Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Victoria, Saanich & New Westminster Railway Company fonds
General material designation
- textual record
- cartographic material
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on the contents of the fonds
Level of description
Fonds
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1881-1891, predominant 1889-1891 (Creation)
- Creator
- Victoria, Saanich and New Westminster Railway Company
Physical description area
Physical description
65 cm of textual and cartographic material
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Victoria, Saanich and New Westminster Railway Company began operations in August 1888 with the first meeting of the Board of Management. The company was formally incorporated on 20 March 1889 by a private bill in the Parliament of Canada. Having failed to begin construction on the railway within the designated two year period, as stipulated by the Railway Act, the company was re-incorporated in 1891. The aim of the company was to construct a rail and ferry link between Victoria and New Westminster, which would depart Vancouver Island from Swartz Bay and arrive on the mainland near Canoe Pass. The Victoria terminus station was envisioned to be located on Section 48, Victoria District, on Cedar Hill Road. The company failed to secure the necessary funding and did not complete any portion of the construction. Although the dissolution date of the company is not known, based on the business records, the company appears to have ceased operations around 1891.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of the business records of the Victoria, Saanich & New Westminster Railway Company (VS&NW). The records document the failed attempts of the company to construct a rail and ferry link between Victoria and New Westminster and consist of meeting minutes, correspondence, financial records, lists of share holders, maps, by-laws, and various other business records. The records document exchanges between the company and engineers as well as the company and different levels of government (municipal, provincial, and federal), specifically in the company's attempts to secure funding. Amor de Cosmos was the founder of the company, however John Stuart Yates, the secretary, appears most frequently throughout the records.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Donated to BC Archives in 2020.
Arrangement
The records came to BC Archives in one large metal trunk with no discernible order. Documents kept together within envelopes have been maintained together either by individual folder, enclosed in acid free paper, or by paperclip. The records have been arranged by archivist roughly by type, but no hierarchical structure has been imposed. Maps were loose among records and have been separated according to storage requirements.
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
There are no access restrictions
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Records are in the public domain
Finding aids
A file list is available:
Associated materials
Accruals
General note
Accession number: 2020.70
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- de Cosmos, Amor, 1825-1897 (Subject)
- Yates, James Stuart (Subject)