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This series contains correspondence and copies of memoranda concerning construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, ferries, wharves, railways, and schools. The records also include some drawings and plans.

This series contains directories of school inspectorates, showing names of school inspectors, names of schools and number of teachers within inspectorates. Directories also list schools closed in various school districts. This series may be used in conjunction with GR-0456 (School inspectors' reports, 1940-1946).

The series consists of Associate Deputy Minister A.E. Sole's subject files arranged alphabetically by file title. The records include correspondence and reports dealing with schools, colleges, teachers, curricula, libraries, and various other education-related topics.

This series contains policy files accumulated by J.L. Canty, Executive Director, Deputy Minister's Office. Files pertain to school law, ministry contracts with school districts, school finance and facilities, and interest groups (i.e. B.C. Association for Children and Adults with Learning Disabilities, B.C. School Trustees Association, and B.C. Teachers' Federation).

This series contains records from the Provincial Normal School (Vancouver). The records include a letterbook, consisting of correspondence from William Burns, principal, to Alexander Robinson, Superintendent of Education.

This series includes a suggested draft for the 1872 Public Schools Act by Thomas Nicholson (1871), correspondence regarding the school at Burton's Prairie (1882) and correspondence regarding a request for an additional teacher at New Westminster High School (1889).

This series consists of Provincial Normal School sessional registers of students at Victoria 1927-1956 and Vancouver 1938-1956.

Records are arranged by school (i.e., Victoria or Vancouver), then academic year, and then alphabetically by student last name. Registers include only the following fields of data for each student: name; city/town of residence; age on Sept. 1st in years and months; academic standing; intelligence rating; grades for professional and special methods courses, teaching practice, personality, and attitude; standing awarded (yes or no); diploma issued (yes or no); and remarks (e.g., passed or withdrew).

Cultural Services Branch grants applications. Records of grant applications (1982/83 1983/84) by a wide variety of bodies including art galleries, museums, orchestras, choirs, opera and concert societies, music and dance groups, Community Arts Councils, theatre groups, book publishers, film makers, school districts etc.; and individuals.

Includes correspondence from other sections and offices of the Ministry; school districts; colleges; universities; associations and miscellaneous material. This unit may be used in conjunction with GR-1788.

Draft resolution of the Legislative Assembly, urging the establishment of a nonsectarian public school system for the Colony of Vancouver Island; also a petition from a committee of citizens of Victoria, advocating a central location for the city's common school. These documents are undated, but likely relate to the introduction of the colony's Common School Act of 1865.

Register of Victoria District School, 1861-1865, and school account book, 1862-1864. The Register shows the names and attendance of students at the school. "Accounts" include supply list of food staples, etc., showing prices and customs duties, along with student fee payments. As well, the volume contains addresses and a "Story of Moses" by schoolmaster W. H. Burr. Also included are newspaper cuttings re: the early history of Victoria schools and an annotated list of pupils attending the Victoria District School, ca. 1862. The list was prepared for the Provincial Archivist, John Forsyth, by Edgar Fawcett in April 1922.

School Trustees' minute book and accounts.

Register of Attendance, Nanaimo "Colonial" School, 1862-1866. The Register, showing the names of pupils attending the second public school in British Columbia, was maintained by Cornelius Bryant, schoolmaster from 1856-1870. Also included, on a loose sheet, is a detailed schedule showing time devoted to various subjects on a typical school day.

List of schools in British Columbia, with names and addresses of school principals (city and municipal schools), of teachers (rural schools), and school board secretaries: 1934-1935; 1936-1937; 1937-1938; 1944-1945; & 1945-1946.

Correspondence from J.W. McKay, chairman of Yale School Board, concerning boundaries of Yale School District, school taxes, and pupils' fees as per Common School Ordinance, 1869. Draft replies to McKay's queries are included.

The series consists of 627 b&w photographs taken or acquired by the Dept. of Education between 1944 and 1963. The photographs are of schools across B.C. and are arranged by the school district number at the time, or name of community. The photographs were taken by the the Division of Visual Education as well as by commercial photographers, School Boards and construction companies. There is some accompanying material consisting of plans, correspondence and pamphlets noted in the file list.

"Peace River School Directory, May-June 1934." A bound, typescript volume compiled by School Inspector William Plenderleith. It was compiled to assist J.L. Watson, Department of Education Registrar, in making appointments to schools in the Peace River Educational Administrative Area. The volume includes photographs and descriptions of sixty-four schools, with notes and general comments on settlers and the countryside in the various school districts. Plenderleith also provided information on boarding facilities for teachers and suggestions as to the most suitable type of teachers for individual schools. Several of the photographs feature pupils and interior views of the mainly rural, one-room schools.

Case files, registers of pupils, records of school grades achieved and a few personal items. The Industrial Home for Girls was established by legislation in 1912 to house girls under the age of 16 who had been convicted of a crime, or who have been shown to be vicious or incorrigible and beyond her parents' control. The school was opened in 1914, on a site which later became 800 Cassiar Street, Vancouver. In 1959 the school was moved to 3655 Willingdon Avenue in Burnaby, and became known as the Willingdon School for Girls, later abbreviated to the Willingdon School. During the early years the Home was administered by the Department of the Attorney General. It was transferred to the administration of the Department of the Provincial Secretary ca.1934. In 1937 the 1912 Act was repealed and replaced with An Act respecting the Industrial School for Girls. The Home was renamed the Industrial School for Girls. In 1946 the Industrial School for Girls was transferred from the Department of the Provincial Secretary to the administration of the Social Welfare Branch of the new Department of Health and Welfare. In 1963 the Industrial School Acts were repealed and replaced with the Training Schools Act. In 1969 the Training Schools Act was repealed. The Willingdon School was closed in 1973.

The series consists of two presentation albums given to the Minister of Education on official occasions. The first album was presented to minister L.R. Peterson on May 17, 1957 on the occasion of the official opening of Prince George District senior and elementary schools. The album consists of black and white photographs of the new district schools and includes both interior and exterior views. The second album was presented to minister D.L. Brothers on June 4, 1971 on the occasion of the opening of the Clearview Elementary and Junior Secondary School. The album consists of black and white and colour photographs from 1969 to 1971, depicting various stages of construction of the school as well as interior views and student activities. Photographs of the official opening are also included.

The series consists of photographic negatives produced by PEMC, and predecessor agencies including the Division of School of Radio Broadcasts, Division of Visual Education, Division of Audio-Visual Services and Audio-Visual Services Branch. These agencies were responsible for providing media services to public education institutions. The records document school sites and educational programs for elementary, secondary, college and university students in British Columbia.

Subjects often relate to specific classes and schools, and include: projects and performances; facilities; ceremonies; teachers, staff and government officials; students; and displays and exhibits for promotional purposes. Included are some copy photos depicting schools and classes from the 1880s to 1920s. Records' arrangement based on original PEMC numbers. These numbers appear to reflect a general arrangement by date and subject matter. Records include PEMC numbers: PEMC45001-PEMC52881, PEMC74/1/1-PEMC75/86/4, and PEMC7591-PEMC7780. The series also includes two item lists, arranged by photo number; the first created by the PEMC and the second by either the PEMC or the GIS and amended by the BC Archives. These lists are incomplete and are stored in container 000352-0014.

The series consists of six photograph albums created by the Division of Visual Education between 1947 and 1969, containing ca. 5100 photographs. This agency was responsible for providing media services to public education institutions. The records document school sites and educational programs for elementary, secondary, college and university students in British Columbia.

Subjects often relate to specific classes and schools, and include: projects and performances; facilities; ceremonies; teachers, staff and government officials; students; and displays and exhibits for promotional purposes.

Series consists of minutes of the executive committee, sub-committees, general meetings and annual general meetings.

Series consists of minute books of meetings of school governors and directors (1934-1981), athletic programmes (1933-1951), and scrapbooks containing photographs, circulars, and news cuttings (1933-1977).

Series consists of papers relating to the M.R. Smith biscuit company (M.R. Smith & Co.) of Victoria and to the career of M.R. Smith's son, Hamilton Smith. Includes: contract with French navy to supply bread to the war ship Protet, 1903; report cards, receipt, notice of meeting, Collegiate School, 1878-1883; business papers of Hamilton Smith, a broker, including reports on mining claims at Norton Creek, Cariboo district and Quatsino Sound, 1925, offer of lots for sale in North Vancouver, 1913, and notes on a furniture business, hotel, and sawmill being offered for sale, 1924-1925.

Pender Island School Board and Pender Island School District, minutes, 1910-1942; accounts, 1911-1942.

Presented by Mrs. Cecil Claxton, Port Washington, 1977.

The collection consists of the records of Qualicum College, an independent boys' school on Vancouver Island. Included are letters between R.I. Knight and his family in England re: the founding and funding of the school; applications for admission, correspondence from students' parents, and academic records of pupils; notes and sketches for college buildings, school crest, and school song; correspondence re: Old Boys and college staff; ledgers, account books, and payroll journals, along with dormitory lists, athletic programmes, prospectuses, headmasters' speeches and newsletters. Collection also includes scripts and casting notes for school drama festival productions, as well as correspondence pertinent to Private (afterwards Independent) Schools Association of British Columbia. Qualicum College was the most westerly private school in Canada. Founded in 1935, it was established "in the conviction that with the background of a good home, the comradeship of a boarding school enables boys to enjoy the happiest kind of childhood and youth, and provides them with the finest preparation for life." The school overlooking Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island was modelled on the prestigious public schools of England. Its philosophy was "mens sano in corpore sano", and its aim was to inculcate in boys the virtues of Godliness and good-learning. Though never as large as some of the other independent schools in British Columbia, Qualicum College was widely-known and respected nonetheless, as evidenced by the number of students it attracted from Western Canada, the North Western United Sates, and the Orient. The papers were donated in 1982 by Robert Ivan Knight, the founder and headmaster of the college. Mr. Knight was born in 1901 in Calcutta where his father was Director of Public Instruction for Bengal. As was the custom among the Anglo-Indian community, he was sent to England at an early age and raised in his family home at Camberly. He then attended Oundle, a small but distinguished public school in Northamptonshire. The headmaster of Oundle was the celebrated educationalist and reformer, F.W. Sanderson. Mr. Knight was greatly impressed and influenced by Sanderson's teachings, and the latter's theories on education (especially with regard to the study of science in the public schools) were later incorporated in the Qualicum College curriculum. Mr. Knight continued his education at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he took a degree in Sciences. Because of weak eyesight, however, he was unable to pursue a career in scientific research; in fact, on coming down from Cambridge, he was advised to refrain from intensive reading for at least a year. Accordingly, in 1925 he decided to join a cousin who had a chicken ranch at Errington, near Parksville, on Vancouver Island. He stayed there until 1927, when he joined C.W. Lonsdale's staff at Shawnigan Lake boys' school. Two years later he enrolled at the University of British Columbia, where he completed an Honours B.A. and a Diploma course in Education. Despite the onset of the depression, Mr. Knight resolved to open an independent, fee-paying boarding school in the village resort of Qualicum Beach. With the assistance of Mr. A.D. Muskett (former headmaster of the Collegiate School in Victoria), the school was duly opened in September 1935. The Qualicum Beach School, as the academy was first know, had nine students and was located in a rented house during its inaugural year. However, with the help of generous financial support from his family in England, Mr. Knight was able to expand his programme, and in 1937 the school was relocated in a handsome, specially-designed building amid 17 acres of seaside property. The headmaster also received assistance from his younger brother, George Henry Knight, who came to the college to teach history, languages, and music. The two brothers formed a partnership and the school (renamed Qualicum College in 1949) was incorporated as a limited liability company. The college grew steadily and by 1966 it had an enrollment of almost seventy students. Thereafter, for a variety of social and economic reasons, numbers declined, and in 1970 the headmaster decided to close the college and sell the college property. The playing fields were subsequently subdivided for a housing estate, while the Tudor-style main building was purchased by a group of financiers, who transformed the generation-old boarding school into the Qualicum College Inn.

Methodist Church papers including minute books for Vancouver Island and British Columbia District, 1860-1884; and British Columbia Conference, Committee on Missions, 1889-1898; British Columbia District Treasurer's Book, 1880-1894; 20th Century Thanksgiving Fund Account Book, 1900-1901; miscellaneous financial papers, 1860-1881; papers on Indian Affairs, 1881-1899; other official correspondence, 1859-1894; and the News Reporter's Book from the Excelsior Literary Society, New Westminster Collegiate and High School, 1881-1883.

Copied from originals borrowed from E.S. Robson, Vancouver, 1948. Originals transferred to Vancouver School of Theology, 1989.

Finding aid: volume list.

The McKenzie Family collection consists of the business and personal papers of Kenneth McKenzie (1811-1874), his ancestors and descendants, including correspondence, notebooks, diaries, and other papers. It documents over one hundred and fifty years of family history. The collection is divided into those records relating to Vancouver Island (Boxes 1-19) and those relating to Scotland (Boxes 20-25). The Vancouver Island papers contain correspondence and documents pertaining to Lakehill Farm, the settlement of estates, official appointments, and other family matters. They also chronicle the organization and operation of Craigflower Farm and, to a lesser extent, the other farms operated by the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company on Vancouver Island. The Scottish papers document family events, relationships and property from 1779 to 1852. Included is an extensive record of the protracted settlement of the estate of William Blair (Boxes 22-23). William Blair was the father of Janet McKenzie (Blair).

Born in Edinburgh October 5, 1811, the son of Dr. Kenneth McKenzie (1786-1844) and Janet Blair (1784-1820), Kenneth McKenzie was raised and educated in the same city. Later he moved to his father's estate of Rentonhall, Haddingtonshire, East Lothian where he managed the operations. The estate was sold in 1851 and McKenzie, his wife Agnes Russell (1823-1897) and their six children emigrated to Vancouver Island in 1853. McKenzie had been hired by the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company to oversee the establishment and operation of Craigflower Farm near Victoria. In 1866 the family, now with eight children, moved to Lakehill Farm just north of Victoria. Kenneth McKenzie died there April 10, 1874. A comprehensive biography of Kenneth McKenzie by William R. Sampson is in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, X, pp.477-479. A rough genealogy of the McKenzie Family is provided in the hardcopy version of the finding aid.

Numbers appearing at the upper left corner of documents are references to the old catalogue system and should not be used for citation.

Boxes 1-4: Kenneth McKenzie (1811-1874) and family: correspondence inward
Box 5: McKenzie, Kenneth (1846-1906): correspondence inward
Box 6: Kenneth McKenzie (1811-1874) and Kenneth McKenzie (1846-1906): correspondence outward
Box 7: Kenneth McKenzie (1811-1874): notebooks and personal papers
Box 8: McKenzie Family: notebooks, diaries, correspondence and personal papers
Box 9: McKenzie Family: material relating to Lakehill property
Boxes 10-18: Craigflower Farm
Box 19: Puget's Sound Agricultural Company
Boxes 20-25: McKenzie family: material relating to Scotland. N.B. See also box 25 for further material relating to the estate of William Blair, d.1800

The series reflects the development and activities of the Vernon Preparatory School for boys and the lives of its proprietors, Augustine (1879-1965) and Hugh (1882-1971) Mackie.

The records include a list of pupils, a copy of the school register, sample pupil reports, an account book, clipping books, and miscellaneous notebooks. It also includes numerous notebooks filled with sermons and talks to the boys by Augustine Mackie. Some of the sermons were from his period as a priest in England prior to emigrating to Canada. School materials include complete runs of the Old Boys' News Letter (1951-1961) and the Chronicle of the Vernon Preparatory School (1918-1950). There is also considerable private material relating to Mackie family members, both those in Canada and in England. This includes correspondence, genealogical material, a marriage contract (1871), diaries, journals, scrapbooks and clipping books. Augustine was a devoted conservationist and fish and game enthusiast and there are copies of several articles written by him on the topic.

May Alison Kern (nee Gillman) was born in England in 1896 and at an early age moved with her family to Edmonton. In 1924 she settled in Vancouver where she became active in local Parent-Teacher Associations. She served as President of the British Columbia Parent-Teacher Federation [BCPTF] from 1947 to 1950. Mrs. Kern was actively involved in all aspects of the Parent-Teacher movement in Canada for over twenty-five years, and throughout that time maintained strong ties with the National Congress of Parents and Teachers in the United States. In addition to her work for the Canadian Parent-Teacher movement, she was a member of the Council of the Canadian Association for Adult Education, served on the Advisory Council on School Broadcasting (1943-1950), and participated in the conferences of the Canadian Education Association. In 1946, while serving as Corresponding Secretary for the Canadian Home and School and Parent-Teacher Federation, she was chosen by the Canadian Teachers' Federation and the Wartime Information Board to make a lecture tour of Parent-Teacher Associations across Canada. In 1951, after a term as Executive Secretary, she was awarded a Life Membership in the CHSPTF. She died in 1985. MS-2775 consists of records relating to the British Columbia Parent-Teacher Federation [est'd. 1922] and the National Canadian Home and School Federation [est'd. 1927]. The records include correspondence, minutes of executive meetings, conference proceedings, and convention programs. In addition, this collection comprises historical notes and publications, and subject files on topics such as family relations, citizenship, censorship, health and parent education. Some personal papers are also included.