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Archival description
Only top-level descriptions Railroads--British Columbia
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Donald MacLachlan fonds

  • PR-2303
  • Fonds
  • 1886-2011

The fonds consists of records documenting the professional and personal life of Donald MacLachlan. The predominant theme of the records is MacLachlan's involvement in the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, its history, operations, and advocacy when threatened with closure. The records contain textual material, photographs and plans, maps and drawings both created and collected by MacLachlan.

MacLachlan, Donald F.

Transportation minister correspondence

  • GR-3665
  • Series
  • 1993-2006

Series consists of correspondence between members of the public and the Ministry of Transportation between the years 1993-2003. The majority of the correspondence consists of letters from the public sent to the Minister of Transportation. The letters deal with various forms of transportation including automobiles, ferries, marine, railroads, transit, pedestrian and cycling. The subjects include the condition and maintenance of transportation infrastructure including highways, roads, sidewalks, bridges and ports and sidewalks. Some of the letters relate to transportation issues that also fall under the jurisdiction of municipalities and the Federal Government.

When the ministry received these letters, the Correspondence Branch assigned a unique number to each letter in the ministry’s correspondence tracking database called Cliff. The branch would then research the issue, request information from ministry staff and draft a response. The draft response was then forwarded to the minister’s office who would review the letter and either sign it or return it to the branch for further revisions.

The files contain the letter from the public, notes and registration forms by the ministry, draft replies and a copy of the final response. Some letters were sent to the ministry with attachments such as reports, photographs, and videos.

The letters are arranged numerically by the Cliff number or by another number. The letters from 1993-1998 are arranged annually by a sequential number that begins at 1 at the beginning of each year.

There are gaps in the records. Some file folders were transferred to the archives empty. Between 1993 and 1997 the ministry often “batched” letters that are similar in nature. This is especially true for things such as petitions. During this same time they would also create separate files for letters that the ministry did not respond to. The file titles for these were labelled as “no response” or “FYI” in the file titles.

The records were classified by the ministry under 280-30 in the Administrative Records Classification System (ARCS).

The records were originally created by the following two ministries:

Ministry of Transportation and Highways (1993-2001)
Ministry of Transportation (2001-2006)

British Columbia. Ministry of Transportation and Highways

B.C. Rail Ltd. films and videotapes

  • GR-3356
  • Series
  • 1945, 1965, 1974-1987; predominantly 1974-1987

The fonds comprises 27 film or videotape titles produced by or for BC Rail Ltd. and its predecessors, the British Columbia Railway Company and the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE). The larger part of the material is 16 mm film, including original footage, printing elements, sound tracks and workprints and/or release prints for 19 productions. There are also 10 video titles, some of which duplicate the films. Other than two films made for the PGE in 1945-47 and 1964, most of the productons date from 1974-1987 and document the activities of BC Rail and the British Columbia Railway.. There are a number of training films produced for internal use, as well as films meant to promote the company. Many of the films were produced in the 1970s by Art Grinke, who was BC Rail's Supervisor of Audio-Visual Instruction.

BC Rail Ltd.

Railway account ledgers

  • GR-1720
  • Series
  • 1918-1984

The series consists of three financial ledgers created by the British Columbia Railway Company and its predecessor, the Pacific Great Eastern Railway Company, between 1918 and 1984. The ledgers contain financial records relating to road and bridge construction. The series also includes a 1919 publication created by the B.C. Department of Railways called general locomotive rules.

British Columbia Railway Company

Premier's records

  • GR-1414
  • Series
  • 1953-1972

This series contains official correspondence, reports, briefs to cabinet, articles and messages, etc. accumulated during W.A.C. Bennett's tenure as premier. It includes files on Dominion-provincial relations, civil defence, centennial celebrations, railways and major business corporations. Also includes copies of congratulatory letters sent to senior citizens by Bennett's successor, Premier David Barrett. Photographs transferred to Visual Records Division; maps, plans, and printed material transferred to Library and Maps Section. GR-1414 consists of a large number of records created and accumulated during the tenure of Premier William Andrew Cecil (W.A.C.) Bennett [1952-1972]. The records originally comprised the Central Registry of the Premier's Office. Included are letters from private individuals and business corporations, inter-departmental memoranda, copies of the premier's articles and messages, briefs to cabinet and other reports submitted for the premier's consideration. This unit also includes documents pertaining to Dominion-Provincial relations, as well as correspondence from federal politicians and foreign diplomats. The records, which comprise this unit, were transferred to the Provincial Archives from the Premier's Office in November 1982. Ten years earlier-following the defeat of Mr. Bennett's Social Credit government-the records had been consigned to a vault in the basement of the Parliament Buildings. Sometime later they were placed in cardboard boxes and removed to a builders' shed in the Parliament Buildings precinct. There they remained, apparently untended, until 1982 when they came to the attention of the Archives. When the records were transferred to the Archives a number of file folders were found to be empty. In most cases, the empty folders concerned cabinet ministers and the work of various government departments. Similarly, contemporary file lists [see Box 131, File 11] indicate that a number of folders were missing from the original series of files. No files marked "Anonymous," for example, were among the boxes received by the Archives, despite the fact that files containing anonymous letters inward were maintained over the years by the Premier's Office. Nor were any "Confidential" files included with the transfer, although they were part of the Premier's filing system. These files may have been removed when W.A.C. Bennett left office in 1972, or they may have been removed sometime after 1976 when W.R. Bennett became premier. [In her interview (taped in 1978) Mrs. Mylrea noted that Premier Bennett asked her to "go through" the correspondence files on 31 August 1972, the day after his party's electoral defeat. Mrs. Mylrea spent the next two weeks reviewing "every piece of paper in those files." "I did not find one thing that nobody else could have looked at" she related, "there was nothing that anybody need be afraid that anybody could see, opposition or otherwise." Nevertheless, some of the files were removed and were taken by Mr. Bennett to his Kelowna home. [SMID 3236:1-2, pp.16-17] Researchers should also note the absence of W.A.C. Bennett's constituency files in this collection. According to the premier's secretary, records dealing with the South Okanagan riding were maintained separately in the premier's Kelowna office. After his death in February, 1979, the Bennett family donated the records to the Simon Fraser University archives. [SMID 3236:1-1, p.17] Despite the absence of certain files, GR-1414 is a remarkably rich collection of executive records. The evolution of the Social Credit Party can be detected in many of the memos and reports in the collection; public attitudes towards government policies can be seen in much of the correspondence inward, while the province's economic growth can be discerned in files devoted to industrial development or to particular companies. Federal-provincial relations are also well documented, as are the activities of local chambers of commerce and sundry community groups throughout the province. Indeed, as a source of documentation for British Columbia in the 1950s and 1960s, GR-1414 is unrivalled.

British Columbia. Premier

Premiers' papers

  • GR-1222
  • Series
  • 1917-1952

This series contains official reports and correspondence accumulated during the administrations of Premiers Tolmie, Pattullo, Hart, and Johnson. It includes Departmental, General, and Federal files, plus separate series of documents on Pacific Great Eastern Railway (1917-1945). It also includes applications for employment, petitions, press releases, speeches, and vouchers.

The records which comprise this unit were stored for many years in a maintenance shop adjacent to the Parliament Buildings. Storage conditions were less than ideal and in 1982 arrangements were made with the Premier's Office' to transfer the records to the Provincial Archives. It was a signal event, for the records provide documentation on virtually all facets of provincial life over a thirty-five year period. Additionally, the documents which make up GR-1222 provide a valuable record of the administrations of Premiers Tolmie (1928-1933), Pattullo (1933-1941), Hart (1941-1947) and Johnson (1947-1952). The records fall into three main categories or series, namely Departmental files, Federal files, and General files.

British Columbia. Premier

Pacific Great Eastern Railway correspondence

  • GR-0876
  • Series
  • 1919-1951

This series consists of incomplete general Railway Department correspondence files, incoming and outgoing of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, 1919-1951. Files include topics on Vancouver-Squamish bridges, Car barge and transfer ferry, Directors records, personal freight accounts, Orders-in-council, Location surveys for the Quesnel-Cottonwood revision, Right of ways, Proposed changes of route, Completion of line at Cottonwood-Prince George, tariffs, water licenses and Squamish dock & harbor improvement.

British Columbia. Railway Dept.

Correspondence and other material

  • GR-1311
  • Series
  • 1946-1947

This series contains correspondence and briefs submitted to the Executive Council. It includes applications and appeals pertaining to the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, Seaboard Distributors Ltd., Blunden Harbour Land Company Ltd., and sundry miscellaneous organizations.

British Columbia. Executive Council

Lieutenant Governor's records

  • GR-0443
  • Series
  • 1871-1936

This series consists of papers of the Lieutenant-Governors of British Columbia. Includes transcripts of telegrams between Victoria and Ottawa, letterbook copies of official despatches outward (1871-1881), despatches inward from Governor General, Secretary of State, and Senior Naval Officer, Esquimalt (1871-1918), along with official correspondence from British Columbia government ministries and departments (1874-1919). Also includes miscellaneous, general, and semi- official correspondence inward, addresses, petitions, and memorials, (1872-1936). Records have been organized into five sub-series:

Letterbook copies of official correspondence outward (1896-1919) are on microfilm. Volume 5 (Feb - Dec 1902) and Volume 17 (1915) were missing at the time of filming. Date ranges correspond to the microfilm box labels.

Correspondence Inward: Despatches from the Canadian Government Secretary of State for the Provinces. Official correspondence from the Dominion of Canada to the Province of British Columbia. Files include minutes and reports of Privy Council, memoranda from the Colonial Secretary (London), and other government correspondence relating to British Columbia.

Miscellaneous correspondence inward. Variously entitled "All & Sundry", and "Tout le Monde", files include communications from Colonial Secretary (London) federal and provincial government officials, British consulates and embassies, and Lieutenant Governors of other provinces. Correspondence also includes petitions, memorials, and addresses, letters from private persons and circulars.

General Correspondence inward (I): Unlike volumes 58-65 above, general correspondence files include official despatches from Secretary of State, Ottawa, with official communications from BC government ministries and departments. Files include replies to correspondents.

General Correspondence (II) - Subject Files

British Columbia. Lieutenant Governor

Commission on the Pacific Great Eastern Railway records

  • GR-0799
  • Series
  • 1914-1924

This series consists of records of the Commission on the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, 1924. The records consist of letter patent appointing the commissioner, Provincial Secretary's correspondence file Pi 9/24 (which contains the petition requesting the inquiry), transcripts of evidence presented at proceedings and the commissioner's original signed report. Also included are several Provincial Secretary files, 1914, relating to the following railways: Canadian Northern, Canadian Northern Pacific, Kettle Valley, Pacific Great Eastern, and Dolly Varden.

British Columbia. Commission on the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (1924)

Ray Goodwin fonds

  • PR-2371
  • Fonds
  • [ca. 1900-1920]

The fonds consists of 128 photographs created by Ray Starr Goodwin. The photographs include pictures of Ray Goodwin and other members of the Goodwin and Green families of Kaslo, B.C. between ca. 1900 and 1920. There are images of Kaslo, of family members at home, at their summer camp at Beauty Beach on Kootenay Lake, camping at Greer's Beach (Kitsilano) and in Stanley Park, Vancouver.

There are also photographs of Kootenay Lake and other natural features around the Kootenay Lake and Kaslo area such as the Kokanee Glacier as well as photographs of steamboats, the Kaslo and Slocan Railway and various mines.

Goodwin, Ray Starr

Railway Department ledger

  • GR-1997
  • Series
  • [191?]

Ledger listing railways incorporated between 1890-1910 by the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia indicating railway names, Acts of Incorporation, head offices, directors, etc.

British Columbia. Railway Dept.

Surveyor General correspondence outward

  • GR-1812
  • Series
  • 1911-1918

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

British Columbia. Surveys Branch

Provincial Secretary correspondence

  • GR-0157
  • Series
  • 1913-1916

The series consists of correspondence, 1913-1916, that was originally a part of the Provincial Secretary's Central Registry. The records include grant applications from charitable organizations (e.g. Salvation Army Rescue and Maternity Home, Vancouver); petitions from various citizens groups and trades organizations (e.g. re: Pacific Great Eastern railway, prohibition, and Weekly Half Holiday Act); plus files on diverse topics such as the Belgian Relief Fund (which was administered by the Provincial Secretary), the Progress Club of Vancouver, the provincial coat-of-arms, prohibition, half-day closing, the Provincial Archives and W.W. Walkem's "Stories of Early British Columbia".

British Columbia. Dept. of the Provincial Secretary

Pacific Great Eastern Railway correspondence

  • GR-0818
  • Series
  • 1912-1915

This series consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence files, 1912-1915, between the Premier's Office and Railway Department relating to the Pacific Great Eastern Railway ("PGE exhibits, Sir Richard McBride's correspondence").

British Columbia. Railway Dept.

Public Works executive correspondence outward

  • GR-0075
  • Series
  • 1909-1915

The series consists of records created by the Minister of Public Works and includes semi-official correspondence outward relating to Public Works between 1909 and 1911 as well as semi-official correspondence outward relating to Public Works and Railways from 1911 to 1915.

The records are arranged in chronologically in 9 volumes. Volumes 1 to 5 are indexed.

British Columbia. Dept. of Public Works. Office of the Minister

Public Works executive correspondence inward

  • GR-0074
  • Series
  • 1909-1915

The series consists of records created by the Minister of Public Works and includes semi-official correspondence inward relating to Public Works between 1909 and 1911 as well as semi-official correspondence inward relating to Public Works and Railways from 1911 to 1916.

The records are arranged chronologically in 23 volumes.

British Columbia. Dept. of Public Works. Office of the Minister

Timber investigations files

  • GR-0946
  • Series
  • 1913-1915

This series consists of Forest Branch timber investigations and inspections files, 1913-1915. Records include correspondence and reports from Nelson, Prince Rupert, Vancouver and Vernon Forest Districts. Includes file on early logging railroads, Vancouver Forest District.

British Columbia. Forest Branch

Works Branch correspondence and other records

  • GR-1484
  • Series
  • 1902-1905

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.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works. Works Branch

Royal Commission to Inquire Into Charges Against James Dunsmuir and His Cabinet Respecting the Negotiation for the Canadian Northern Railway (1902)

  • GR-0734
  • Series
  • 1902

This series consists of transcripts of evidence presented at the hearings of the Royal Commission to Inquire Into Charges Against James Dunsmuir and His Cabinet Respecting the Negotiation for the Canadian Northern Railway, 1902.

British Columbia. Royal Commission to Inquire Into Charges Against James Dunsmuir and His Cabinet Respecting the Negotiation for the Canadian Northern Railway (1902)

Select Committee on Railways minute book

  • GR-0721
  • Series
  • 1888-1900

This series consists of a Minute book from the Legislative Assembly Select Committee on Railways, 16 Mar 1888 - 16 Feb 1900.

British Columbia. Legislative Assembly. Select Committee on Railways

Correspondence and other material

  • GR-1197
  • Series
  • 1893-1897

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.

British Columbia. Premier

Correspondence

  • GR-1306
  • Series
  • 1881

This series contains correspondence between Amor De Cosmos, as Special Agent to London, and others, respecting the Petition of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, to the Queen, on the subject of the Canadian Pacific Railway from March 22nd 1881 to August 31st 1881. The series includes a printed copy of B.C. legislature's petition to the Queen, along with a manuscript copy of the Canadian Pacific Railway memorandum on "Vancouver Island Railway," December 1881. De Cosmos' map showing CPR terminus at Port Moody, alienated railway land on Vancouver Island, proposed ferry routes, etc. were transferred to PABC Library & Maps Division under accession M889117.

British Columbia. Lieutenant Governor