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Only top-level descriptions Victoria (B.C.) Probate records--British Columbia--Vancouver Island
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British Columbia wills

  • GR-2009
  • Series
  • 1946-1981

Wills probated in British Columbia, numbers 46,022 - 236,339.

British Columbia. Supreme Court

Indexes to Victoria probate files and BC probated wills

  • GR-1417
  • Series
  • 1861-1988

The series consists of indexes to Victoria probate files and to probated wills in the Central registry.

The index serves two purposes because the Victoria court registry was responsible for maintaining the Victoria probate files and - until the late 1980s - kept the Central Will Registry for the Department of the Attorney General. The Victoria probate numbers (for files which are in GR-1304, GR-2083 and GR-3016) appear in the left-hand column under "papers". The will numbers (for wills found in GR-1052, GR-1574 and GR-2009) appear in the right-hand column of the indexes under remarks.

Users should note that index cards for the period 1982 to 1988 cover estates probated across the province, and provide the probate number, the registry where the estate was probated, and the central will registry number.

Notes regarding the Central Will Registry :

Until July 1986, all wills in BC were kept in a separate, central location, maintained by the Victoria Court Registry. When a person died, leaving a will, the will was submitted to a court registry for probate. Staff in that registry forwarded the original will to Victoria, where it was assigned a number in a sequence that included wills from all registries in the province. Copies of the wills were often kept in the probate files for working purposes. In some cases, however, wills were sometimes returned to the custody of the respective court registries. Researchers should keep this in mind if searching for an original will.

In July 1986, Vancouver, New Westminster, Nanaimo, Chilliwack, Penticton, Vernon, Kamloops, Prince George and Kelowna began to track their own original probated wills. All other registries continued to send their original probated wills to the Central Wills Registry in Victoria.

As of August 1998 each registry is responsible for their own wills.

British Columbia. Supreme Court (Victoria)

Letters of Administration granted to the Official Administrator

  • GR-1552
  • Series
  • 1890-1949

This series contains Letters of Administration granted to the Official Administrator for estates probated in the Victoria Court Registry in cases where the deceased died intestate or did not name an executor who was able to act, and the Official Administrator handled the probate process. Indexes to Victoria probate records are found in GR-1417.

British Columbia. Supreme Court (Victoria)

Letters of administration with will annexed

  • GR-2895
  • Series
  • 1915-1989

This series contains letters of administration with will annexed (Form B) from the Supreme Court of Victoria, from 1915-1989.

British Columbia. Supreme Court (Victoria)

Probated wills

  • GR-3669
  • Series
  • 1986-1999

The series consists of original probated wills from the Victoria court registry. The wills appear to have been deliberately removed from the original probate file and refiled in a second accession. Records in this series are arranged by probate number, an index to which is found in GR-3016. After the wills were removed from the original probate file, they were replaced with a photocopy.

For wills predating 1986, see GR-1052, GR-1574, and GR-2009, with an index in GR-1417.

British Columbia. Supreme Court (Victoria)

Victoria Supreme Court grants of letters probate

  • GR-3711
  • Series
  • 1946-1989

The series consists of both bound and loose grants of letters probate created by the Victoria Supreme Court between 1946 and 1989. Grants of letters probate were issued by the court system to grant authority to an estate’s executor/trix to administer the estate in question.

Grants of letters probate provide the name of the deceased, the date and place of death, the usual residence of the deceased, and the name of the executor.

The series is arranged by volume and folio, a system which is also broadly chronological. Grants are stamped with the volume and folio number, but also with the probate number of the deceased. An index to probate numbers can be found in GR-3016 (1950-2000) or GR-2083 (1941-1950).

British Columbia. Supreme Court (Victoria)

Victoria Supreme Court letters of administration

  • GR-1553
  • Series
  • 1876-1989

This series consists of letters of administration (Form C) from the Supreme Court of British Columbia, from 1876-1989.

British Columbia. Supreme Court (Victoria)

Victoria Supreme Court letters probate

  • GR-1551
  • Series
  • 1876-1946

This series contains letters probate from the Victoria Supreme Court.

British Columbia. Supreme Court (Victoria)

Victoria Supreme Court probate/estate files

  • GR-1304
  • Series
  • 1859-1941

This series contains probate files for estates probated in Victoria, ca. 1859-1941. The probate files from 1859 to 1917 are organized more or less alphabetically within date groups or ranges and have been numbered, sequentially, from 1 to 5307. From 1918 onwards, probate files were assigned numbers by year in the order of filing and are more or less in chronological order. The originals of files 1 to 5307 have been retained as well as being microfilmed. Files from 1918 onwards are only available on microfilm.

In addition to the file names provided in the finding aid, an index for this collection is also available on microfilm (see GR-1417, reel B01990). Reel B01990 should be used if a name is not found on the file list, as there are 103 missing files. If a will number is provided, it can be used to locate a copy of the will in GR-1052 or GR-1574.

British Columbia. Supreme Court (Victoria)

Victoria Supreme Court probate/estate files

  • GR-3016
  • Series
  • 1950-2007

Victoria Supreme Court probate/estate files, 1950-2007. See GR-1417 for index to files 761/1963 to 1606/1981.

NOTE: Microfilming was ongoing for many years so the date ranges for microfilm and originals given above may not be current.

File names are provided for 67/1950 to 760/1963. An index for 1963-1981 is available on microfilm (see GR-1417). This index can be found on Reels B11792 - B11794. If a will number is provided, it can be used to locate a copy of the will in GR-2009.

British Columbia. Supreme Court (Victoria)

Will registers

  • GR-1574
  • Series
  • 1939-1946

Wills probated in British Columbia, numbers 31,201 - 46,021.

British Columbia. Supreme Court