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Series consists of volume 2 of Ashcroft Supreme Court’s cause books. The volume covers cases 5/1917 to 3/1934 and includes information on divorces, probates and estate administration, adoption orders, and other civil cases. The volume also includes an alphabetical index.

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)

Assize record book, various locations, 1895-1907 [Atlin, Ashcroft, Cassiar, Chilliwack, Clinton, Donald, Fernie, Fort Steele, Glenora, Golden, Grand Forks, Greenwood, Kamloops, Kaslo, Lytton, Midway, Nanaimo, Nelson, New Westminster, Nicola, Osoyoos, Revelstoke, Rossland, Vancouver, Vernon, Victoria ] and Speedy Trials record book, 1895-1912. Index inside front cover. Possibly cases heard by Chief Justice Angus John McColl.

The Attorney-General Document series consists mainly of transcripts of depositions and preliminary hearings and trials, forwarded to the Attorney-General and numbered consecutively by year they were filed. Registers and indexes (volumes 879 to 885) are available on microfilm reel B00395.

This series comprises mostly of bench books for civil and criminal cases heard by various judges and chief justices in the Supreme Court, County Court, Court of Appeal, Admiralty Court, Circuit Courts and Assizes. The series also includes notes on commissions of inquiry as well as miscellaneous court information. Civil and criminal cases are often included in the same volume and records from different judges, different levels of courts, different time periods and geographic areas may be mixed in the same volume, particularly for the earlier period..

For loose material removed from the volumes in GR-1727 see GR-2783.

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

Judgements from Nanaimo, East Crossing of the Columbia River (Donald) Kamloops, Revelstoke, Victoria, Nelson, New Westminster, Rossland, Yale, Vancouver and New Denver.

This series consists of cause books from the Supreme Court of Chilliwack, 1916-1969. The books include primarily civil cases including adoption and divorce.

The series consists of civil orders created by the Chilliwack Supreme Court between 1916 and 1946 and 1949 to 1992. The series also consists of a subseries of early reasons for judgement, dating to the 1930s and 1940s. In many cases, these were interfiled with the civil orders. Early civil orders contain adoption information, although later orders appear to have been removed. The series includes divorce records, including decrees nisi and absolute. Reasons for judgement provide the rationale behind a court’s decision, and civil orders are a formal expression of the court’s will.

Records in this series are arranged by volume and folio number. Many of the records were originally housed in shannon folders, and have been rehoused for preservation purposes. When the records were received by the Archives, the volumes were out of order. As it would have been too difficult to re-order the files at the time, they have been left in the received physical order but the file list is arranged by volume number. The records in this series were selected for full retention under the Court Services ORCS (Schedule 100152) number 51400-25.

The series consists of original decrees nisi, decrees absolute, divorce orders, and orders for the restoration of maiden name by the Chilliwack Supreme Court. Records date from January 1949 to December 1953, January to June 1964, and August 1984 to July 1985. Between 1968 and 1985, a judgement by way of decree nisi required a three-month waiting period before a judgement by way of decree absolute could be applied for. During this time, a divorce was not legally in effect without a decree absolute. After 1985, divorce orders automatically came into effect 31 days after the divorce was granted, barring an appeal.

The records are arranged by volume and folio numbers, as assigned by the Court Registry. The records were scheduled for full retention under Court Services ORCS (schedule 100152) 51440-25.

The series consists of loose material removed from bench books in GR-1727. Records include correspondence and reasons for judgement.

Box 1/7 loose material removed from GR-1727 vols 1-93.
Box 2/7 loose material removed from GR-1727 vols 94-236.
Box 3/7 loose material removed from GR-1727 vols 241-386.
Box 4/7 loose material removed from GR-1727 vols 387-538.
Box 5/7 loose material removed from GR-1727 vols 539-599.
Box 6/7 loose material removed from GR-1727 vols 600-706.
Box 7/7 loose material removed from GR-1727 vols 707-777

This series consists of printed records relating to the following court cases: the Attorney General of the Province of British Columbia versus Theodore Ludgate, and the Attorney General of the Dominion of Canada regarding ownership of Deadman's Island, Burrard Inlet.

Records include Attorney-General vs. Ludgate report by Robert Cassidy to the Attorney General for British Columbia on the appeal of the Dominion of Canada from the 1901 judgment of Martin, J. (Queen's Printer, 1904, 7 p.). The series also includes various exhibits and other records, such as exhibit 6, "Extracts from blue book containing papers relating to the affairs of British Columbia, 1859-1864" (pp. 307-307(81)); "Evidence before Full Court in addition to that taken at trial" and Exhibits V,W,X,Y (pp. 366-430); reasons for judgment of Chief Justice Gordon Hunter, Justice M.W. Tyrwhitt Drake, and Justice P. A. Irving (pp. 431-445); and B.C. Supreme Court decisions (pp. 446-449). Box 2 contains several duplicates of pp. 307-307(81) and pp. 366-450.

This series consists of cause books from the Supreme Court of Duncan from 1937-1976. The books include divorce, adoption and other civil matters.

The series consists of civil orders created in the Supreme Court in Duncan between 1950 and 2002. Orders are a formal expression of the court’s will, and orders in this series cover a variety of issues, including adoption and divorce.

The series is arranged by volume, and then by folio. From volumes 1 to 48, the volume and folio numbers are provided on the records themselves. After volume 48, this information is not always provided. Sometimes the records bear file numbers which appear to be sequential and which restart every year. Sometimes even these numbers are not listed on the records and the only way to identify them is by filing date.
The dates listed in the file list are derived from the date on which the order was filed. Although the filing date for the majority of the records corresponds closely to when the order was issued, this is not always the case, and there are instances in which orders were filed months after being issued.

Originally the majority of the files were arranged in binders based on volume number. If an index existed for the volume, it would be placed in the front of the binder. For space and preservation reasons, the records have been removed from the binders and placed in acid-free folders. Records from binders tend to span two folders, which are linked by volume number. The first of the two binders will house the index for the entire volume, if one was included.

The series consists of one volume of the registrar’s book for the County Court of East Kootenay holden at Golden. The volume includes trial transcripts, lists of individuals applying for naturalization, grants of letters of administration, adoption cases, and other trial details. The book was used by several different registrars, and includes cases primarily heard by Justices Thompson and Providanzo. The volume is arranged in chronological order

This series consists of 22 volumes of fee books, recording fees owing to the Supreme Court. Volume 1 and 2 are for New Westminster, under the Colony of British Columbia Supreme Court of Civil Justice. The third volume covers New Westminster and Victoria from the Vancouver Island Supreme Court of Civil Justice. Volumes 4 to 22 were created after 1870 when both courts merged into the Supreme Court of British Columbia, based in Victoria.

Civil case files. This collection includes appeals and naturalizations. Use plaint and procedure books (GR-2137) to obtain file numbers for these case files.

The series consists of original civil orders, judgements, and reasons for judgement created between 1978 and 2001 by the Fernie Supreme Court and County Court registry. Orders are the formal expression of the ruling of the court, judgements are the final orders issued in a case, and reasons for judgement provide the court's rationale. The records relate to a variety of civil matters including divorces, bankruptcies, and some adoptions. In the later years of this series, adoptions were removed and filed separately.

From 1978 to August 1999, the records are arranged by volume and folio number as assigned by the court registry. Beginning September 1999, they are arranged chronologically. The records were scheduled for full retention under Court Services ORCS (schedule 100152) 51400-25.

Letters of administration for estates probated by Official Administrators Francis Edward Hughes and James Ryley in Fernie Supreme and County courts.

The series consists of orders from the Supreme Court in Fernie. The orders date from 1983 to 2002 and the series is largely composed of divorce orders. There is one folder of adoption orders and one of general court orders, which also includes orders related to probates and estates. Divorce orders were originally arranged by volume and folio number, but this system appears to have changed in 1999 and the records were subsequently arranged by filing date. Researchers should note that there is sometimes a gap between the date the order is issued and the date it is filed. Other orders appear to be arranged by filing date.

The series consists of four volumes of indexed cause books, created in the Grand Forks registry between 1900 and 1969. A typical cause book entry lists the style of cause, solicitors' names, nature of claim, and the dates of various proceedings in each case. The entry also provides the case file number. For Supreme Court cases, cause books are often used as a starting point for research. The cause books include information on adoption, divorce, chattel mortgages, and other civil proceedings.

The records are arranged by case number and are also chronological.

The series consists of original divorce orders, judgements and reasons for judgements created between 1981 and 2001 by the Kamloops Supreme Court registry. Between 1968 and 1985, a judgement by way of decree nisi required a three-month waiting period before a judgement by way of decree absolute could be applied for. During this time, a divorce was not legally in effect without a decree absolute. After 1985, divorce orders automatically came into effect 31 days after the divorce was granted, barring an appeal. Reasons for judgment are available for some, but not all, divorces.

Between 1981-1985, the records are arranged by file number and there may be several records with the same file number grouped together, each with different entered dates. The years listed in the attached finding aid appear to be based on the date that a divorce was first initiated, but this is not verifiable or consistent across the records. Starting in late 1985, the records are arranged by volume and file number, and dates used in the finding aid are the court registry’s entered date. Reasons for judgement from 1991-2001 have been arranged separately, by file number, within box 27. A nominal finding aid for only those reasons for judgement is available at the end of the attached file list. The records were scheduled for full retention under Court Services ORCS (schedule 100152) 51440-25.

The series consists of civil orders and reasons for judgement created between 1881 and 2000. Early records are from the Yale district, although the majority of records in the series relate specifically to Kamloops. The records are largely arranged chronologically by filing date, which can sometimes be several months after the order was issued in court. Between 1954 and 1973, orders were arranged by volume and folio numbers. Records were compiled into volumes based on filing date. Each folio is comprised of one order. The Archives does not currently have records for the period 1974 to 1982. Between 1983 and the late 1980s, some civil orders were filed by a sequential number. From the late 1980s onwards, the court filing system returned to using volumes and folios; however the volume number began again at 1. Many of the volumes contain indexes.

Civil orders are the formal expression of the ruling of the court and reasons for judgement provide the court's rationale. The records relate to a variety of civil matters, including adoption orders.

This series consists of civil cause books from the Kelowna Supreme Court, from 1951-1977. Only indexes are available for the years 1923-1946. The books includes cases related to adoption, divorce, estate administration, probates and other civil matters. Some files are noted as Penticton files.

The series consists of original decrees nisi, decrees absolute, and divorce orders created between 1977 and 1996 (predominantly between 1977-1986) by the Kelowna Supreme Court registry. Between 1968 and 1985, a judgement by way of decree nisi required a three-month waiting period before a judgement by way of decree absolute could be applied for. During this time, a divorce was not legally in effect without a decree absolute. After 1985, divorce orders automatically came into effect 31 days after the divorce was granted, barring an appeal.

Decrees nisi and decrees absolute are filed together and arranged by case number, not by volume and folio or by date. This means that records of varying dates are interfiled. Orders transferred to the Kelowna registry from other court registries within the province were not assigned a Kelowna case file number and are filed alphabetically by last name at the end of this series. The records were scheduled for full retention under Court Services ORCS (schedule 100152) 51440-25.

This series consists of two volumes of Lillooet Provincial Police Court and Magistrate's Court record books. Volume 1 includes dates January 1938 to December 1947. Volume 2 includes January 1948 to September 1951. The books list date, prosecutor, defendant, charge, costs, fines, arresting office, presiding magistrate or judge, and remarks such as plea. Additional records may be pasted into the volume.

The series consists of magistrates’ returns sent to, and subsequently filed by, the Prince Rupert County Court between 1963 and 1971. The returns were generated by magistrates operating in Prince Rupert as well as in locations on Haida Gwaii (then known as the Queen Charlotte Islands), in Cassiar, Hixon, Bella Coola, Port Edward, Clinton, Ocean Falls, Eddontenajon and Yukon Territory, among others. Records in this series list the name of person convicted, nature of offense, date of conviction, amount of fine, amount of costs, and total. The returns list individuals charged under both the federal and provincial legislation and provide evidence of judicial operations in remote BC and Yukon settlements.

The records appear to have originally been housed in shannon folders, but the records were removed and placed in folders prior to transferal to the Archives. The records are arranged both by receipt number, which was often handwritten under the Prince Rupert County Court stamp, or alphabetically by magistrate’s surname. The records are then arranged chronologically by year.

Records in this series were managed and selected for retention under ORCS 50000-01 of the Court Services Operational Records Classification System (schedule 100152).

Bench books for civil and criminal cases heard by Matthew Baillie Begbie in the Supreme Court of Civil Justice, 1859-1873. The volumes include his notes of proceedings and may include draft copies of judgements and reasons for judgement. They focus primarily on cases heard on the Cariboo District court circuit. County Court cases may be included as are appeals from the Gold Commissioner's Court. The volumes cover Begbie's term as Justice for the Colony of British Columbia and the unified Colony of British Columbia as well as the early years of his tenure as Chief Justice of British Columbia after the colony became a province of Canada. There is a single entry for a case heard by Henry P.P. Crease at Victoria, 1871.

The series consists of original plaint and procedure books (1912-1961) and case record cards (1977-1986) from the Merritt County Court registry. The records relate to a variety of civil matters and can include the names of the parties and their solicitors, dates of proceedings, and reference numbers for locating orders and judgements. Case cards may also include an estimated number of trial days, as well as whether or not the trial was by jury.

The records are arranged by case number. Indexes are available for all plaint and procedure books except for volume 1 of box 1 (cases 1/1912 to 74/1914). A nominal file list is available for the case records cards; see available finding aid. The records were scheduled for full retention under Court Services ORCS (schedule 100152) 53200-20.

The series consists of original civil orders and judgements created between 1951 and 2000 by the Merritt Supreme Court and County Court registries. Orders are the formal expression of the ruling of the court and judgements are the final orders issued in a case. Records relate to a variety of civil matters including divorces, probates, foreclosures, and some adoptions.

Records are arranged by volume and folio number as assigned by the court registry. Orders and judgements are interfiled. The records were scheduled for full retention under Court Services ORCS (schedule 100152) 51400-25.