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Archival description
Only top-level descriptions British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General
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Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada western railway rates case

  • GR-4153
  • Series
  • 1912 - 1913

The series consists of the Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada western railway rates case. The western railway rates case investigated the rates for the carriage of freight traffic on railway lines operating in Canada, west of Port Arthur, Ontario. The case commenced in Ottawa on February 14, 1912, meeting over the next several months at various locations across Canada such as Toronto, Fort William, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Victoria; meetings continued through to the end of 1913. These records were created by the Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada. The results of the investigation concluded that the higher freight rates in Western Canada might be discriminatory, but they were justified and reasonable because of the greater competition that the railway companies faced in the eastern provinces.

These four bound volumes are arranged chronologically. The first volume, volume 145 (1912) contains a complete record and a detailed index and transcript of the western rates case previous to a special meeting in Ottawa on October 7th, 1912. The series also includes detailed transcripts of the investigation contained in volumes 168 (1913) and 189 (1913); volume 192 (1913) includes the arguments. These records are classified under one-time schedule 860591.

Canada. Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada

Correspondence of Alexander Malcolm Manson

  • GR-4144
  • Series
  • 1922-1923

The series consists of Alexander Malcolm Manson’s correspondence written between December 1922 and December 1923 in British Columbia. The correspondence documents his personal life and career during this time period. Some of the correspondence relates to Malcom’s time at his law firm, Williams & Manson, in Prince Rupert, BC, where he practiced law until 1922. Other correspondence in this series relates to his time as a member of the provincial legislature representing the Omineca riding (1916-1933) and his appointment as Attorney-General, King’s Counsel, and as Minister of Labour on April 12, 1922. Some of the files document personal matters relating to his family. The records were created by Alexander Malcolm Manson during his tenure as Attorney General (1922-1928) and were maintained by the Department of the Attorney-General.

These outgoing correspondence files are arranged chronologically by date. They are classified under one-time schedule 860591.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Richfield : Assize calendar, Sept 1878

  • GR-4110
  • Series
  • 9 Sep 1878

Series consists of one Richfield Assize calendar for September 9, 1878.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Records of the Inspector of Legal Offices

  • GR-3983
  • Series
  • 1918-1921

This series consists of records created by the Inspector of Legal Offices in the Department of the Attorney-General from 1918-1921. There is one file labelled Department of Industries, as well as one file of some additional records. Most records are correspondence with the Commissioner of Industries regarding loans and mortgages to various companies. Some records also relate to the Superintendent of BC Soldier Settlement regarding housing and loans for soldiers.

Records include correspondence, minutes, memoranda, agreements, indentures and copies of Orders-in-Council.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Records of the Attorney General

  • GR-3944
  • Series
  • 1945-1972, 1974-2001

This series consists of subject files, correspondence and other records from the Office of the Attorney General from 1945-1972, 1974-2001. The records document all aspects of the Attorney General's role, including: advice to Cabinet; political oversight of the ministry; and involvement in inter-ministerial and inter-governmental initiatives. Files relate to all branches and functions of the Ministry of Attorney General and many include an overview of the work conducted by various branches of the ministry.

The majority of records are annual subject or correspondence files documenting the Attorney General’s liaison with government ministries and other government bodies, such as BC Ferries and BC Hydro. For earlier records, this includes annual correspondence files with Members of the Legislative Assembly, Ministers, and a few members of the public such as concerned citizens, and representatives of various organizations or companies. These files may contain correspondence in and out, alongside related reference material. In later series outgoing correspondence may be filed separately as flimsies (outgoing correspondence sent by the Attorney General). Some of the flimsies reply to correspondence written by members of the public and subsequently forwarded to the Attorney General from various officials for a response.

In addition, many records are copies requiring review or approval by the Attorney General, such as requests for legislation, and orders in council (OICs) and related background information.

Other types of records vary over the years and may include: Police Board records, including minutes; settlement offers with First Nations; Police Services complaints commission records; Human Rights Tribunal records, including reasons for decision; annual reports; legal opinions; press releases; newspaper clippings; staff personnel records; newsletters; correspondence; statistics; reports; budgets; audits; Freedom of Information requests; Treasury Board submissions; newspaper clippings; court records; files related to sessions of parliament including Bills, notes and responses to questions; daily journals or agendas (these are the only records in the series covering the years 1945-1951); briefs submitted to Cabinet from interested third parties. Many records appear to be informational to keep the Attorney General informed about various issues or the progress of programs and projects.

The subjects included in these records are extremely diverse, as the Attorney General interacted with all branches of government. A few prominent subjects include: liquor control, Doukhobors, Policing, allegations of corruption and abuse of authority by government officials or police, horse racing, conferences, Royal Commissions, Bank of British Columbia, Columbia River Treaty and power development project, and Dominion Provincial Conferences.

The records include a VHS videotape providing an overview of Thomas R. Berger’s report addressing claims of sexual abuse at Jericho Hill School for the Deaf. The videotape also contains the Attorney General at the time, the Honorable Colin Gablemann’s ministerial statement tabling Berger’s report to the Legislature on June 28th, 1995.

Names and dates of Attorney Generals covering these records are:
Robert Bonner (1952–1968)
Leslie Peterson (1968–1972)
Alex MacDonald (1972–1975)
Brian Smith (1983-1988)
Bud Smith (1988-1990)
Russell Fraser (1990-1991)
Colin Gabelmann (1991-1995)
Ujjal Dosanjh (1995–2000)
Andrew Petter (2000)
Graeme Bowbrick (2000–2001)
Geoff Plant (2001–2005)

These records are covered under Executive Records schedule 102906. Accession 86-0270 is covered under onetime schedule number 860140.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Assistant Deputy Minister of Court Services Branch records

  • GR-3931
  • Series
  • 1973-1994

This series consists of executive records of the Court Services Branch, including those of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of the Attorney General. Records range in date from 1973-1994. This includes operational and administrative files from the Court Services Headquarters in Victoria and may relate to all court registries throughout BC.

The majority of records consist of correspondence, minutes, reference material, forms, drafts, legislation, and manuals. The first two accessions are arranged according to a Court Services specific file code system.

Files may regard: legislation drafting, amending or reference; circulars; news releases and clippings; statistics; executive correspondence referral replies or complaints, many related to issues with members of the public obtaining copies of documents or other services from Court Services; liaison and co-operation with other political bodies; creation of forms; administrative records related to staffing and appointments; wrongful imprisonment; staff errors and complaints against staff; escape incident case files; escort and security procedures; registry policy and procedures including their development, legal requirements and circulation to all registries; Family Court procedures, including the enforcement of Family Maintenance orders; personal property and debt collection case files; executions and serving of documents including procedures, complaints and staff appointments; interpleader files and actions against sheriffs; and, subject files on a variety of topics.

There are also many committee and meeting records, including those of Court Services Policy Board, Board of Sheriffs, Regional Court Administrators, Board of District Managers, Court Services Advisory Board, Court Services Status of Women Committee, Ministerial Case Management Evaluation Task Force Committee, Victim Assistance Committee, Justice Institute, Corrections Branch, Executive Policy Board, Canadian Bar Association, BC Association of Chiefs of Police, and various committees reviewing legislation and planning its implementation.

Files in accession 92-4831 were created from the mid-1980s on and utilize a different file system known as the Operational Records Classification System (ORCS) and Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS). These records relate to IT projects, budgets, various committee files, and the procedural analysis of the Provincial Family Court and Family Maintenance Enforcement Program (FMEP).

The Ministry responsible for these records and associated dates are:

British Columbia. Ministry of Attorney General (1979-)
British Columbia. Ministry of the Attorney-General (1976-1979)
British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General (1871-1976)

British Columbia. Court Services

Records of the Attorney-General’s office

  • GR-3775
  • Series
  • 1876-1894

This series contains several draft documents and letters, the majority of which appear to have originated from the office of Theodore Davie, Attorney General of British Columbia from 1889 to 1892.
The records cover a diverse range of topics and do not appear to be arranged in any specific order. The majority of documents appear to be drafts of court documents or correspondence, many of which are hand-written or have hand-written annotations and corrections. There are also copies of pamphlets, published reports of select committees (court proceedings) and papers related to various Supreme Court of British Columbia cases.
Many of the records in this series appear to be related to matters of transportation, health, new legislation and legal cases in the Supreme Court. At least four files are related to railway or ferry transportation subsidies in the province and include indentures or other agreements between the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works and the Kootenay Valley Company, the Canadian Pacific Railway, James Uren of the Savona Ferry, the Victoria and Sidney Railway Company, the Alberta and British Columbia Exploration Company Ltd, Nakusp & Slocan Railway Company and the Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway.
Records related to health issues can be found in at least two files and mainly concern legislation around preventing the spread of smallpox including the appointment of Health Officers, the appointment of a commission to investigate outbreaks of smallpox, and mandatory vaccination. There are also letters and pamphlets sent to Chief Justice Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie from anti-vaccinators asking to repeal compulsory vaccination.
Drafts for new legislation and orders in council submitted by the President Executive Council can be found in at least three files and relate to welfare for new settler families arriving in BC from Scotland to work in the fishing industry (Crofter Settlement Act, 1892), education including the establishment of the University of British Columbia (British Columbia University Amendment Act), the census, amendments to city limits, appointments of public servants, issues around expenditures (Royal Commission for Investigating the Municipal Management of the City of Victoria), the alleged hostility of the Chilcotin, and the amendments or new drafts of the Act of Incorporation, the Court Act, the Juror’s Act, the Land Registry Act, The Magistrate’s Act, An Act to enable the Lieutenant Governor in Council to establish courts of revision from cities of the Province, the Municipal Act, The Land Agents Regulation Act, The British Columbia Railway Act, an Act respecting the unauthorized use of the provincial coat of arms, the Constitution Act, and the Mining Partnerships Act among other legislation.
There is also a significant amount of draft records related to legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. These include cases such as John Nicholson Muir vs. the Queen, the Queen vs J.D. Demers and Numa Demers, The Esquimalt Graving Dock Contract case, the Attack on Funeral Procession of Ellis Roberts case regarding hostilities between union and non-union miners, Horace S. Shepard vs. Samuel Maxwell regarding revenue taxes, and Cooley et al. vs. Fitzstubbs regarding rights to mining plots.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Nelson County Court civil case files

  • GR-2230
  • Series
  • 1909-1950

Series consists of civil case files from the Nelson County Court for 1909, 1913, 1917, 1919, 1922 and 1936-1950.

British Columbia. County Court (Nelson)

Attorney-General correspondence

  • GR-1726
  • Series
  • 1926-1970, predominant 1956-1965

The series consists of inward and outward Attorney-General’s Department correspondence created between 1926 and 1970, but predominantly between 1956-1965. Records relate to a variety of matters for which the Attorney-General was responsible, including some ca.1955-1965 Coroners' reports.

Records are arranged by act and then by file code as assigned by the Attorney-General. File codes represent an act and specific subject matters under the act. Within the files, records are arranged chronologically. Original textual records were destroyed after microfilming. The records were scheduled for full retention.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Attorney-General correspondence

  • GR-1725
  • Series
  • 1912-[ca. 1969]; predominant 1959-1965

The series consists of inward and outward Attorney-General’s Department correspondence created between 1912 and ca. 1969, but predominantly between 1959-1965. Records relate to a variety of matters for which the Attorney-General was responsible.

Records are arranged by act and then by file code as assigned by the Attorney-General. File codes represent an act and specific subject matters under the act. Within the files, records are arranged chronologically. Original textual records were destroyed after microfilming. The records were scheduled for full retention.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Attorney-General correspondence

  • GR-1724
  • Series
  • 1937-[ca. 1963]; predominant 1952-1959

The series consists of inward and outward Attorney-General’s Department correspondence created between 1937 and ca. 1963, but predominantly between 1952-1959. Records relate to a variety of matters for which the Attorney-General was responsible.

Records are arranged by act and then by file code as assigned by the Attorney-General. File codes represent an act and specific subject matters under the act. Within the files, records are arranged chronologically. Original textual records were destroyed after microfilming. The records were scheduled for full retention.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Attorney-General correspondence

  • GR-1723
  • Series
  • 1938-[1961]

The series consists of inward and outward Attorney-General’s Department correspondence created between 1938 and ca. 1961. Records relate to a variety of matters for which the Attorney-General was responsible.

Records are arranged by act and then by file code as assigned by the Attorney-General. File codes represent an act and specific subject matters under the act. Within the files, records are arranged chronologically. Original textual records were destroyed after microfilming. The records were scheduled for full retention.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Attorney-General indexes to correspondence

  • GR-1722
  • Series
  • 1924-1957

The series consists of two index volumes created by the Dept. of the Attorney-General between 1924 and 1957. Volume 1 indexes letters outward from 1925 to 1957 and volume 2 indexes letters inward from 1924 to 1957. The volumes are arranged in the following sorts: Departments, Alphabetical sections, Vancouver Courts, Victoria Courts and Land Registry Offices. Within each group, the arrangement is by date.

There are five fields for each entry: Letters outward: date, number, name , purport and file number. Letters inward: date received, date of letter, number, name and purport.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Attorney-General index

  • GR-1721
  • Series
  • 1921-1934

The series consists of an index volume created by the Dept. of the Attorney-General between 1921 and 1934. The volume is arranged in alphabetical groups by date, ranging from 1921 to 1934 within each alphabetical grouping. The volume appears to index appointments, OIC's, memos and other documents issued by the office.

There are three fields for each entry: file or document number, file title (name of Act, last name of person etc.) and a brief description of the document or file.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Attorney General correspondence

  • GR-1625
  • Series
  • 1907-1914

This series contains Cranbrook court registry correspondence with the Dept. of the Attorney-General. It includes some Magistrate's and Police court records.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Bench books

  • GR-1607
  • Series
  • 1907-1964

This series contains bench books from various judges/justices, geographic locations and levels of court in British Columbia.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Attorney General Coroners’ inquiries

  • GR-1504
  • Series
  • 1938-1970, 1972

This series consists of 1938-1970 and 1972 British Columbia coroners' inquiries filed within Attorney General correspondence under AG file code C-81-4. Inquiries are investigations conducted by a single coroner and usually consist of a single form. Not all coroners’ records between 1859 and 1970 have survived or are in the legal custody of the BC Archives. In this series, Vancouver inquiries do not begin until 1966.

Records are arranged alphabetically by community, repeated across several date ranges. Researchers should carefully crosscheck communities against dates when seeking specific records. On reels B04985 to B04987, record pages are consecutively numbered. On reels B04988 to B05026, record pages are consecutively numbered within a community. On reels B05027 to B05084, pages are consecutively numbered within a record.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Vancouver Coroners’ inquiries

  • GR-1503
  • Series
  • 1938-1965

Series consists of Coroners' inquiries conducted in Vancouver for 1938-1965. The series continues on from GR-1323 (Attorney General correspondence, AG file codes C-49-1 and C-159). Records may also include some Vancouver inquisitions/inquests.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Legal opinions offered by Attorney General

  • GR-1459
  • Series
  • 1864-1879

This series contains legal opinions offered by Attorney General on a wide range of subjects. For more information on the subjects covered, please consult the attached finding aid.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Inquisitions/inquests

  • GR-1328
  • Series
  • 1859-1871

The series consists of copies of inquisitions and inquests selected and microfilmed from the Colonial Correspondence (GR-1372).
It includes inquisitions (inquests) conducted during the colonial period, including the following:

Vancouver Island (Colony), 1859 - 18 Nov 1866 numbered VI 1859/1 to VI 1866/4
British Columbia (Colony), 1859 - 18 Nov 1866 numbered BC 1859/1 to BC 1866
British Columbia (United Colony), 19 Nov 1866 - 20 Jul 1871 numbered BC 1866/2 to BC 1871/3

The files usually contain an inquisition form, which indicates the name of the deceased, the coroner's name, where the inquest was held, the date, names of the members of the coroner's jury and the cause of death.

These inquests were filed in the Colonial Correspondence under the name of the coroner or person conducting them. The indexing was incomplete and only those inquests held by persons whose last name begins with letters from A-M have been listed. It is not known whether this section of listings is complete.

To locate unindexed colonial inquests, researchers should look under the heading "deaths" in the index to miscellaneous correspondence inwards to the British Columbia Colonial Secretary, 1858-1863 (C/AB/30.lKl/l). Letters to which the index refers will be found in the Colonial Correspondence under the name of the author of the letter. Researchers should also look in indexes under the names of the Gold Commissioners, since they acted as coroners. Indexes of correspondence inward to the Colonial Secretary should be checked generally for references to deaths.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Inquisitions/inquests conducted by coroners

  • GR-1327
  • Series
  • [1862], 1872-1937

This series contains inquisitions and inquests conducted by coroners in British Columbia [1862], 1872-1937. To obtain the inquest number for inquests on reels B02374 to B02445, consult the contemporary indexes and registers. For indexes and registers see GR-0432.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Register of Attorney-General correspondence inward

  • GR-1326
  • Series
  • 1916-1937

This series contains a register of letters inward from the Department of the Attorney-General. The records are arranged alphabetically by the name of the correspondent and by year with government departments following the end of general correspondence listings in each register.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Index to Attorney-General correspondence inward

  • GR-1324
  • Series
  • 1901-1937, predominant 1911-1919

The series consists of a subject index to Department of Attorney-General correspondence inward found within GR-1323. The index is primarily for the years 1911-1919, although there are some entries as early as 1901 and as late as 1937.

Between 1911-1919, each year has a separate index arranged by subject (also known as 'boxes' or 'drawers'). Within each subject, entries are arranged chronologically. Note that the year is marked on only the first page of each index. The series also includes descriptions of the 1919-1937 filing system, listing the acts, sub-headings, and file code numbers used. Though specific correspondence are not listed here, it is possible to use this index to estimate where records might appear within the correspondence (GR-1323).

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

Attorney-General correspondence

  • GR-1323
  • Series
  • 1902-1937

This series contains correspondence files, inward and outward, covering all topics for which the Attorney General was responsible, including legislation and opinions to other departments. During this period, Attorney General responsibilities included industrial schools, motor vehicles, Liquor Control Board, Game Commissioner, Inspector of Municipalities, Registrar of Companies, Inspector of Factories, Inspector of Electrical Energy and Inspector of Tramways.

British Columbia. Dept. of the Attorney-General

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