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This series consists of a day book of expenditures of road and bridge construction, surveys and transport, 1862-1864; goods received from grocers, Hope, B.C., 1865; correspondence and specifications relating to the construction of the Burrard Inlet road, 1864-1865.

This series contains one volume of an accounts ledger, receipts and payments. It also includes a ledger of expenditures for road construction, surveys and explorations, salaries, supplies, etc.

The fonds consists of three photo albums created by John Irvine between 1894 and 1910. Many of the photographs are of railway survey campsites and features in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and California but some of the earlier photographs are city views of buildings in Ottawa, including the Parliament buildings after the fire in February 1897. The albums are uniform in size and appearance: black, pebbled covers with the "Photographs" embossed in gold on the top left front. The pages, which are stiff gray cardboard, are bound with red cord. The albums measure 18 by 30 cm. The mounted prints vary in size and tone from 7 x 12 cm to 19 x 15 cm, and from b&w to sepia. Nearly all of the photographs have a double white line border drawn around them and almost all are captioned in white ink. Several of the photographs are identified with "Yours truly Jno Irvine" and may be portraits of Irvine himself.

The series consists a survey of resources of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway lands undertaken by the Government of British Columbia, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and the Canadian National Railways. The contents include maps, drawings and photographs.

Letterpress copies of correspondence outward from the Surveyor-General. Many of the volumes contain nominal indexes of correspondents. Volumes 26 - 31 have been water damaged and are partly illegible.

The fonds consists of diaries relating to the Alberta-British Columbia boundary surveys.

This series contains records relating to map production, map distribution, personnel and staff salaries. It includes miscellaneous memoranda on resources along the route of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (1936-1942) and a memorandum by F.C. Green on the Post-War Rehabilitation Council, 1943. This unit also includes three notebooks of G.G. Aitken, Chief Geographer, on map production, survey instructions, accounts, and acreages of streams and rivers in British Columbia.

The fonds consists of photographs of surveying trips to Port Simpson and along the Alaska boundary survey.

The fonds consists of diaries, photographs, field books, scrapbooks and files containing notes and correspondence. Fonds includes survey maps of land in Russia, Turkey, France, and British Columbia.

The fonds consists of three photograph albums created by Donald Lawrence McMullan between 1928 and 1946. The photographs document his work on forest survey teams for both the provincial and federal governments, as well as surveys conducted by logging and railroad companies.

The first two albums contain photographs from several survey jobs, arranged chronologically. They are divided into sections with an introductory page and a cartographic drawing showing where the particular survey took place. The photographs are usually dated with captions and are as follows:
Album 1 (1928-1933)
Amiskwi and Beaverfoot survey, 1928, Forest Service, Dept. of the Interior, Canada
P.G.E. resources survey, 1929, Forest Resources Branch, British Columbia
Preliminary survey of a proposed logging railroad, 1930, Bloedel, Stewart & Welch Ltd. logging company
Elk Forest survey, 1930, British Columbia Forest Service
North Kamloops Survey, 1931, British Columbia Survey Branch
Railway belt survey, 1932, British Columbia Forest Service
Railroad logging operation, 1933, Industrial Timber Mills Ltd.
Album 2 (1934-1939):
Surveys for logging railroads, 1934-1935, UBO Industrial Timber Mills Ltd.
Kettle Forest Survey, 1935, British Columbia Forest Service
E&N Survey, 1936-1937
Harrison Survey, 1939

The third album, created between 1940 and 1946, contains photographs from McMullan's later career and show general forestry activities on Vancouver Island, mainland British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska. Captions and dates are inconsistently applied.

The fonds also includes a copy of McMullan's thesis entitled "The Work of the Surveys Division: British Columbia Forest Service" written in 1932 during McMullan's studies at the University of British Columbia. This thesis is illustrated with five b&w prints and an annotated map. Also included in the fonds is a notice of permanent appointment to the British Columbia civil service dated March 25, 1937 with attached salary schedule and a letter to McMullan dated January 20, 1938 regarding a new classification grading system for Foresters.

The series consists of general files created by the Surveys and Mapping Branch between 1935 and 1974. The files are in no particular order but may have been kept in the office of A.G. Slocomb, Chief of the Topographic Division. The files are arranged by subject and include general office files as well as specific files relating to surveyors and survey projects (E.R. McMinn), Air Division files (G.S. Andrews) and a correspondence file from 1935 to 1938 regarding the creation of Tweedsmuir Park (G.G. Aitken)

The series consists of the business records, 1877-1977, of the office of the Kamloops Government Agent, including the records of several additional positions usually held by the same individual: Gold Commissioner, Mining Recorder, and Land Commissioner for the Kamloops Land District. The series also includes records of the Canadian Department of the Interior; most created and received by the Dominion Lands Agent at Kamloops as part of the administration of the Railway Belt.

Record types and subject matter include, but are not limited to the following: land alienation through pre-emption or purchase from the provincial government and homesteading or purchase from the federal government; a variety of leases of Crown land; other more general types of records; and records regarding Indigenous peoples and Indian Reserves.

Records related to land alienation include: applications for pre-emption records; land classification reports; forms completed by land inspectors of the Department of Lands Inspection Branch; declarations of occupation and permanent improvement on pre-emption claims; applications for homestead entry, cancellation, and abandonment; homestead Inspector’s reports; affidavits in support of an Application for Entry for a homestead, pre-emption or purchased homestead; land sales records including applications to purchase and certificates of purchase.

Records related to a variety of leases and other uses of Crown lands include: grazing leases; foreshore leases; dredging leases; indentures to reassign leases; special use permits; timber permits; water records including conditional water licenses, and permanent water licenses; applications for irrigation schemes; petroleum and natural gas leases; quarry leases; bar leases; coal leases; mining leases regarding surface and subsurface rights; applications for lease of crown-granted mineral claims; applications for placer leases under the Placer-Mining Act; and the lapse of a lease or forfeiture of a mineral claim to the Crown.

Other more general types of records include: correspondence regarding Crown grants; inquiries about land availability; surveyor’s reports; preliminary plans and correspondence for the surveys of townships; Soldier Settlement Board records including forms, correspondence and records of soldier land grants; attestation papers and discharge certificates; naturalization papers; personal correspondence; correspondence files on specific topics such as hay permit regulations or precipitation measurements; records regarding taxes; and business records of the office, including inter-department correspondence, circulars, and memorandum related to matters of land administration.

Files also exist for specific Indian Reserves, and can include correspondence; water records; surveys; and inspection reports created in the process of allotting new, and canceling existing Indian Reserves. Some files document instances of overlapping land use and conflict between settlers and Indigenous peoples on specific parcels of land.

Files are generally either correspondence files on a particular subject, or a variety of records related to a particular piece of land. Many files cover a wide time period and may be associated with multiple individuals or companies as land rights were often transferred to others or cancelled and reapplied for. Only the name of the first and last individual listed on the file is included in the file list. This means there may be additional names associated with files not included on the file list. The file list may also only include part of the legal description of land in cases where the description was exceptionally long, or included many different pieces of land. Single individuals may also have multiple files for each piece of land they are associated with.

Cartographic materials, consisting of blueprints and hand-drawn maps or plans, indicating the parcels of land relevant to the file, are commonly found throughout the records.

No file list or indexes were transferred with these records from the Kamloops Government Agent. Most files only included numbers with no clear names, so titles were created by the archives based on the contents of the files or by transcribing information on relevant file backs.

A fire on 17 September 1893 at the Dominion Lands Office in Kamloops destroyed some files. The contents for these files are marked [empty]. Files marked as [file back only] were likely destroyed in the fire, but then had their titles and some additional information transcribed by Lands employees onto file backs from letter books or other surviving records which were not transferred with these records.

The series consists of Director's files created by the Surveys and Mapping Branch between 1949 and 1976. The files are a mixture of operational and administrative files and include correspondence, memos, maps and some photographs. They are arranged by the file code system created by G.S. Andrews, director from 1951 to 1968. A list of the file codes and headings is in the first file, 0581/1.1.

The files cover all aspects of land surveys and mapping including the organization and administration of the branch, policy, associations with professional bodies, correspondence with the Federal Government, equipment and supplies and historical files created under directors G.S. Andrews (1951-1968), A.H. Ralfs (1968-1975) and E.R. McMinn (1876-1982). The series also includes one unnumbered file dated 1982 about the Alberta mapping branch.

Although there are many maps interfiled within the regular files, the last box contains only copies of published maps accumulated by Andrews between 1941 and 1972, although some of the maps are copied from earlier ones. This box was reaccessioned as M856122 and transferred to the Archives Map division in 1985 but has been reunited with the series.

The series consists of minutes of decision of the Joint Indian Reserve Commission (1876-1878) of governments of Canada and British Columbia and of the Indian Reserve Commission (1878-1907) of the government of Canada regarding allotment of Indian reserves in British Columbia.

Records consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports and coloured maps of the reserve allotments. Although these records are called Joint Reserve Commission records, they probably form part of the British Columbia Department of Lands and Works fonds. Most of the records are stamped with the Lands and Works Dept. stamp and also have Lands and Works file numbers assigned to each, after they were received from the Commission. Some files then had additional related records added to by Department staff, as reserves were surveyed or related issues came up. Additional records were added to several files by Department of Lands staff up to 1949.

In addition, the series includes an item level precis of each document, created by the Dept. of Lands in 1980. The precis are filed in the first file of each box.

Records relating to surveys and surveyors field books. Consists of a register of surveyors' field books on Vancouver Island, especially Victoria district; an alphabetical street index to surveyors' field books for the City of Victoria, and miscellaneous correspondence pertaining to surveys. Includes record of surveys done since 1858.

This series consists of a report by C.E. Tildesley, titled" Concerning the Land districts of British Columbia". Bound typescript.

"Report on the gazettings of Land Districts of British Columbia", by C.E. Tildesley. Bound typescript.

The fonds consists of personal annual diaries or journals kept by Norman Charles Stewart and a transcript created by Joan Dakers. The original diaries are for the years 1910, 1925, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1939, 1945, 1947, 1952 (2 v.), 1953 and 1954. These records supplement the official surveyor field books he would have maintained as a BC Land Surveyor working for or with the Surveyor General's department. The transcript includes detailed copies and summaries of diaries from 1910 to 1951. Not all the supplemental information in the original diaries was transcribed.

The fonds consists of records created by Henry Fry from 1885 to 1911 including diaries, field notes, and an account book relating to surveys carried out on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands and in the Cariboo. The fonds also includes miscellaneous field books created by other surveyors from 1886 to 1923.

This series contains letterpress reference books of surveyed land, usually including name of land holder and lot number. The entries are arranged by land district for each reporting date. These lists were published later as notices in the British Columbia Gazette. These books were used by the Dept. of Lands to record file numbers and other information concerning the process.

This series contains correspondence inward to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works relating to various public works, buildings, bridges and roads, surveys, government reserves, and general land matters. Includes memoranda, minutes, telegraphs, and sketches. Files W2/71 to W218/72, 29 December 1871 to 29 July 1872.

The series consists of survey files created by the Topographic Division of the Surveys and Mapping Branch between 1947 and 1963. The files are in no particular order but appear to have been kept in the office of A.G. Slocomb, Chief of the Topographic Division. The files are arranged by subject and include general office files as well as specific files relating to surveyors and survey projects.

This series consists of records related to the administration, management and alienation of land in the New Westminster land district from 1882-1978. The records were primarily created by the provincial Government Agent and the Dominion Land Agent stationed in New Westminster. The majority of these records are homestead files created by the dominion government. These files contain information about homesteaders, their applications and the process of obtaining title to land.

Record types and subject matter include, but are not limited to: land alienation through pre-emption or purchase from the provincial government and homesteading or purchase from the federal government; a variety of leases of Crown land; other general subject files; and records regarding Indigenous Peoples or Indian Reserves.

Records related to land alienation include: applications for pre-emption, purchase or lease; land classification reports; forms completed by land inspectors of the Department of Lands Inspection Branch; declarations of occupation and permanent improvement on pre-emption claims; applications for homestead entry, cancellation, and abandonment; homestead Inspector’s reports; affidavits in support of an Application for Entry; land sales records; correspondence with settlers and other government officials; patents; Crown Grants; certificates; forms; maps and plans; financial records including receipts and cheques; court records, such as probates; survey records; notices of sale or cancellation; and sale agreements.

Records related to leases and other uses of Crown land include: grazing leases; foreshore leases; dredging leases; special use permits; timber permits; timber berths; water licenses; applications for dyking schemes; campsite leases; oyster bed leases; right-of-ways (ROWs) through land for railways, roads, powerlines or pipelines; petroleum and natural gas leases; quarry leases; bar leases; coal leases; mining leases; and mineral claims. Other uses include government reserves, the establishment of parks, and the reservation of land for school sites or other public uses.

Other more general subject files include: inquiries about land availability; preliminary plans and correspondence for the survey and sale of townsites; Soldier Settlement Board records including forms, correspondence and records of soldier land grants; correspondence files on specific topics such as canal construction, the reclamation of Hatzic Lake, the draining of Sumas Lake and the establishment of fish culture and fish hatcheries; and business records of the office, including inter-department correspondence, circulars, and memorandum related to matters of land administration.

Files also exist for specific Indian Reserves, and can include correspondence; water records; surveys; and inspection reports created in the process of allotting new, and canceling or amending existing Indian Reserves. Some files document instances of overlapping land use and conflict between settlers and Indigenous peoples on specific parcels of land.

Files are generally either correspondence files on a particular subject, or a variety of records related to a particular piece of land. Many files cover a wide time period and may be associated with multiple individuals or companies, as land rights were often transferred to others or cancelled and reapplied for.

Only the name of the first individual listed on the file is included in the file list. This means there may be additional names associated with files not included on the file list. The file list may also only include part of the legal description of land in cases where the description was exceptionally long, or included many different pieces of land. Single individuals may also have multiple files for each piece of land they are associated with.

The series also includes some files related to land in the Yale Division and Kamloops Division of the Yale Land District; as well as the Lillooet Land District. These records were created in the offices of the Kamloops and Clinton Government Agents, but at some point became intermingled with the New Westminster records.

Maps, plans and sketches indicating the parcels of land relevant to the file are commonly found throughout the records.

The fonds consists of a microfilmed copy of John T.E. Gowlland's log books for the Ganges and the Plumper, including one completed during a survey of Vancouver Island in 1859-1860.

This series contains diaries (1912-1914; 3 vols.), line index books, (4 cols.), and surveyors' field books (11 vols.) from the Strathcona Park Survey.

This report to the Forest Branch of the Dept. of Lands, is part of a series of initial surveys of forest-land, a programme commenced by the Branch in 1912. Bonney's report covers parts of the Nass and Skeena watersheds and was completed at a cost of 43.58 cents per square mile. As well as reporting on standing timber and forest industry potential, Bonney includes forestry problems, agriculture, sail studies, fishing, mineral resources, geology, topography, water power, communications and climate. Notes are included on methodology and impressions of Indians and white settlers . An index and a map of the project area will be found at the start of the reel.

The series consists of a copy of the program for the dedication ceremony of the site of British Columbia's Centennial Survey Monument which took place at the new Museum and Archives precinct at the corner of Government and Belleville Streets in Victoria on Wednesday June 21, 1967.

The program includes a description of the ceremony, speeches, press release, photocopies of relevant newspaper articles, photocopy of invitation and guest list and six black and white photographs of the ceremony including the unveiling of the monument and an aerial view of the site.

This series consists of letterpress copies of letters outward from the Deputy Minister of Lands, Deputy Commissioner of Lands, Surveyor-General, Deputy Commissioner of Lands and Water, and Chief Commissioner of Lands & Works, and associated registers. Volumes 1-241 are accessed through separate registers (series II, vols. 1-22); volumes 242-314 contain their own registers.

This series consists of correspondence inward and outward of the Chief Geographer of British Columbia, George Griffith Aitken. Records are arranged in rough alphabetical order.