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The series consists of records created by the Atlin Gold Commissioner between 1898 and 1945. Records include correspondence inward and outward, mining and water records, and gold commissioner's court records.

This series consists of a brief of the Mining Association of British Columbia to the premier and cabinet.

The series consists of photographs (lantern slides and a few glass or flexible negatives) created by the offices of the Bureau of Mines and the Dept. of Mines between ca. 1900 and 1953. The photographs depict all aspects of Bureau activities including surveys and inspections. Many of the glass negatives were taken by W.F. Robertson and H.T. Nation of the Bureau of Mines and were often used for annual reports and other publications. The bulk of the photographs are glass lantern slides, either made from Bureau of Mines photographs or copied from other sources. Photographer Edgar Fleming took or copied many of the photographs for the Department. These slides show mines and mining operations and equipment; mining camps, first aid teams, refineries, smelters, coke ovens, concentrators, railways and rail trestles; boats, landscape and terrain features including coast, rivers and mountain ranges and aerial views. There are also a significant number of maps and technical drawings.

Occasionally other photographer initials M.S.H., S.S.H. and W.H.M. are noted on the slides. There are 63 slides of South African mines and general views, 23 slides of the Alcan Kemano project from 1953 and various portraits scattered throughout the series, as well as ca. 115 aerial views from the 1930s, many with their own numbering scheme.

The series also includes an additional 38 glass lantern slides from the 1920s, alienated from the main run of lantern slides and transferred separately. Most of these slides were made of photographs taken by Edgar Fleming for the Bureau of Mines but also include some slides of maps and technical drawings.

The series consists of photographs taken by or collected by the Bureau of Mines, where they were compiled into 30 photograph albums. Some of the albums, or parts of the albums, were compiled at the end of the year's work and were intended by the Provincial Mineralogist to document his annual summer field work throughout the province.

Many of the photographs were published each year in Department bulletins and in the Annual Report of the Minister of Mines. There is a coding in the albums which indicates that a photograph was used in the Annual Report. For example, “R1925 - A182” signifies that the photograph was used in the 1925 Annual Report of the Minister of Mines on page A182. Each Annual Report of the Minister contains narrative descriptions of the field trips taken by the Provincial Mineralogist and other Bureau of Mines staff, so it is possible to trace the relationship each year between these field trip narratives and the photographs.

W. Fleet Robertson (Provincial Mineralogist from 1898 to 1925) took some of the photographs. Beginning ca. 1906, Harold T. Nation was an assistant to the Provincial Mineralogist, and travelled with him on his summer field trips, taking photographs, compiling many of the photo albums and indexing them. Exceptions were the years 1914-1917, when Nation served in the military in Europe, after which he returned to his former position. Others from the Bureau of Mines who contributed to the creation of the albums include: W.A. Carlyle, (W. Fleet Robertson's predecessor as Provincial Mineralogist); J.D. Galloway (Robertson's successor); Herbert Carmichael (an Assistant Mineralogist); and Newton W. Emmens. They took photographs or directed that photos be taken to document their work in the field. Many photographs are labeled “B.C. Bureau of Mines” but the photographer is not identified.

Some of the albums, or parts of albums, appear to have been compiled, not an annual basis, but at a later date, and were labeled “miscellaneous.” They relate to the mining industry, geology, mineralogy, and local culture, but are not related to the annual field trips. The Provincial Mineralogist's office collected some of these from private sources including mining companies and miners. Professional photographers whose work is found in the albums include: R.J. Hughes (Trail, BC), Hughes Bros. (Trail, BC), Joseph F. Spalding (Fernie, BC), Carpenter & Co. (Rossland, BC), Carpenter & Millar (Rossland, BC), The Dominion Photo Company (Vancouver), Richard H. Trueman (R.H. Trueman & Co., Vancouver), E.F. Tucker, and Leonard Frank. There are a small number of photos taken by Charles Camsell of the Geological Survey of Canada, 1911, so it is possible others were taken by federal government employees.

Subjects include a very wide range of industrial and cultural activities and geographic features. These include: mines and mining operations and equipment; mining camps, prospectors, miners' houses, powder magazines, first aid teams, fire brigades, mine rescue squads and stations; immigrant workers; refineries, smelters, coke ovens, concentrators, brickyards, slag dumps and tailings; railways and rail trestles; boats, scows, ships, and dredging; landscape and terrain features including rivers and mountain ranges; mining industry towns, schools, hospitals, hotels, churches, government offices and wireless offices; First Nations activities and culture, including totem poles, grave sites, and villages; whaling and whaling stations; horse pack trains, Hudson's Bay Company posts; and conferences and congresses attended by Bureau of Mines staff.

Many of the photos are annotated with directions for the printing/publication process. Many are pieced together to create panoramas. Some albums have accompanying individual indexes and some have been indexed in the master alphabetical index.

Container No. Photograph Album
001302-0001 -- Bureau of Mines photographs miscellaneous album, H.T. Nation [album misc. B] ca. 188-?-1919
001302-0002 -- Bureau of Mines D : photographs ca. 189-?-1917
001302-0003 -- B.C. Bureau of Mines [E] miscellaneous photographs compiled from October 1927
001302-0004 -- 1895 Bureau of Mines
001302-0005 -- 1896 Bureau of Mines
001302-0006 -- Bureau of Mines, 1897-1898
001302-0007 -- Bureau of Mines photos 1898, 1899, 1900
001302-0008 -- Dept. of Mines, 1901, 1899-1901
001302-0009 -- Bureau of Mines 1902
001302-0010 -- Bureau of Mines, 1903, Victoria, B.C., 1903-1904
001302-0011 -- Photographs : 1905
001302-0012 -- Peace River and other trips in 1906 by W.F. Robertson and H. Carmichael, 1906
001302-0013 -- 1907 Bureau of Mines, Victoria B.C., 1906-1907
001302-0014 -- 1908 photos by Bureau of Mines, Victoria B.C., 1908-1909
001205-0001 -- Bureau of Mines photos collected during 1909
001302-0015 -- Odd photos collected in the Provincial Mineralogist's office, entered Nov. 1910
001302-0016 -- Summer trip of the Provincial Mineralogist to the Bulkley and Telkwa Rivers and the Slocan Mining Division, 1911; 1934
001302-0017 -- Provincial Mineralogist trip to Cassiar, 1912, 1911-1912
001302-0018 -- Photos for 1913 report, taken by W.F. Robertson, B.G. Forbes, W.M. Brewer, J.D. Galloway
001302-0019 -- Photographs taken in 1914
001302-0020 -- Dept. of Mines album 1915
001302-0021 -- Photographs : Dept. of Mines album 1916
001302-0022 -- Photographs : Bureau of Mines 1917-1918-1919
001302-0023 -- Photographs : Bureau of Mines 1920-21
001302-0024 -- Photos received at the Bureau of Mines during 1921 & 1922, compiled by Harold T. Nation
001302-0025 -- 1923 current photos, Bureau of Mines, 1920-1925
001302-0026 -- Dept. of Mines album : photos 1925 continued, 1926, 1925-1926
001302-0027 -- Bureau of Mines photographs 1926 (continued), 1927, 1922-1928
001302-0028 -- Bureau of Mines, Victoria, B.C. misc. photos, compiled by Harold T. Nation, 1927 [misc. album C], 1895-1927
001302-0029 -- Bureau of Mines photographs, 1926-1930, 1966
001302-0030 -- Dept. of Mines album 1930, [ca. 1930-1936]

The series consists of photographs (negatives and a small number of prints) created by the offices of the Bureau of Mines and the Mineral Survey between 1895 and 1937, and by the Mineralogical Branch between 1937 and 1945.

The series includes a 1938 memo which indicates that selected photographs were to be used or had been used in the department's published bulletins and in its Annual Report of the Minister of Mines. Photographers include the following government mineralogists, geologists, and mining engineers (followed with dates of photographs): William Fleet Robertson, Provincial Mineralogist, (photos 1898-1908); Herbert Carmichael, Assistant Mineralogist (1901-1904); F.W. Valleau, Gold Commissioner and Mining Recorder in the Omineca Mining District (photo 1901); Harold T. Nation (photos 1903-1926); Newton W. Emmens (1914); Joseph T. Mandy, provincial government resident mining engineer for the Atlin district (photos 1926-1945); Douglas Lay, Resident Mining Engineer (photos 1906-1940); Matthew S. Hedley (photos 1936-1939); Stuart S. Holland (photos 1939-1941); J.S. Stevenson (photos 1938-1942); H.S. Sargent (photos 1936-1941); R. Maconachie (1938-1940) and John D. Galloway, Provincial Mineralogist.

A small number of photographs were collected from private sources, including professional photographers. Some are attributed to the British Columbia Provincial Police. Approximately 50 per cent of the photographs are not attributed to a photographer.

Subjects include: mines, collieries, quarries, mineral veins and specimens; mining crews, equipment and operations; prospectors and placer mining activities; coke ovens, mills, smelters, concentrators and cement works; towns, modes of transportation; topographic features such as mountains, lakes, rivers, creeks. The photographers also captured a very wide range of subjects concerning British Columbia cultural and social history. Examples of this are First Nations activities and culture, including graveyards and bridges built by First Nations. The numbering system runs from 1 to 993. A single number may represent a series of photos on the same subject (for example: 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d).

The series consists of records created by the Cassiar Gold Commissioner between 1873 and 1931. It includes correspondence outward, mining and water records and photocopies of gold commissioner's court records originally created 1876-1888.

Two volumes of news clipping books, the first from 1941-1943 arranged chronologically; the second, from 1947-1951 arranged alphabetically, mainly by settlement or location, but occasionally by subject. The clippings cover most aspects of mining, including petroleum and coal, such as exploration, operation, demand, labour relations, taxation, war effort and production.

The series consists of 14 volumes of clipping books created by the Dept. of Mines and Petroleum Resources, and its predecessor bodies, between 1910 and 1966 (with gaps).

The volumes contain newspaper clippings regarding mining legislation, exploration and companies and are partially indexed.

Indexed clippings regarding mining legislation, exploration and companies.

This series contains official correspondence, reports, and related papers of Premier John H. Turner. Records include correspondence pertaining to provincial railway charters (1893-1897), agriculture, and mining; also includes B.C. Agent-General's Report (1895), applications for employment, and miscellaneous letters.

Papers in this series are those of the Honourable John Herbert Turner (1833-1923), premier of British Columbia from 4 March 1895 to 8 August 1898. Since Turner's administration was characterized by rapid industrial development (notably in railways, mining, and agriculture), and by no little political controversy, his official papers are especially valuable.

Most of the reports and correspondence in GR-1197 originated while Turner was the province's chief minister and, as such, they have been included in the archive's collection of Premier's Papers. As will be seen, though, some of the papers pertain to Turner's tenure as Minister of Finance and Agriculture, a portfolio he held from 1887 to 1898.

GR-1197 may be regarded as a supplement to GR-0441 (British Columbia - Premier: 1883-1933), Series II, volumes 2-13, which also contains official correspondence of Premier Turner. Researchers may find that Volume 354 of GR-0441 (Index to Official Correspondence, 1895-1897) will assist them in locating other related records.

This series consists of draft reports and statistics created by the Department of Mines from 1902-1903. The records were likely used for the creation of the Department report in the 1902 sessional papers. The records include various statistics, including the production of coal and other minerals at mines around the province.

This series consists of press releases, articles, speeches and other public reports created from 1932-1943. The majority of the records were created by the Minister of Mines and Deputy Minister of Mines. The records relate to all aspects of the departments work and mining in BC generally. This includes: statistical reports on provincial mining production outputs, particularly coal; the history of mining in BC; the history of the Dept. of Mines; announcements and comments on the opening or closure of mines; biographical information of department executive; considerations on the future of mining in BC; and the discussion of various issues impacting the mining industry.

This series consists of Dominion regulations regarding land, water, forests mineral resources, public roads and soldier settlement in the Railway Belt and Peace River Block of British Columbia. Consists of Dominion Orders-in-Council , 1887-1927, arranged chronologically (Box 1) and copies of legislation, published regulations and handbooks, 1922-1930 (Box 2).

Draft of Miner's licence form of [Colony of Victoria], with amendments to suit Colony of British Columbia.

This series contains administrative and subject files relating to natural resource development and environmental policies. Includes correspondence, memoranda, reports, briefs, etc. The records were created by the Environment and Land Use Committee Secretariat, the administrative and support staff assigned to the Committee. The records were created from 1972-1980 and relate to all aspects of business conducted by the Committee, including land use decisions across the province.

The collection comprises 21 films shot or produced between 1931 and 1949, mainly by the Photographic Branch of the British Columbia Government Travel Bureau. It includes prints of ten early BCGTB productions -- one silent and nine with sound -- as well as some reels of silent miscellaneous footage shot by the BCGTB. The completed BCGTB productions include travelogues about Vancouver Island, Qualicum, the Fraser Valley, the Okanagan Valley, the West and East Kootenays, the Bulkley/Skeena Region, and the route of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, as well as films about BC's mining and tourism industries. Other reels show activities of the Canadian Scottish Regiment, based in Victoria; the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco (1939); military parades in Victoria during World War Two; and outdoor activities such as hunting, skiing and trail riding.

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.

This series consists of a ledger and general record book, 1859-1871. The creator of the volume is not clear, but was likely the Government Agent who worked in or around Lytton. The volume was used for several purposes overtime. It includes the following types of information: list of pre-emptions for Lytton City; mining licences, free miner's certificates, liquor licences, trading licences, garden plots and ground rentals from the Lytton area (Fraser Canyon to Kamloops); records of miners and storekeepers occupying Crown land as garden plots and residences throughout the Fraser Canyon area; copies of bridge toll agreements and ferry operation contracts for places on the Fraser River, Thompson River, Nicola River, Savonna's ferry, Anderson River and Bridge River.

This series consists of records of the Department of Lands and Forests, Lands Service, primarily relating to leases of Crown land for various purposes. Records include cancelled or expired leases for oyster beds (including leases by the Government of Canada), hay meadow, summer resort, stone quarry, mill, coal mining, grazing, agriculture, cattle ranching, and pastoral purposes. This series also includes final agreements for sale and purchase under Soldier's Better Housing Scheme for City of Victoria lots (includes rebate applications and discharge certificates) and licences of occupation.

This series consists of land use committee files created by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources from 1981-1986. These copies of the committee files were created and used by the representative from the Ministry’s Petroleum Resources Division. The series includes records of three committees: the Ministry wide Land Use Committee as well as two subordinate committees, the Land Use Coordinating Committee and the Omineca-Peace Regional Resource Management Committee (RRMC).

The records cover a wide variety of issues. The primary objective of the committees was to establish a ministry position for presentation to the Environment and Land Use Committee (ELUC) of Cabinet. This included the creation of a ministry wide land use policy and procedures.

Other issues referenced in the series include: the review and approval of land use projects, including energy or mining projects within the ministry and providing feedback on projects from other ministries such as forest uses or the creation of new parks; creation of protocol agreements with other ministries to address conflicting land use requirements; reviewing the provincial land use strategy; investigating legal issues such as surface and sub-surface rights; reviewing recreation corridors and changes to parks; and establishing mine guidelines.

Records include meeting minutes, agendas, correspondence, reports, research, cabinet submissions, policy documents, and maps. Many of the records are copies sent to all committee members for reference.

The records are arranged by committee, then chronologically by meeting date. The records were transferred under one time schedule number 880193.

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.

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.

The fonds consists of correspondence and diaries of Marshall Bond. It also includes copies of Bond's photographs.

The fonds consists of over 2000 b&w and colour photographs created by Mathew Hedley between 1938 and 1984. The photographs are predominantly images of family and friends, landscapes and trees but there are also photographs of mining activities within British Columbia.

There are four negative albums: A, B, C and D (1013 negatives) and two albums of contact prints made from the negatives and glued onto lined paper and identified as being from negatives albums A, B, C or D (945 prints). The missing prints tend to be duplicate images or poor quality negatives. These photographs were taken between 1938 and ca. 1963 and document both the public and private activities of Mathew Hedley. Included with the prints is some index information supplied by Ian Hedley in 2012.

There are also three files of colour slides taken between 1961 and 1984. The files are entitled "Victoria & Vancouver" (59 slides), "B.C. Interior" (28 slides) and "Best pics" (95 slides). The images depict family, landscapes and trees. Most of the slides are numbered and many have place and date information. There are two lists created around 1984 by Mathew Hedley which provide some details about the slides, the lists are arranged by subject and roughly by slide number.

The records also includes four compact discs created by Ian Hedley in 2012. The discs contain selected images from the albums and slides. Not all the material represented in these discs has been donated to the BC Archives, so these are provided for reference purposes only.

This series consists of mine development assessment process files for coal and metal mine projects from 1974-1986. The records relate to the review and approval of proposed mining projects in BC. They document the determination of legal conditions under which companies may build and operate major mines. This process was called the mine development review process. The records show the ways that different projects were treated and provide evidence of a company’s level of compliance with their agreed development conditions.

Some of the early records were created by the Environmental and Land Use Committee (ELUC) of Cabinet. After around 1979, the majority of records are created by either the Coal Guidelines Steering Committee (CGSC) or the Metal Mines Steering Committee (MMSC). These committees were primarily part of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, but worked with the ELUC and other ministries to approve projects.

Projects may be reviewed by the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Forests, Ministry of Lands, Ministry of Transportation and Highways, Ministry of the Provincial Secretary, Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Health and federal bodies such as Environment Canada.

Companies may have been required to conduct research and provide reports on potential impacts of the project in compliance with the guidelines for coal development or procedures for obtaining approval of metal mine development

The assessment process involved consideration of many factors in developing a mine. Potential issues include: water management; acid generation; fish and wildlife impacts; air pollution; air monitoring; waste management; geotechnical impacts; ground and surface water impacts; pollution control; permit acquisition; radioactivity assessment; reclamation plans; road construction; heritage impact assessments; public opinions; and socioeconomic impacts on nearby communities.

Records include correspondence, policy, procedures, meeting minutes, reports, maps, newspaper clippings, photos, reports and technical data. Many records are copies of originals which were provided to multiple committee members for reference.

The records are divided into several groups: Metal Mines Steering Committee files, coal files, southeast coal projects, northeast coal projects and Coal Guidelines Steering Committee records. Within these groupings, files are arranged alphabetically by the name of project.

The records are scheduled under one time schedule 880049.

Series consists of photographs created or acquired by the Resource Management Branch of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources and its predecessor bodies, between 1929 and 1991. Most of the photographs are glued onto pages that formed an appendix to an inspection report. These appendices were separated from the reports and stored separately. The original reports may still be with the Ministry. Researchers should also compare them to the Ministry of Mines annual reports. In addition to the appendices, which often include captions and other accompanying material, the files contain hundreds of loose photographs, including prints, negatives, slides and polaroids in both colour and black and white. The photographs are of mines throughout British Columbia and include aerial views, mine rescue teams, machinery and equipment, reclamation work, bridges and roads and dangerous occurrences and accidents. The series also includes portions of the inspection reports and other accompanying textual information.

This series consists of administrative records related to the Mineral Development Agreement. Records were created or used by the Mineral Policy Branch and Geological Survey Branch of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources from 1984-1990.

The Mineral Development Agreement was a subsidiary agreement part of a larger Economic and Regional Development Agreement made between the BC government and Canadian government. The agreement was intended to coordinate the two government’s efforts to strengthen and diversify the mineral industry in BC. The agreement outlined what programs and responsibilities each government had for managing and developing mineral resources in the province, including surveying and exploration. Records relate to the creation, implementation, administration and evaluation of this agreement.

Records include minutes, correspondence, financial records, forms, reports, and final and draft agreements.

Records selected for permanent retention under the Administrative Records Classification Schedule.

The collection consists of records generated by Donald (interviewer) and Glen Treilhard (photographer) during their oral history project in 1983. Both were post-secondary students at the time and received grants from the Canada Council and the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. The Treilhards interviewed and photographed 39 Canadian miners in British Columbia, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. The collection includes 60 audio cassette tapes of interviews with the miners, a duo tang with project details, an index, an itinerary and interviewee list, photo and tape release forms from the interviewees and transcripts of the interviews. Audio tapes are arranged by geographical location and by date. There is also a small notebook listing the slides which are itemized by geographical location, roll number, slide number and subject. There are approximately 820 colour slides of the interviewees, their places of work and scenic views of the geographical regions through which the Treilhards travelled. There appear to be some slides listed in the index that are not in the slide binders, as well as some slides that are in the binders and that are not listed in the index. There is also a list stapled to the inside cover of the small notebook indicating which slides the Treilhards used in their project.

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.

This series consists of a variety of bound volumes related to the administration, management and alienation of land in the New Westminster land district from 1858-1980. The records were primarily created by the provincial Government Agent and the Dominion Land Agent stationed in New Westminster. The records have been arranged into the following subseries:

1. Indexes and maps.

The indexes cover many of the homestead files in GR-4121, by file number and alphabetically by name of the homesteader or licensee. There are two volumes of reference maps for various municipalities, sub-divisions, right-of-ways and townships.

2. BC government land registers : district lot system

Variations of this system of surveying land were used from 1859 onwards. All of these volumes appear to have been created and maintained by the BC government. The registers list the lots in numerical order and record the alienation of land from the Crown by purchase, pre-emption, lease, mineral claims, timber use, etc. Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books. There is an alphabetical name index in most volumes. The registers cover range 1 Coast District, range 4 Coast District, Yale Division Yale District (YDYD) country lands, Texada Island District, Point Grey townsite, Powell River townsite, Hastings townsite, and New Westminster District group 1, group 2 and 3 group 3.

3. BC government land registers : township system

Variations of this survey system were used from 1873 to approximately 1912. All of these volumes appear to have been created and maintained by the BC government. The land entered in the majority of the volumes was surveyed and made available for settlement in 1873 and 1874. The registers list land in numerical order by Sections within Townships and record the alienation of land from the Crown by purchase, pre-emption, lease, etc. Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books. There is an alphabetical name index in most volumes. The registers cover New Westminster District townships 1 to 50 with some townships missing.

4. Dominion government : general land registers

These volumes were likely created by the Dominion Land Agent. It appears that at least some records were copied from provincial records to determine what land had been alienated before the transfer of the Railway Belt and what Crown land still needed to be managed by the dominion government. The registers, arranged by legal description, indicate the nature of the grant, the number, date of entry, file number, patent approval date, and name of grantee. The registers cover various townships in the New Westminster District and various lots throughout the Hope district, Yale district, Kamloops district, town of Hope, town of Yale, and Boston Bar.

5. Lease registers

These volumes were created in the New Westminster government agent's office. They record leases for a variety of purposes including: quarry, campsite, booming ground, agriculture, foreshore, forestry, and grazing. Many volumes are indexed and may include file numbers linking to GR-4121.

6. Pre-emption records

These records were created by the BC government. Pre-emption was a system of obtaining title to unsurveyed land (similar to the Dominion "homesteading" system) which occurred until 1970. Individuals could purchase land which had not been fully surveyed. However, grants to these lands were not issued until the applicant had made specified improvements, passed inspections, satisfied residency requirements, and had the lands fully surveyed. Records include certificates of improvement for the Vancouver Divisions of the New Westminster District and Coast District; certificates of pre-emption for the New Westminster District and Vancouver Division; and registers of pre-emption records.

7. Land purchase records

These records were created by the BC government. Once land was surveyed, it could be purchased outright instead of being pre-empted. These records include certificates of purchase for the New Westminster District.

8. Mining records

The majority of these records were created by BC Government Agents, Gold Commissioners or Mining Recorders. Records include mineral claim minute books, records of conveyances, bills of sale, applications for mineral lands and petroleum and natural gas leases, and coal applications. Records are from the New Westminster District, Hope and Yale. Most volumes include an alphabetical index and some may include references to file numbers in GR-4121.

9. Range and timber records

These records were created by the dominion and BC governments. Records include range leases, grazing leases and information on timber berths.

10. Water licence applications

These records are water licence applications created by the BC government.

11. Cancellation records

Cancellation registers created by the BC and Dominion governments. Some volumes include alphabetical indexes and have file numbers related to GR-4121.

12. Financial records

Various financial records created by the Dominion government and BC Government Agents. Records include Dominion crown timber financial statements; form J (cash books) created by Government Agents documenting their expenses and fee collection, such as the sale of marriage licences; and a land revenue return of payments from the central Victoria land office.

13. Other land administration records

Includes dominion created applications for patents and homestead inspectors instructions, as well as BC Government Agent books recording lands resumed under Soldier’s Homestead Act, Crown granted mineral claims which have reverted to the Crown for non-payment of taxes, and surveyed lands open for use.