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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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Series consists of records related to the Sisters of St. Ann’s work at the Tzouhalem Road property in Duncan, BC.

The Sisters purchased, by Crown grant, 400 acres in Cowichan between 1864 and 1870. The first convent and school was built on that land in 1864 under the direction of Father Pierre Rondeau, who had established a mission in Quamichan in 1861. Two Sisters arrived in October of 1864 with the mission of establishing a school for Indigenous girls.

When the school opened, 21 girls aged 4-18 were registered, from six local Fist Nations: Quamichan (Kwa’mutsun), Qw’umiyiqun (Comiaken), Xwulqw’selu (Koksilah), S’amuna’ (Somena), Lhumlhumuluts’ (Clemclemluts), Xinupsum (Khenipsen) and Tl'lulpalus (Cowichan Bay). In 1876 a decision was made that Indigenous girls in Cowichan would be taught as day students only, which allowed for the Duncan school lodgings to be renovated and enlarged to accommodate orphans sent from the overcrowded St Ann’s school in Victoria, as well as from other regions where the Sisters taught, including Alaska. After the E&N Railway was completed, more children from middle-class settler families began to attend the Duncan St. Ann’s school.

The Sisters began teaching boys at the Duncan school in 1904, after the closure of St. Aloysius Protectorate in Victoria. Increase in student boarders led to a need for a bigger school building, and one was constructed in 1921. This building was designed by Sister Mary Osithe as architect.

The school closed in 1964, with Sisters transferring to the nearby Queen of Angels School to teach. The building was briefly used as a novitiate in 1968, and the land was leased out in 1969. In 1979, Providence Farm was established on the site, an organization which is under the direction of The Vancouver Island Providence Community Association. This is an active organization as of 2023.

During the years the Sisters oversaw the school, it was known by a number of different names internally and externally, including: St. Ann’s Boy’s School, Duncan; St. Ann’s, Quamichan; St. Ann’s, Cowichan; The Farm; St. Ann’s Indian School for Girls; and St. Ann’s Orphanage for Girls.

This series consists of three subseries: A) Convent subseries; B) St. Ann’s School, Duncan subseries; C) Farm subseries.

Records in subseries A include chronicles of the school and convent, financial records, Local House minutes, Official Visitation reports, a monograph and history of the school, as well as a scrapbook of Sisters’ art and photographs.

Subseries B consists of records related to the administration of the school, and includes school registers, student accounts, application forms, grades, tests, monthly attendance reports, and photographs. Only a small amount of ephemera relating to the school has survived, and includes two year books (1940 and 1957), a school newsletter (1964), a visitor’s book, and programs and invitations.

Subseries C consists of records relating to the farm on the Duncan property that sustained the school, and includes accounts, receipts and expenses.

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.

This series contains a bound volume of minutes of meetings of the Victoria School Board, along with receipts of payments made by the Board. The series includes minutes of meetings of school board electors (showing votes cast by individual electors for particular candidates) and contains copies of provincial government circulars relating to education and copies of schools-related bills, by-laws, rules and regulations.

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).

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.

This series contains records of the provincial Board of Education. The records include a minute book of Board meetings (1872-1878), a register of teachers' certificates (1872-1883), correspondence regarding Victoria School Reserve (1875-1876) and diaries of provincial school inspectors John Jessop, R.M. Clemitson, and C.C. McKenzie. McKenzie diary includes list of students [giving names, ages, classes and grades] in provincial schools from 1880-1881. Map of Victoria School Reserve, 1876, transferred to BC Archives Map Division.

The series consists of records created by the Dept. of Lands and Works between 1872 and 1896 regarding public works. The records contains contracts, specifications, correspondence, and some plans connected with the construction and repair of schools, government buildings, and smaller works.

A limited number of files contained plans and a few files contained plans only. These files are indicated in the finding aid by * and ** respectively. All plans have been removed from the files and accessioned in the Map Collection as M856047. Appendix 1 of the finding aid lists the plans.

The file list provides the file number assigned by Public Works, the original contract number in square brackets, the name of the building or work, and the date of the contract.

The series consists of specifications for Public Works buildings, including occasional plans and contract forms, created between 1872 and 1924 by the Dept. of Public Works.

North Gabriola School Trustees' letterbook (1883-1895), minute books and accounts (1884-1932). Also includes Register of Pupils attending (South) Gabriola School, 1877-1878. Gabriola School District was established in 1872. In 1883 the District Boundaries were altered and two separate schools, South Gabriola and North Gabriola, were opened.

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.

Register of Pupils attending (South) Gabriola School, 1879-1886. The registers show pupils' names, ages, record of attendance, and the subjects being studied. The registers also record the weather on each day that the school was open. Gabriola School was established in 1872. It was renamed "South Gabriola" in 1883.

The series consists of records pertaining to teacher training and certification. It includes minute books of the Board of Examiners (1884-1949), teachers certificate registers (1892-1947), student registers at provincial Normal schools (1901-1938), high school examination results (1924-1927), and minutes of the Dept. of Education Appointments Board (1937-1945).

Prior to 1901, teachers in British Columbia were drawn either from outside the province or (after 1876) from graduates of provincial high schools. All teachers required teaching certificates, which were awarded by the Superintendent of Education. Teachers from outside the province were required to sit an examination set by the Provincial Board of Examiners. Candidates were awarded different grades or classes of certificates, depending on the results of their exam. High school graduates qualified for certificates in a similar manner, depending on their scores on terminal examinations. Standards of certification changed frequently over the years, as did the questions which appeared on the "Public School Teachers' Examinations." Basically, though, several classes of certificates were available: Academic and First Class (awarded to university graduates and/or to candidates scoring over 70% on the exam); Second class (awarded to candidates scoring over 50% on examinations); and Third class (awarded to candidates scoring 30% and above on a series of exam questions). First class certificates were permanent, 2nd class were valid for 3 years, while 3rd class certificates were generally good for one year, with the possibility of renewal. "Temporary certificates," valid until the annual examinations were held in July, were also issued under certain circumstances.

In 1901, the province's first Normal School for teacher training was opened in Vancouver. (A second school, in Victoria, was opened in 1915.) Thereafter, graduation from the Normal School replaced the "Public School Teachers' Examinations" for those seeking Academic, First, and Second class certificates. Only Third class certificates valid for a limited period of time were still awarded on the basis of candidates' high school examinations.

This series contains records pertaining to school properties, school sites, and school district boundaries. Vol. 1: Index to Deeds of School Sites, 1886-1948 (provides name of school, date when school district established, legal description of site, and name of vendor of property); Vols. II and III: Index to B.C. Gazette notices defining rural and assisted school districts, 1921-1945; Vol. IV: Alphabetical Register of Rural and Assisted Schools, 1921-1944 [showing dates of establishment, boundary and name changes, etc.]. The series also includes files containing miscellaneous contracts and fire insurance policies, 1914-1934. Vol. I may be used in conjunction with GR-1440, Lands Branch correspondence, File 2655/07.

Consists of correspondence inward to Superintendents John Jessop (1872-1878), C.C. McKenzie (1878-1884), and S.D. Pope (1884-1899). Types of records include petitions for school buildings, applications for teaching posts, minutes of local school boards, school trustees' reports, etc. This series may be used in conjunction with GR-0449 (Superintendent of Education, Indexes to Correspondence Inward, 1881-1915) and GR-0450 (Superintendent of Education, Correspondence Outward, 1872-1919).

Researchers should also be aware of the Correspondence Inward files of the Provincial Secretary, 1871-1892 (GR-0526). Since the Provincial Secretary was responsible for the Education Department, these files contain many records pertaining to teachers, schools, and education matters in general. Access to documents in GR-0526 is through GR-0524 (Provincial Secretary. Registers and indexes of letters inward, 1872-1924). Documents pertaining to education, etc. are indexed under the headings "SCHOOLS", and "EDUCATION, SUPERINTENDENT".

Two letters inward with enclosures from Vancouver School Board regarding land acquisition and school construction. Includes two maps.

Documents in this collection pertain to both schools and include: Collegiate School (CS) students' register (1892-1929); CS students' roll book (1910-1929); CS Cadet corps orders book (1910-1919); CS scrapbook (1898-1929); and samples of CS hat ribbons and blazer crests. Muskett's personal account book and Qualicum College students' register (1935-1936) also included.

School Trustees' Minute/Account books, 1893-1928. Includes Register of Pupils attending Bowen Island School, 1915-1919.

The series consists of records created by the Dept. of Public Works between 1893 and 1926. The files contain contracts, specifications, and plans of Public Works buildings such as schools, gaols, court houses and hospitals. They are arranged chronologically.

Register of Pupils attending Pilot Bay School (Kootenay district, B.C.), 1899-1903. The Register notes pupils' names, ages, and record of attendance. The Register also records the weather for each day that the school was in operation*

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 consists of the report of the Commission on South Park School Drawing Books, 1905-1906.

School Trustees' minute book and accounts.

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.

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

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

The series consists of registers of pupils for several public schools: Cardinell, 1926-1929; Cedar Valley, 1940-1944; Hatzic, 1911-1920 (with gaps); Silverdale, 1910-1931; Silverhill, 1928-1939 and Stave Falls, 1916-1926.

In 1945, these schools were consolidated to form School District 34 (Abbotsford-Mission) and in 1947 they became part of School District 75 (Mission).