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The series consists of copies of British Columbia divorce court orders submitted to the Division of Vital Statistics and its predecessor, the Vital Statistics Branch. It includes copies of divorce orders for Victoria from 1901 to 1983 and for British Columbia from 1935 to 1983.

In 1935 an amendment to the Vital Statistics Act required that the Vital Statistics Branch be sent a certified copy of each court order relating to the dissolution of marriage. From 1 April 1935 until 1986, when the requirement for the Division of Vital Statistics to maintain a central divorce register was repealed, divorce orders were sent to Victoria. Copies of final decrees dating back to 1901 were also submitted by the Victoria court registry.

The Victoria orders from 1901 to 1935 are arranged roughly by year. Volume number 999 was assigned to this group of records in 1946 (see GR-3254 description). For British Columbia divorce orders starting in 1935, a sequential volume numbering system was introduced, continuing until 1976. Each year consists of several volumes which are organized alphabetically within groups of months. File numbering to 1946 was sequential but thereafter usually started at 1 at the beginning of each year. From 1977 to 1983, there were no volume numbers assigned.

The volumes and file numbers are internal Vital Statistics numbers and are not the same as the volume and folio numbers assigned by the respective court registries. These orders are intended for reference purposes only. If a certified copy is required, a copy should be made from the original filed document which may be available from the British Columbia Archives or may still be in the custody of the issuing court registry.