons.

The series consists of records created by the Deputy Provincial Secretary between 1914 and 1933 pertaining to the administration of funds for the "aid of the destitute, poor, and sick."

Between 1872 and 1942, an annual vote of funds was included in the estimates of the B.C. legislature. The fund, which was administered by the Office of the Provincial Secretary, originally contained $500. By 1935, this figure had risen to $110,000; but in the fund's final year of existence, 1943, the vote of funds had declined to $40,000.

The Indigent Fund, unlike the Mother's Pension, the Old Age Pension (1927), or the Veterans Assistance plans was not tied to an Act of Parliament, and thus relief was provided to people under a wide range of circumstances, and included many who failed to qualify for assistance under specific federal or provincial schemes. The fund was designed to meet the immediate and shortterm needs of rural B.C. residents (municipalities had their own funds) who through misfortune or bad planning had found themselves without "the necessities of life." The key to the fund, until the early 1930s, when the position of Superintendent of Welfare was created, was the Deputy Provincial Secretary, for it was often at his discretion that assistance was provided. He was aided in his duties by the various Government Agents, who were responsible for handling vouchers, disbursing cheques, and reporting to Victoria any new developments in individual cases. They, in turn, were assisted by Provincial Police constables who usually investigated each case and submitted a report.

The records consist of correspondence inward and outward from the Deputy Provincial Secretary's office; correspondence from Government Agents to the Deputy Provincial Secretary; Provincial Police reports on the condition of Indigents; correspondence from indigents or persons representing them to the Premier, Ministers, and the Deputy Provincial Secretary; and miscellaneous correspondence to and from various government departments and agencies such as Workman's Compensation Board, Department of Immigration, public hospitals, police departments etc.

The files are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the indigent. They are not, however, arranged alphabetically within each folder. There are two alphabetical series, as well as two sets of files titled "miscellaneous". All files have been preserved in their original order.

Daily diaries kept by Maitland-Dougall as Chief Constable at Duncan, August 1, 1892 - January 31, 1897, and at Hazelton Police District, August 10, 1909 - May 8, 1911 (folders 1 and 2); notebooks kept as Stipendiary Magistrate, Duncan, October 25, 1916 - August 20;, 1923, August 21, 1923 - December 14, 1926, and June 11, 1931 - March 19, 1932 (folders 3-5). Loose correspondence and clippings re Maitland-Dougall's retirement removed from folder 5 and filed in folder 6 with loose material such as reports, correspondence and tailor's bill removed from other folders. Commissions as Police Magistrate, Cumberland, and Stipendiary Magistrate, Counties of Nanaimo and Victoria, (folder 7).

Presented by R.S. Bayne, Victoria, 1985.

Boundary District Provincial Police files, consisting of correspondence, reports, jail calendars, vouchers, etc., from Coalmont, Fairview, Grand Forks, Greenwood, Hedley, Keremeos, Midway, Oliver, Penticton, Phoenix and Princeton, and correspondence with other police districts and with Victoria Headquarters.

These records were copied from originals loaned by the Penticton Museum in 1981. The originals had been transferred to the Penticton Museum and Archives by the Penticton area RCMP detachment. In 2006, the records were transferred to the BC Archives (accession 95-5924).

The numbered files that were microfilmed (40-1113 to 40-3500) appear to be consistent with the transferred originals. However, there are additional records on the microfilm (see the “Correspondence” and “Miscellaneous” sections in the Finding Aid).

This series contains the daily diary kept by Constable J.H. McClinton, British Columbia Provincial Police, "D" Division, stationed at Prince George.

The series consists of records created by the Superintendent of Provincial Police between 1917 and 1929. The records relate to the Victoria district and "A" division and contain files relating to various acts including the Sheep Protection Act and the Poll Tax Act from 1917 to 1921; vouchers and correspondence re vouchers from 1917 to 1925; and vouchers and miscellaneous letters from 1928 to 1929.