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The series consists of records regarding the review and approval by the minister of bylaws concerning land use and planning, amendments to official community plans and their related amending bylaws and changes of zoning. These include case files for individual localities, in particular regional districts. The records were used for legal purposes, research and reference.

The records include a coded subseries, known as the "36 series," which documents planning bylaw review and approval, planning grant review and approval, and ministerial authorizations related to land use planning and management bylaws.

Planning bylaw review and approval involves planning bylaws that require ministerial approval (e.g., regional district, the Islands Trust, and the Resort Municipality of Whistler planning bylaws). Planning staff reviewed those bylaws in order to ensure that they did not conflict with provincial government interests.

Record types include correspondence, forms, briefing notes, bylaws, minutes, studies and reports, official community plans and their supporting documents, records regarding local committee meetings (agendas etc.) public hearings and workshops (public posting of notices, minutes from public hearings), responses from referral agencies (comments on bylaws by government agencies), documents regarding rezoning applications, petitions from the public and news clippings. Intermingled in the predominantly textual records are maps and engineering plans and some photographs. Records also include bylaw submission forms submitted with bylaws requiring approval of the minister.

The creator of the records used a coding system that assigned a code to each local government. For example, the regional district codes consisted of the two-digit alphabetic prefix “RD” for regional district followed by the alphanumeric coding system in use in the ministry responsible for municipal affairs at the time. In many cases the files would be labeled in such a way as to abbreviate the code. While the filing systems initially appear to be aimed at an alphabetical order, by locality, that order is often broken. Local government codes used in this record series can be found in Appendix D of the Administrative Records Classification System 1993 Edition. Some of the codes on files are extended with dashes or decimal numbers which represent subject categories.

The records were created by several ministries which carried out the functions and activities of provincial responsibility for local governments; in addition to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs (the name used at different times), the creators included: the Department of Municipal Affairs; the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing; the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Transit; the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Recreation and Culture; and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Recreation and Housing.

This series contains a letterbook copy of despatches from Governor Douglas to Colonial Secretary, Duke of Newcastle, 8 June 1853, concerning expedition of HM Steam Sloop Virago to Queen Charlotte Islands. There is also a draft despatch, 26 July 1853, concerning the capture of vessel Susan Sturgis by Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands and Fort Simpson.

This series consists of 14 pages of photocopied minutes of meetings of heads of departments with the Governor of Vancouver Island, including the Attorney General, Colonial Secretary and Surveyor General. The records are dated between 12 August 1861 and 14 March 1864 and were photocopied around 1977.

The fonds consists of financial records of many B.C. businesses, sports clubs, hospitals, churches and family estates administered by the firms of William Curtis Sampson, Reginald Genn, and Kenneth R. Genn. Fonds includes financial records relating to the Queen Alexandra Solarium for Crippled Children, Reveller's Inc., Royal Colwood Golf Club, St. Margaret's School Company, British Columbia Cattle Company, Victoria City Baseball Company and Esquimalt Water Works Company, as well as estate records of Joseph Blackburn Greaves, Benjamin William Pearse, Joseph Despard Pemberton, Joseph Austin Sayward, and Roderick Finlayson. Also included are records pertaining to missionary work in the Yukon and civil defence and maps of the B.C. Cattle Company.

This series consists of miscellaneous regulations and circulars emanating principally from the Provincial Secretary's office, 1873-1904, 1908.

This series consists of a minute book of the Council of Vancouver Island from 30 August 1851 to the prorogation of the House of Assembly on the 6 February 1861.

The series also consists of several extracts of council minutes on various topics from 1853 and 1856, and what appears to be 2 drafts - one consisting of Council minutes and the other of an ordinance. The drafts are dated 14 February 1857 and 2 August 1856, respectively, and deal with the granting of money for the use of the Vancouver Island House of Assembly, and for the arrangement of the affairs of the Colonial Church at Victoria. These additional records may be copied in the minute book.

This series contains messages to the Governor from the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly, with draft replies, 1864. It includes a draft of an Act to Prohibit Sale of Alcohol to Indians, 1854.

This series contains drafts of bills, ordinances, and regulations from 1860-1865. The series also includes covering correspondence from the Clerk of the Council to the House of Assembly, 1860-1864.

This series consists of a variety of records created or used by the colony of Vancouver Island Legislative Assembly from 1858-1866. Records include draft bills, draft ordinances, draft Acts, draft proclamations, committee reports, committee minutes, correspondence, messages from the Speaker of the House to the Governor and addresses to or from the Legislative Assembly.

Committee records include the Committee on Crown Lands with land use statistics on the number of acres sold, pre-empted and reserved (including Indian Reserves) in each land district.

The British Columbia Centennial '71 Committee was established by the British Columbia Centennial '71 Celebration Act of 1969 [SBC 1969 c.2]. Its mandate was to make and carry out "all arrangements necessary for organizing a celebration of the centenary of British Columbia joining Canada." As had been the case in the centennial celebrations of 1958 and 1966-1967, the Deputy Provincial Secretary, L.J. Wallace, was primarily responsible for overseeing the organization of the 1971 celebration. Following a tradition established with the earlier centennials, the provincial government offered per capita grants to assist communities with local events and projects. The government - through the Centennial '71 Committee - also organized and helped to finance a large number of major events and programmes. Events included a Provincial Festival of Sports and a Royal Visit by HM the Queen. Educational, cultural and historical programmes included the Queen Elizabeth II scholarships, Stop of Interest plaques, and a large number of school pageants. In addition to the above, the Centennial Committee presented pioneer medallions to B.C. residents who were either born in Canada or were a resident of Canada prior to 1897. Applications for medallions may be found in GR-1490. Records include administrative and sub-committee files (dealing with particular events and activities) and project files (dealing with commemorative building projects undertaken by local communities throughout the province). Boxes 1-12 (Files A-A-1 to A-W-3) contain Administrative files, Boxes 13-44 Project files, and Boxes 30-47 Local Committee files. .

In 1911, the British Columbia Department of Lands began publishing standardized series of lithographic maps of BC regions, as well as general maps of the entire province. Over the next five decades these provincial maps were used both to stimulate and to document settlement and economic development on a region-by-region basis. For many areas, the provincial regional maps served as the main published source of cartographic information until those areas were gradually covered by sheets from the National Topographic Series of maps.

This summary guide and the accompanying series lists and graphic indices provide a basic overview of the provincial series maps available at the BC Archives. The series list (see finding aid) allows researchers to search for the call numbers of desired maps by using map series name, map sheet number or map title, while the graphic indices (CM/CL1 page G1) allow for a search by geographic area.

The map series include the Geographic Series of general purpose maps; the Lands, Pre-emptors', and Degree series of land status maps; and the Topographic Series of physical features (and some land status) maps. The land status maps are of particular value to researchers since the lot numbers depicted on the maps serve as an entry point to many other types of records produced by the Department of Lands and its successors. Conversely, researchers who already know the legal description for a property can often use the maps to place the property in its geographic context. Researchers should note that mineral titles are usually not depicted on the land status maps. Such titles are shown in the published Mineral Reference Maps (subseries CM/CL1.7) and in a separate, unpublished series (CM/S1).

CM/CL1 includes the following series of maps:

1. Geographic Series (1A - 1SW) , 1912 - 1981
   This series consists of a diverse range of maps including general maps of the entire province, general maps of large regions, and provincial and regional maps overlaid with various government administrative boundaries. The Geographic Series was continued by the successor to the Geographic Branch, the Map Production Division (1971 - 1981), which also published such related series *Date ranges given are those for the sheets held by BC Archives as the Special Geographical Series Maps, 1967 - 1980 and the Regional (New Series) Maps, 1978.

2. Land Series (2A - 2F), 1913 - 1958
   This series and the two following were designed primarily to show the status of land alienation. The Land Series sheets initially covered the settled southwestern area of the province and usually provided general geographic detail; fairly extensive cultural features such as transportation routes, parks, post offices, hospitals, telegraph lines, etc.; land district boundaries; limited topographic (landform) information in the form of spot heights, and depictions of the boundaries and numbers of surveyed lots pertaining to various forms of land title (crown grants, reserves, timber licences and leases), conveniently coded by colour. Later sheets in the series covered portions of the mainland coast, and the Queen Charlotte Islands. The series was published at the scale of four miles to one inch.

3. Pre-emptors' Series (3A - 3Q), 1911 - 1969
   Originally intended as a quick means of depicting for settlers the Crown lands available for pre-emption in the north-central portion of the province, the first pre-emptors' maps were rough in form and were substantially redrawn each year. Since the early sheets were designed for short-term use, they provided only basic planimetric information (horizontal features such as rivers and lakes, but not landforms) along with depictions of the boundaries and numbers of surveyed lots, land recording district boundaries, government reserves, and of course, lands open for pre-emption or in some cases, public auction. Even the early sheets, however, often also provide relatively detailed information on the location of trails, roads, and railways, and the popularity of the series as well as the increasing availability of accurate survey information for the mapped areas soon prompted the Geographic Branch to improve the maps' appearance, accuracy and level of detail. Thus, while the scale, area covered, and numbering of the early sheets varied from year to year, the format of the series was standardized by 1915, with most sheets being published at a scale of three miles to one inch. Certain sheets eventually depicted topography by means of contours, and provided some of the types of more detailed cultural information present in the Lands and Degree Series.

4. Degree Series (4A - 4Q), 1912 - 1956
   This series was designed to cover the relatively well-settled area of the BC interior between the CPR line and the 49th parallel using standardized sheets of one degree in latitude and one in longitude. The maps were published at the comparatively large scale of two miles to the inch since they were intended to provide prospectors and other residents with accurate, long-term information on physical features; the location of land recording, mining, and/or electoral districts; the boundaries and numbers of surveyed lots (including timber leases), and specific cultural details such as the location of schools, hospitals, post offices, transportation routes, power lines, and so on. Many of the sheets are contoured so as to depict topography in detail.

5. Topographic Series (5A - 5E), 1917 - 1952
   This series was begun with the goal of depicting the results of exploratory topographic surveys (by Frank Cyril Swannell) in northern BC. The first sheets, therefore, provide planimetric information as well as topography in the form of hachures or contours, but depict few cultural details and are drawn at the relatively small scale of five miles to one inch. Later sheets, however, covered parts of southern BC and include not only detailed topography, but also many of the same cultural features, presented at the same scales, as in the Lands and Degree Series. Interestingly, certain maps in the above series were produced as special "economic geography" editions containing numerous annotations regarding natural resources as well as extensive textual information on the verso (back) of the sheets. Such sheets, as well as those which simply contain extensive natural resource annotations, are identified in the accompanying lists by the entry "Economic Geography" after the map title. In addition to the series described above, a number of smaller or more specialized series are identified in the series lists.

6. Composite Series (6A), 1952

7. Mineral Reference Maps (MRM1-MRM8), 1927-1935

8. Mining Division Maps, 1914-1939
   Drawn by the Geographic Branch for the Department of Mines

9. [Public Works Highway Maps] (PWD), 1930-1953

10. Provincial Parks Maps (P.S.A.2. WCT2), 1966-1981

11. Special Geographical Series Maps (SGS1-SGS2), 1967-1979

12. Regional (New Series) Maps (1-2), 1978

13. Outdoor Recreation Maps (1-16), 1981-1986

The fonds consists of incoming letters from 1934 to 1977 (mainly concerning the Cassiar district, the South Nahanni, Liard and Finlay Rivers, and the Alberta foothills), Raymond Murray Patterson's diaries, notebooks and photographs. [Also available on microfilm.]

The fonds also contains the original manuscript for "The Emperor's Horsemen", Patterson's last book, and a printed copy of it.

The collection consists of an assortment of different articles written by both Dorothy Kennedy and/or Randy Bouchard as part of the BC Indian Language Project.

The articles are all photocopies of articles and are likely available in other repositories.

This series consists of assorted correspondence in and correspondence out from the Colonial Secretary or are related to the general administration of the colonial government with no known creator. The records date from approximately 1858 to early 1871. The majority of the records were created or received by the Colonial Secretary of the Colony of British Columbia, but the series also includes a few records of the Colonial Secretary of the Colony of Vancouver Island.

The majority of the records are correspondence and memoranda with other government officials such as the Attorney General, Court Registrar, Audit Office and Lands and Works Department. Records regard subjects such as: pre-emptions, court procedures, the expected influx of miners from San Francisco, and expenditures.

This series consists of one volume labelled "1872 Orders in Council 1 to 42". However, the numbers applied to these Orders are not consistent with the final approved Orders in Council. The records are certified copies of (assumed) drafts of 42 Orders in Council from 1872 created by the Clerk of the Executive Council. The Orders may be accompanied by associated material, such as other forms, correspondence, sketch maps or extracts of Council minutes.

This series contains records from the Water Rights Branch. Types of records include correspondence, memoranda, reports, articles, speeches, miscellaneous papers and notes, legal opinions, memoranda of agreement, regulations, etc. relating to water rights, the evolution of water resource administration, and the history of the Water Rights Branch. Includes drafts and notes for a history of the branch prepared in 1979; various reports re irrigation; Indian Reserve water rights, the Railway Belt, and hydro-electric power. Printed material transferred to the Library Division.

Correspondence, general files and accounts files relating to dyking and drainage districts, improvement districts, flood control and agricultural development in the Fraser Valley, 1917-1974. Minute books of dyking districts; Pitt Meadows, 1895; Nicomen, 1912-1930; South Westminster Dyking District, 1920, 1923, 1928.

The series consists of the records of G.G. Aitken, Chief Geographer, created between 1915 and 1951. The records relate to boundaries, cartography, toponymy and geography and include correspondence, memoranda, reports, drafts, and geographic name lists and clippings.

The series also includes 32 printed maps including city and regional maps of communities in British Columbia, Alberta and Washington.

There are general files on origins, development, and organization of the Geographic Division; drafts and notes for annual reports, 1925-1935; staff organization and personnel file, 1920-1938; map production statistics, 1934-1951; file re Fort Norman, N.W.T. and Pouce Coupe oil fields, 1921; draft of Tweedsmuir Park brochure, 1938, geographic place name lists and notes, cards and clipping files.

This series consists of pre-emption records for Vancouver Island, including Alberni, Barclay, Clayoquot, Nootka, and Rupert Districts. Consists of Certificate of Pre-emption Books (20 vols.), arranged numerically with nominal indexes. Includes name of pre-emptors date and location of pre-emption, disposition and further transactions, with some sketches.

This series contains records originating from the Prince George District and Omineca - Peace River Region. They include annual reports, 1953-1957; public inquiries correspondence, 1962-1972; correspondence with the Prince George Chamber of Commerce regarding the B.C. Tourist Association, 1961-1962; Forest Service materials regarding forest fire suppression and the Youth Training programme, 1956-1957.

Registers of water record and water licence grants and applications; index of water reserves, 1908-1929; list of localities operating hydro-electric plants, 1918; alphabetical index of creek surveys, 1910-1911, measuring stream flows.

This series contains transcripts of appeals brought before cabinet, 26 July 1976 - 2 July 1981. Appeals herein initiated under authority of British Columbia: Dentistry Act, Pollution Control Act, Private Investigators' Licensing Act, Motor Carrier Act, and Water Act.

Cabinet appeals 1976-1981

Tape recordings of appeals herein transferred to PABC Sound and Moving Image Division (Acc. # 3912:1-81).

This series contains weekly Summary of Activities from Labour Relations Board (British Columbia), 1951-1954, and Department of Labour, Labour Relations Branch, 1954-1974. The summaries include notices of appointment of and reports from conciliation officers and boards; certifications granted; and some court decisions. After 1954, it began to publish occasional notices regarding other Labour Department activities, but it remained essentially a Labour Relations Board publications. It ceased publication when the LRB was established as a separate entity from the Department.

Missing issues:
Series 1 Vol. 1: entire
Series 1 Vol. 2: entire (N.B. Vol's 2 and 3 appear in GR 1070, Box 1, Files 27 197-30)
Series 1 Vol. 3: numbers 1-30
Series 1 Vol. 4: number 5 (week ending 2 Feb 1952)
Series 1 Vol. 4: number 12 (week ending 22 Mar 1952)
Series 1 Vol. 4: number 14 (week ending 29 Mar 1952)
Series 1 Vol. 4: number 19 (week ending 3 May 1952)
Series 1 Vol. 4: numbers 29, 30, 31 (Jul 1952)
Series 1 Vol. 5: number 16 (week ending 18 April 1953)
Series 1 Vol. 5: number 20 (week ending 16 May 1953)
Series 1 Vol. 5: number 33 (week ending 18 Aug 1953
Series 1 Vol. 5: number 38 (week ending 19 Sept 1953)
Series 1 Vol. 5: number 45 (week ending 10 Nov 1953)
Series 1 Vol. 5: number 46 (week ending 17 Nov 1953)
Series 1 Vol. 6: number 13 (This may be an error in the number sequence rather than a missing issue)
Series 2 Vol. 11: number 31 (week ending 31 Jul 1964)
Series 2 Vol. 11: number 34 (week ending 21 Aug 1964)
Series 2 Vol. 17: number 3 (week ending 16 Jan 1970)
Series 2 Vol. 17: number 10 (week ending 6 Mar 1970)

Minutes of meetings of the Labour Relations Board (B.C.) and the Labour Relations Board of British Columbia. The collection includes separate minutes for meetings of the Vancouver and Victoria committees of the Board during the period when its structure provided for them.

Series contains the records of the Assistant Gold Commissioner, Lytton, B.C. relating to pre-emptions. Letters inward to Henry Maynard Ball, April 12, 1860 to December 3, 1860, and letters inward to John Boyd, 1870-1871. Includes correspondence, notices, and other papers on pre-emptions at Nicola Lake, Boston Bar, Lytton, Cache Creek, Kamloops and in the vicinity of various Indian Reserves. Also an account of moneys received by the Collector of General Revenue, Similkameen, 1861.

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.

This series consists of 41 volumes of financial records likely created by the Provincial Treasury and Department of Finance from 1869-1948. The majority of records are waste books, journals, ledgers and cash books. However they may not be labelled clearly as such. Other types of records include day books, memoranda, authorities, promissory notes, blotters, form K, form J and other account books. The titles of each volume in the file list are transcribed directly from the cover or front page of the volume. Title information in [square brackets] is estimated or inferred by the archivist. The records document the financial transactions and balances of the provincial government in all aspects of its operations and functions.

Waste books are rough account book in which transactions are recorded as they occur. Waste book entries are often transferred to day books prior to summary in journals and ledgers. These transactions are entered chronologically by date and are arranged under various accounts. The accounts may be the type of expense, or the name of the office in which the transaction relates to. Information may be entered under the following headings: date, related journal page, amount and total. Only some books include a description of individual services or items of a transaction.

Journals are a type of financial record used in double entry book keeping to separate transactions into debits or credits. They are an intermediary record used to reorganize the chronological entries in rough day books or waste books into specific accounts, before they are ultimately copied into a ledger book. Information may be entered under the following headings: amount, associated ledger folio number, associated waste book page, date, a description of the transaction, and if the transaction was a debit or credit. The end of each year includes a sheet summarizing the balances for various accounts.

Ledger books are financial records in which each transaction is entered under a particular account or subject as a debit or a credit. The information may have been copied from a related daybook or journal before being sorted and copied into the ledger. Accounts can include anything that is a source of government income or expenditure. Account names may be indexed. Information may be entered under the following headings: date, related journal page, description of the transaction, and the amount. Debit transactions are recorded on the left side of a folio and credits on the right side.

Cash books list receipts and payments in date order and are used to determine total assets at any given time. Information may be entered under the following headings: date of receipt or payment, number of voucher; name of the person or department making or receiving the payment; reason for payment or receipt; amount received or paid; the heading under which the entry was recorded in the related waste book; and the waste book page number. Cash books may be referred to as collectorate books or records of receipts and payments.

The series consists of original orders created by the New Westminster Supreme Court registry between 1889-1915. Orders are the formal expression of the ruling of the court.

Records are arranged by volume as assigned by the court registry and are indexed. Original textual records were destroyed after microfilming. Six maps were removed from the files prior to microfilming and are housed separately (accession M90-005).

The series consists of Supreme Court orders, created by the New Westminster Supreme Court from 1915 to 1939 and 1946 to 1947.

The series consists of orders created by the New Westminster Supreme Court registry between May 1945 to March 1946, May to September 1946, and December 1946 to February 1947. Orders are the formal expression of the ruling of the court.