This fonds consists of records created by The Sisters of St. Ann over the approximately 160 years that they have operated in the West.
St. Joseph’s Province, as an organizational structure, was formed in 1891 and incorporated by the Province of British Columbia in 1892. Prior to that, the governing body of the Sisters of St. Ann in the west was primarily the Vicariate, and the Vicariate’s records and functions were absorbed by the Provincial Administration within St. Joseph’s Province. The Province encompassed all the western provinces and the two territories of Canada as well as Alaska and Washington State. The Administration was composed of the Provincial Superior or Leader, her secretary and Councilors, the Provincial Bursar or Treasurer, the Provincial Archivist, and at one time, the Prefect of Studies, Prefect of Music, Mistress of Novices, and Directress of Juniorate. In 2004 co-leadership roles were established, with two Sisters as co-leaders in 2004 and a triumvirate created in 2017. In 2019, St. Joseph’s Province was suspended and a new Local Community was founded.
As it was an intermediate form of government, the Provincial Administration raised issues with the General Administration on behalf of the local houses, but was free to act on its own within the constraints of the Constitution and Rules of the Sisters of Saint Anne, particularly with regard to dispensations, permissions, finances, and establishment or closing of ministries. The Provincial Administration of St. Joseph's Province has always been maintained in Victoria, B.C., as a separate juridical entity and until 1974, was housed at St. Ann's Academy in Victoria. After the closure of the school and the sale of the buildings, the administration was moved to Begbie House at 1550 Begbie Street, Victoria, B.C.
Recording activities, transactions, and persons has always been a policy with the Sisters of St. Ann and these are found in ledgers, registers, and forms throughout the fonds, particularly in the context of schools. There are files of correspondence relating to certain subjects or activities, reports and copies of reports made to counterparts in the General Administration and vice versa, minutes of meetings, chronicles (house journals), journals of official visitations, school records, records of Sisters' studies, and a great deal of miscellaneous reference, "orphaned", or ephemeral material.