Telegrams and other correspondence of the Premier
- GR-4225
- Series
- 1888
The series consists of John Robson’s correspondence and telegrams created and received in 1888, the year Robson was Provincial Secretary, Minister of Mines, acting Premier, and MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) for New Westminster. Robson was acting Premier during Premier Alexander Edmund Batson Davie’s long illness and upon his death in 1889, Robson became Premier. The series documents the functions and activities of a senior government official who occupied many roles. Noteworthy topics include a report of small pox among Indigenous people in Squamish and correspondence from Robson to the mayor of Vancouver, David Oppenheimer, emphasizing federal jurisdiction over Indigenous health; correspondence regarding small pox outbreaks south of the river on the mainland and Dr. Richard Bentley’s appointment as health officer; correspondence to and from Prime Minister John A. Macdonald to the Premier of BC regarding the Alaska boundary issue; construction of a railway in the Kootenays; correspondence from Robson to Mayor Oppenheimer regarding the storage of dynamite within city limits, and the response from the Mayor promising its removal to a magazine near Dead Man’s Island.
The series is arranged chronologically from Jan 1888 to Dec 1888. The records consist of correspondence files and telegrams. They were preserved by the Office of the Premier and were found in museum storage in 1980. These records were transferred to the BC Archives without a schedule.
British Columbia. Office of the Premier