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This series contains selected inward correspondence from 1872 to 1950, although most of the items date from 1872 to 1937. The Attorney General's Department used several numbering and filling systems during this time period. From 1872 to 1911 letters were assigned a number as they were received, and then filed in numerical order by year. From 1911 to 1917 a subject file drawer system was used, and thereafter correspondence was coded and filed according to the Act which applied to the issue under discussion in the correspondence.

The records cover all aspects of work conducted by the Attorney General over the years, and discuss a wide variety of subject matter. See the file list for descriptions of files or individual folios within the files.

The series is arranged into the following subseries:

-- Correspondence inward, 1872-1911
-- Reports on coal miners’ strike, 1912-1913
-- Memos and correspondence, 1899, 1912-1933, 1950
-- Correspondence regarding unemployment administration and communist activity (Attorney General Department file number L-125), 1930-1937

This series contains schedules of returns of convictions.

This series contains selected correspondence inward received by the Attorney General from 1883 to 1888, and was originally part of an inward correspondence series created by the Attorney General’s Department. The bulk of the surviving inward correspondence from 1872 to 1937 may be found in GR-0429. Records in this series include correspondence inward, notes regarding cases and assize calendars.

The Attorney General’s Department used several numbering and filing systems during this time period; from 1872 to 1911 letters were assigned a number as they were received, and then filed in numerical order by year. There is no contemporary index for letters inward prior to 1911. Although the items of correspondence from 1872 to 1911 were assigned numbers sequentially, the original order was not always maintained while the records were in the Attorney-General’s Department. This means that the items are no longer in strict numerical order within a year, and items relating to a single topic may sometimes be found together, regardless of the date when they were first received.

This series consists of a variety of circulars (later referred to as orders), wanted posters, informations and warrants. The records were created and used by the Provincial Police Force from 1884-1920s and general orders from the 1920s-1948. The series contains several volumes with have both types of records intermingled. Some volumes are indexed by subject or name of the wanted person.

Circulars and orders provide a concise summary of changes to criminal charges, and other the directives and instructions sent to police staff. Most circulars are copied and provided to all constables and inspectors from the Police Superintendent or police Headquarters in Victoria, but some are sent from regional offices or other officials to their subordinates. General circulars or orders would have been sent to all offices.

Most of the wanted posters, informations, and warrants were received from police in other provinces or the United States, in hopes of locating wanted or missing persons. Some were created by the BC Provincial Police and are related to crimes committed in British Columbia. Photos or drawings of the individuals, fingerprints and writing samples may be included on the posters.

Two volumes were created by the central Provincial Police Force office from 1914 to 1923. Records include written circulars provided as instructions to various police force staff across the province; notices of changes to legislation or regulations; and wanted posters or descriptions of wanted persons. Records have been glued into volumes by the date they were created or received by the office.

There are also several files of loose circulars and wanted posters, some from the Nelson office of the Provincial Police Force and the Motor Vehicle Branch in Victoria. Some circulars may have be received from other members of government, such as the Attorney General. One file of circulars relates specifically to the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB).

There is also one file of nominal rolls from 1927 listing each staff and their position.

This series consists of Assay certificate record books, 1902-1925 (14 vols.) arranged chronologically and includes name, date, and sample report; some volumes contain correspondence. Letterbooks of the Government Analyst relating to soil, water, criminal, alcohol, and various chemical analyses, 1919-1933 (4 vols.) Letterbooks relating to the Board of Examiners assayists' examinations, 1911-1939 (3 vols.) Examination papers, Assayer's examinations, May and November, 1900, Victoria.

The fonds consists of personal and professional records of John Munro and document parts of his career with the British Columbia Provincial Police and his time as a jail warden. The records are comprised of 22 b&w family photographs (1909-1947), one patrol journal (1906-1907), and one scrapbook (1903-1917).

Munro was appointed to the British Columbia Provincial Police in 1902 in Vancouver, and was appointed Warden of the Nanaimo Gaol in 1910 and of the Saanich Prison Farm in 1914. He served as Constable at Colquitz in 1918. The patrol journal was kept while he travelled into the Cassiar District in search of Simon Gun-a-noot, who had been accused of murdering two white men. The journal was created partly as he carried out his professional duties, and partly for his own interest.

The scrapbook contains newspaper clippings and ephemera of famous cases or prisoners in his charge.

The 22 family photographs primarily show Munro and his wife and children on the grounds of the Saanich Prison Farm (now Wilkinson Road Jail). The photographs have been assigned the following numbers: J-00107; J-00108; J-00109; J-00110; J-00111; J-00112; J-00113; J-00114; J-00115; J-00116; J-00117; J-00118; J-00119; J-01028; J-01029; J-01030; J-01031; J-01032; J-01033; J-01034; J-01035; and J-01036.

This series consists of one bound day book from the Provincial Police Detective Office. The book contains daily entries by several detectives describing what they did each day, including places they traveled to, cases worked on, people interviewed and suspects apprehended. The located in Vancouver, but detective covered cases across the province, including Kamloops and Vancouver Island.

The first half of the book is written by one unnamed detective and covers the days 1 April 1914 – 10 May 1918. The second half of the book is labelled as “Vancouver District Headquarters C.I.B. Memos : C. Ledoux – M.J. Phillips” and covers the days 1 January 1933 to 31 December 1934. A variety of crimes are included, such as theft, murder and fraud. CIB likely reference to the Criminal Investigation Branch.

This series consists of Colquitz Mental Hospital records, 1919-1953, including correspondence of the supervisor and other staff, and a register of inmates. Correspondence of the supervisor with the Medical Superintendent are useful for showing the policies and procedures of the hospital. Records cover a variety of topics relating to the administration of the hospital.

The records are arranged in fairly close congruence with the changes in administrators of the institution. Each sub-series relates to particular supervisor(s) of the Provincial Mental Home at Colquitz:
Series 1 1919-1931 Granby Farrant
Series 2 1931-1941 Granby Farrant & F.M. Spooner
Series 3 1941-1953 T.A. Morris & L.G.C. d'Easum
The material in Series 3 is organized with a new set of files for each year.

This series consists of ten volumes of Provincial Police Force monthly crime analysis and statement of fines, 1923-1926 and 1930-1935. Volume 1 is arranged by division, then district. All other volumes are arranged alphabetically by district or municipality.

This series consists of crime reports and subject files related to the “C” division of the Provincial Police Department primarily from 1931-1950. The records may have been created by the Ashcroft office of the Yale District within the larger “C” division, as the majority of the records relate to the Ashcroft area. There are also some records that relate to locations in the Kamloops, Lillooet and Vernon Police Districts.

The majority of the records are reports recording details particular crimes reported to police. These records may be arranged alphabetically by the correspondent, under the name of the related legislation (ex. Juvenile Delinquents Act, Motor Vehicle Act, Indian Act, etc.), or by the type of crime (ex. Theft, murder, fraud, etc.). Other types of records include administrative files, personnel files, correspondence files, court records, crime statistics, evidence such as photographs and other subject files.

Indexes to crime reports for the years 1932 and 1945-1947 are located in container 913432-0890.

The series consists of a letterbook containing crime reports produced or collected by Sergeant John William Hooker during the course of his duties as a British Columbia Provincial Police (BCPP) officer while posted to Coquitlam, Grand Forks, Nelson, Smithers, Prince George, Clinton, Ashcroft, Spence’s Bridge, Merritt, and Kamloops between 1932 and 1944. The records cover a variety of crimes and social issues—particularly in small, rural communities. In addition to generic social issues, the records from Grand Forks (file 3) relate primarily to Doukhobors, and include reports on the settlement of Gilpin.

The majority of the reports were produced by Hooker. Some supplemental records (copies), such as an inquest, inward correspondence in relation to particular cases, and a reason for judgement are interfiled with the crime reports.

The records are arranged chronologically and by detachment location. The records do not capture all crime reports filed in a particular district, but were likely selected by Hooker. Some of these files have been labeled in pencil “Personal file.” The records consist primarily of crime reports on standard BCPP letterhead. Each report contains the district, detachment, and the date, as well as an overview of the case and persons involved.

Some of these records may also be available in GR-1388: Correspondence and other material created by the British Columbia Provincial Police Force of the Yale district. John William Hooker's personnel card, which provides details of the service of constables, including marital status, date of first appointment, station, and various postings, can be found in GR-0091, vol. 30-31.

The series consists of punishment ledgers, correspondence, memos, and guidelines created at Oakalla Prison between 1941 and 1972. The records relate to the performance of both inmates and staff and the series includes several reference or review letters for prison employees. The punishment ledgers include the date of punishment, inmate name and number, age of inmate, number of previous infractions, nature of offense, by whom offense reported, sentence, date of sentence and any other remarks made by prison staff. The ledgers are arranged by date of infraction.

The series also consists of a number of memos and correspondence, some of which were written by inmates to the prison warden. The series also includes letters from the Inspector of Gaols to the Oakalla warden. This correspondence includes reports of incidents, escapes, hospitalizations, and conditions in the compound. The series also consists of one file detailing wartime conditions and blackout restrictions.

Records in the series are covered by ORCS 46020-08, 46020-20 and 59840-20 of the Corrections Branch records schedule (schedule 891849).

Form 2B - Summary Convictions. This report of Summary Convictions for the judicial district of University Hill was completed quarterly (March 1962 - December 1967 and monthly (January 1968 - March 1973) by Magistrate M.E. Ferguson. Form 2B is a form generated by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics (authorized by the Statistics Act) in order to compile statistics on the number of cases terminating in a conviction, absolute discharge or conditional discharge from a summary convictions court. The form includes very detailed instructions and explanations for its completion and submission to the Dept. of the Attorney-General. About 150 offences are listed as well as possible dispositions: fine, probation, prison, or discharge (all categories subdivided "M" or "F"). Remuneration of one cent per summary conviction was paid to the person transmitting the report.