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The records in this unit consist primarily of correspondence, memoranda and indexes created and accumulated during the administrations of Premiers Smithe, Turner, Semlin, Martin, Dunsmuir, Prior, McBride, Bowser, Brewster, Oliver, MacLean and Tolmie (1893-1933). They also include a series of diaries of Premier Oliver, 1917-1927, scrapbooks, 1905-1941, and official addresses, programs and special items, 1951-1971.

Note that the records are not complete. There are, most notably, no records for A.E.B Davie, Theodore Davie or John Robson (1887-1895), but there are also records lacking for other administrations.

The records are broken down into fifteen series on the basis of the type and/or filing system of the documents. A change in government did not always result in a break in a series of records, with the result that several series span more than one administration.

The fifteen series are listed below. See each series description for more information about content.
SERIES I: Indexes and registers to correspondence inward 1895-1933
SERIES II: Official correspondence 1883-1915
SERIES III: Semi-official correspondence, 1907-1910
SERIES IV: Private correspondence, 1903-1915
SERIES V: Subject files, 1902-1915
SERIES VI: Correspondence 1915-1929
SERIES VII: Official correspondence, 1930-1933
SERIES VIII: Memoranda, 1917-1925
SERIES IX: Letterbooks (official), 1883-1916
SERIES X: Letterbooks (semi-official), 1907-1911
SERIES XI: Letterbooks (private), 1885-1904
SERIES XII: Letterbooks (personal), 1903
SERIES XIII: Diaries, 1917 - 1927
SERIES XIV: Clippings books, 1905-1941
SERIES XV: Official addresses, programs and special items

The fonds consists of private and official correspondence, inward and outward, speeches, accounts, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, reports, memoranda and miscellaneous items. Among the papers is correspondence inward and outward of John Oliver and John Duncan MacLean relating to Liberal party affairs. The Pattullo papers divide into two series. Series I [vol. 1-61] contain papers related to private and public activities of Pattullo from 1892-1956, but contains only five volumes [54-58] of papers related to the years 1933-1941 when Pattullo was Premier of British Columbia. Pattullo's filing system, based on subject categories, has been maintained. Papers within each file are arranged in chronological order. A few files contain papers for more: than one year. For instance, a file relating to one insurance policy might cover the years 1929-1933. All such files have been placed in the volume for the earliest year. Series II [vol. 62-84] contains papers related to Pattullo's tenure as Premier. Material within files is in chronological order. Most of letter analysis is given unless the entire file relates to one subject. In Series II it is not possible, as it is with Series I, conveniently to begin and progress through the papers year by year because the whole body of papers 1933-1941 is filed exclusively on a subject basis, hence more: than one year's correspondence may be in any one file. The filing system is that devised by the Premier's Office. Files are: classified as C" - "Confidential [vols. 62-65], "D" - departmental [vols. 66-67], "F" - federal [vols. 68-71] and "G" - general [vols. 72-73]. Volumes 74-76 contain alphabetical files. Volumes 77-84 contain newspaper clippings related to the years 1933-1941. Fonds also includes correspondence and telegrams with W.L. Mackenzie King and plans for celebrating King's sixtieth birthday; and a recording of Pattullo's radio address of 1935-06-17 on CRCV Vancouver.

This series contains official correspondence, reports, and related papers of Premier John H. Turner. Records include correspondence pertaining to provincial railway charters (1893-1897), agriculture, and mining; also includes B.C. Agent-General's Report (1895), applications for employment, and miscellaneous letters.

Papers in this series are those of the Honourable John Herbert Turner (1833-1923), premier of British Columbia from 4 March 1895 to 8 August 1898. Since Turner's administration was characterized by rapid industrial development (notably in railways, mining, and agriculture), and by no little political controversy, his official papers are especially valuable.

Most of the reports and correspondence in GR-1197 originated while Turner was the province's chief minister and, as such, they have been included in the archive's collection of Premier's Papers. As will be seen, though, some of the papers pertain to Turner's tenure as Minister of Finance and Agriculture, a portfolio he held from 1887 to 1898.

GR-1197 may be regarded as a supplement to GR-0441 (British Columbia - Premier: 1883-1933), Series II, volumes 2-13, which also contains official correspondence of Premier Turner. Researchers may find that Volume 354 of GR-0441 (Index to Official Correspondence, 1895-1897) will assist them in locating other related records.

The fonds consists of private and official correspondence and papers, notebooks of facts and figures on B.C., financial statistics, insurance policies and miscellaneous papers and photographs relating to honours and appointments. Fonds also includes clipping books, photograph albums, wallets and diaries, railway passes, a souvenir autograph booklet, a welcome home certificate signed by the officials of the Municipality of Coquitlam [MS-0347 also available on microfilm], and two oversized certificates commemorating his advancement to third degree masonry with the Free and Accepted Masons of B.C and upon the opening of Lord Selkirk School from the Municipality of South Vancouver.

This series contains correspondence concerning the Dominion-Provincial premiers' conference of 1910. The records include the minutes of the meeting of provincial delegates, 29 March 1910.

The fonds consists of scrapbooks, correspondence, daily journals and appointment books. Fonds includes Premier's Office appointment books for Richard McBride.

This series contains official reports and correspondence accumulated during the administrations of Premiers Tolmie, Pattullo, Hart, and Johnson. It includes Departmental, General, and Federal files, plus separate series of documents on Pacific Great Eastern Railway (1917-1945). It also includes applications for employment, petitions, press releases, speeches, and vouchers.

The records which comprise this unit were stored for many years in a maintenance shop adjacent to the Parliament Buildings. Storage conditions were less than ideal and in 1982 arrangements were made with the Premier's Office' to transfer the records to the Provincial Archives. It was a signal event, for the records provide documentation on virtually all facets of provincial life over a thirty-five year period. Additionally, the documents which make up GR-1222 provide a valuable record of the administrations of Premiers Tolmie (1928-1933), Pattullo (1933-1941), Hart (1941-1947) and Johnson (1947-1952). The records fall into three main categories or series, namely Departmental files, Federal files, and General files.

The series consists of a photograph album presented to Premier John Hart by the Advisory Council, Provincial Civilian Protection Committee around 1945. The album contains 44 black and white photographs showing the Provincial Civilian Protection Committee and A.R.P. (Air Raid Precautions) activities in the province between 1941 and ca. 1945. Most of the photographs were taken by Steffens-Colmer Ltd. of Vancouver, a few were taken by Dominion Photo or Don Coltman. The photographs have been glued into the album and have captions.

The photographs depict the following activities: black out conditions; headquarters, shelters and A.R.P. staff; A.R.P. equipment; first aid and hospital incident practice; A.R.P. students and teams; ambulances, mobile canteens and other public information activities including the use of respirators for civilians.

This series contains official correspondence, reports, briefs to cabinet, articles and messages, etc. accumulated during W.A.C. Bennett's tenure as premier. It includes files on Dominion-provincial relations, civil defence, centennial celebrations, railways and major business corporations. Also includes copies of congratulatory letters sent to senior citizens by Bennett's successor, Premier David Barrett. Photographs transferred to Visual Records Division; maps, plans, and printed material transferred to Library and Maps Section. GR-1414 consists of a large number of records created and accumulated during the tenure of Premier William Andrew Cecil (W.A.C.) Bennett [1952-1972]. The records originally comprised the Central Registry of the Premier's Office. Included are letters from private individuals and business corporations, inter-departmental memoranda, copies of the premier's articles and messages, briefs to cabinet and other reports submitted for the premier's consideration. This unit also includes documents pertaining to Dominion-Provincial relations, as well as correspondence from federal politicians and foreign diplomats. The records, which comprise this unit, were transferred to the Provincial Archives from the Premier's Office in November 1982. Ten years earlier-following the defeat of Mr. Bennett's Social Credit government-the records had been consigned to a vault in the basement of the Parliament Buildings. Sometime later they were placed in cardboard boxes and removed to a builders' shed in the Parliament Buildings precinct. There they remained, apparently untended, until 1982 when they came to the attention of the Archives. When the records were transferred to the Archives a number of file folders were found to be empty. In most cases, the empty folders concerned cabinet ministers and the work of various government departments. Similarly, contemporary file lists [see Box 131, File 11] indicate that a number of folders were missing from the original series of files. No files marked "Anonymous," for example, were among the boxes received by the Archives, despite the fact that files containing anonymous letters inward were maintained over the years by the Premier's Office. Nor were any "Confidential" files included with the transfer, although they were part of the Premier's filing system. These files may have been removed when W.A.C. Bennett left office in 1972, or they may have been removed sometime after 1976 when W.R. Bennett became premier. [In her interview (taped in 1978) Mrs. Mylrea noted that Premier Bennett asked her to "go through" the correspondence files on 31 August 1972, the day after his party's electoral defeat. Mrs. Mylrea spent the next two weeks reviewing "every piece of paper in those files." "I did not find one thing that nobody else could have looked at" she related, "there was nothing that anybody need be afraid that anybody could see, opposition or otherwise." Nevertheless, some of the files were removed and were taken by Mr. Bennett to his Kelowna home. [SMID 3236:1-2, pp.16-17] Researchers should also note the absence of W.A.C. Bennett's constituency files in this collection. According to the premier's secretary, records dealing with the South Okanagan riding were maintained separately in the premier's Kelowna office. After his death in February, 1979, the Bennett family donated the records to the Simon Fraser University archives. [SMID 3236:1-1, p.17] Despite the absence of certain files, GR-1414 is a remarkably rich collection of executive records. The evolution of the Social Credit Party can be detected in many of the memos and reports in the collection; public attitudes towards government policies can be seen in much of the correspondence inward, while the province's economic growth can be discerned in files devoted to industrial development or to particular companies. Federal-provincial relations are also well documented, as are the activities of local chambers of commerce and sundry community groups throughout the province. Indeed, as a source of documentation for British Columbia in the 1950s and 1960s, GR-1414 is unrivalled.

The collection consists of interviews, speeches, and political advertisements of W.A.C. Bennett, Premier of B.C. from 1952-1972.

This series consists of correspondence inward to the Premier's office and the Minister of Education with respect to the Independent Schools Support Act (Bill 33), 1977. Under this legislation limited government funding was made available to private schools. Letters to the Premier dealing with this topic were forwarded to the Minister of Education for reply. Some responses are included. Records supporting the Bill were received from the Catholic Women's League, churches, and school districts. Records in opposition to the Bill include petitions, and letters from labour groups, school districts, teacher's associations and women's groups.