The item is a microfiche copy of a thesis by Robert Edmund Groves titled "Business government: party politics and the British Columbia business community, 1928-1933." 1976. vi, 210 leaves: tables. Thesis (M.A.), University of British Columbia, 1976. Vita. Bibliography: leaves 207-210. Canadian theses on microfiche, 29850.

CALL NUMBER: T1865:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Frederick P. Burden : British Columbia land surveyor, 1902-1924 PERIOD COVERED: 1874-1924 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1959-10-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Born in New Brunswick in 1874. Working on a log drive in New Brunswick in 1880s. Taught for a time in New Brunswick. Graduated from UNB in 1900. Was good friends with A.H. Green, later a prominent B.C. surveyor. Comments on his days at UNB. Came to Nelson, B.C. in 1901. Became a B.C. land surveyor in 1902. Established the surveying firm of Green Brothers and Burden. Surveyed land near Fort George, 1910. Was a surveyor in Prince George, 1910-28. TRACK 2: Description of Fort George, ca. 1910. Wages and working conditions for survey crews. Railway boom in 1914. Construction on the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. Mills in the Fort George area. Flu epidemic of 1919. Burden is Conservative candidate in provincial election of 1924. CALL NUMBER: T1865:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Frederick P. Burden : Prince George, 1910-1931 PERIOD COVERED: 1885-1931 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1959-10-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Burden defeated in the 1924 provincial election by Harry Perry. Suspicious circumstances surrounding absentee ballots. Plans to build a pulp mill at Prince George in the 1920s: the Fraser Syndicate. The murder of Robert Tyhurst of the Syndicate. Power investigations for the proposed pulp mill. Burden's Prince George properties. The collapse of the Fraser Syndicate, 1931. Return to the topic of river drives on the St. John River, NB. TRACK 2: Repeat of side one from the end of the Robert Tyhurst story. River drives in New Brunswick. Odd dealings relating to Fort George Indian Reserve. Boats on the Fraser River. CALL NUMBER: T1865:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Frederick P. Burden : MLA and Minister of Lands PERIOD COVERED: 1910-1942 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1959-10-12 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: River boats on the Fraser and Nechako Rivers, 1911-14. Stories about Billy Seymour, local character and chainman for Burden. Running the Peace River with Billy Seymour. Billy Seymour's death.Consideration of potential power projects in the Central Interior. TRACK 2: Real estate and business dealings in early Prince George involving GTP Railway, George Hammond, Morley Phillips, Darcy Scott and others. Elected to B.C. Legislature in 1928. Becomes Agent-General in London, 1931-34. Orchard relates another anecdote told to him by Burden relating to his brief expulsion from UNB. (End of interview)

Gerald Grattan McGeer was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on January 6, 1888. Shortly afterwards, his parents, James and Emily McGeer, moved to Vancouver, where his father ran a dairy business in the Fairview district. McGeer attended school in Vancouver, leaving high school to apprentice as an iron moulder. When he completed his apprenticeship, he decided to become a lawyer. He articled as a law student in Vancouver and then attended Dalhousie University and was called to the bar of British Columbia in 1915. In 1917 he married Charlotte Spencer, the daughter of David Spencer of Victoria. They had two children, Michael and Patricia. In 1922 he was appointed King's Counsel. McGeer first ran for election in 1916, when he was elected Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly [MLA] for Richmond electoral district. He did not run in 1920; between 1925 and 1930 he contested three federal elections unsuccessfully: Vancouver Centre in 1925, Vancouver North in 1926 and Fraser Valley in 1930. In 1933 he was elected MLA for Vancouver Burrard. He resigned from the legislature in September 1935 to run in the riding of Vancouver Burrard in the federal election of that year. He was successful, and was re-elected in the same riding in 1940. He sat until the dissolution of the nineteenth parliament and was appointed senator on June 9, 1945. McGeer was also active in civic politics, twice being elected mayor of Vancouver, in December 1934 for the years 1935 and 1936, and in December 1946 for the years 1947 and 1948. McGeer made a name for himself in the early 1920s as counsel for the government of British Columbia during the province's attempt to have freight rates equalized. In the 1930s, he became interested in economics and monetary reform and wrote a book, The Conquest of Poverty, and a number of pamphlets and articles on the subject. He died in Vancouver on August 11, 1947.

The records include correspondence, subject files, speeches, manuscripts, published material and clippings. The correspondence files, which cover the years 1927 to 1947, are arranged in four groups: letters filed chronologically; letters filed by the name of the sender; letters received as mayor, 1935 and 1946-1947; and letters relating to the McGeer family. The chronological group contains a number of letters relating to McGeer's interest in economic reform, including some from Maynard Keynes. The letters relating to the family consists mainly of letters of condolence written to Mrs. McGeer at the time of McGeer's death. Additional correspondence will also be found in the subject files, which are generally composed of memos, reports, clippings and letters.

About 300 photographs were transferred to Visual Records accession 198207-007. Cartographic records, including maps of the Ripple Rock area, were removed from Box 13, Folder 6 and transferred to the map collection, Map Accession M89-029, map registration numbers 24105B, 24106B, 24107A, 24108A, 24109A and24110A. A number of books and pamphlets received with the records were transferred to the Legislative Library, and a list of pamphlets is in volume 22, folder 7. The Legislative Library transferred some of these pamphlets back to the BC Archives in 1994 and 1996.

The item consists of three tapes of an oral history interview with Percy C. Richards, former executive assistant to Premiers John Hart and Byron "Boss" Johnson. Richards provides character sketches of the premiers from his personal point of view. Recorded for use in the program "Portraits of the Premiers". Tape 1: Premiers Harlan C. Brewster, John Oliver, Dr. John D. MacLean, Dr. S.F. Tolmie, and T.D. Pattullo. Tape 2: Premier T.D. Pattullo. Richards was also a newsman for the Daily Colonist newspaper, assigned to the Legislative Press Gallery. Tape 3: Premier John Hart.

CALL NUMBER: T1203:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): B.C. Premiers : Brewster, Oliver, MacLean, Tolmie, Pattullo and Hart PERIOD COVERED: 1912-1960 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1977-03-16 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Percival Charles Richards discusses background: born 1904 in England; moved to Victoria, 1912; early career as a journalist in Victoria and California. Richards' experiences in Ethiopia ca. 1955-59 as the editor of that country's first free press newspaper. Richards' recollections of Premiers H.C. Brewster, John Oliver, John D. MacLean. TRACK 2: Richards' reminiscences of Premier Dr. S.F. Tolmie. Political consequences of the Depression of the 1930s. John Hart's problems as Minister of Finance in the Pattullo government. Anecdotes about John Hart and Duff Pattullo. The firing of Hart by Pattullo and the formation of the Coalition in 1941. Details about the formation of the Coalition government. Discussion of Richards' position on Hart's staff as a secretary cum executive assistant. More about the formation of the Coalition. Details about Richards' dismissal by the Bennett government. CALL NUMBER: T1203:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Personal reminiscence of Premier John Hart PERIOD COVERED: 1936-1952 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1977-03-16 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Richards discusses: his dismissal by the Bennett government; more on the formation of the Coalition, 1941; negotiations between Hart of the Liberals and Maitland of the Conservatives; the deluge of work for the new provincial government, 1941-42. Hart goes through a depressed period shortly after becoming Premier. Hart's dealings with the Eastern financial community. How Richards' came to; work for Hart in 1936. Personal reminiscences and anecdotes about John Hart. Hart's appearance. Hart's athletic abilities. TRACK 2: Hart was a perfectionist. Hart's generosity toward people around him. Hart's regular poker games at the Union Club. Hart was a voracious reader, especially about economics. Richards arranged many private dinners for Hart. Hart's personal background. CALL NUMBER: T1203:0003 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): A political reminiscence, 1936-1952 PERIOD COVERED: 1936-1952 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1977-04-21 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: The generosity of Premier John Hart as revealed in anecdotes. The civil service role of political secretaries. Anecdotes about protocol. Royal visits, 1951 and 1939. More on protocol. Pattullo government and the Rowell-Sirois Commission. Role of G. Neil Perry as a financial advisor. TRACK 2: Story about political relations between John Hart and W.L.M. King. Antagonism of the federal Liberals to the Coalition government. Duff Pattullo, John Hart and the 1940 federal-provincial conference. Hart cautious in his dealings with the press. Contrasts between Pattullo and Hart. The 1941 provincial election and the formation of the Coalition. CALL NUMBER: T1203:0004 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): The Coalition government, 1941-1952 PERIOD COVERED: 1941-1952 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1977-04-21 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Continuation of the discussion of the formation of the Coalition government, November and December 1941. Problems of Coalition government. Details about compromise within the Coalition. More about the formation of the Coalition, 1941. Pattullo in the period, 1941-45. Incident in which Anscomb criticizes Doug Turnbull, Minister of Health, in the 1951 budget speech. Richards contends that this should have been the end of the Coalition. The break-up of the Coalition, January 1952. Hospital Insurance problems for the Coalition. Hart offers Anscomb the opportunity of making W.A.C. Bennett a cabinet minister, ca. 1945. TRACK 2: More on the 1951 budget speech incident. Comments on Boss Johnson as a political leader. Highways and public works used as a political tool. Ernest Carson as Minister of Public Works. The Coalition against the "patronage" system. CALL NUMBER: T1203:0005 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Anecdotes about British Columbia politics in the 1920s and 1930s PERIOD COVERED: 1933-1947 RECORDED: Victoria (B.C.), 1977-05-05 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Description of Premier T.D. Pattullo. Comments on Pattullo's secretary/assistant, Ben Hethey. Richards becomes John Hart's personal secretary, 1936. The press and press gallery reporters in the 1920s and 1930s. Bruce Hutchison. [TRACK 2: blank; end of interview]

The item is a microfiche copy of a thesis by Ian Donald Parker titled "Simon Fraser Tolmie and the British Columbia Conservative party 1916-1933." 1970. iv, 208 leaves: tables. Thesis (M.A.), University of Victoria, 1970. Vita. Bibliography: leaves 180-191. Canadian theses on microfiche, 19154.

CALL NUMBER: T1691:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): William Watson Anderson : Department of Finance, 1913-1952 (part 1) PERIOD COVERED: 1891-1952 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Born in Scotland in 1891. Family background. Father in the newspaper business in Scotland. Stories of Anderson's boyhood in Scotland. Schooling. Immigration to Canada in 1908. Stories of the trip. First impressions of Canada. Family purchased property in Victoria shortly after arrival. Anderson's first jobs as a clerk. Anecdote about prisoners from the provincial jail. Comments on Victoria and Sidney Railway. TRACK 2: Worked for B. Wilson and Co., ice dealers. Selling ice in the Rockland area. Worked for Victoria Truck and Dray. Becomes an accountant, c. 1910. Joined the Department of Finance, 1913. Comments on the patronage hirings in the civil service. Patronage worse under Liberals than Conservatives. Anderson as secretary to the Deputy Minister of Finance, W.J. Goeppel. Comments about J.V. Fisher, later Deputy Minister. CALL NUMBER: T1691:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): William Watson Anderson : Department of Finance, 1913-1952 (part 2) PERIOD COVERED: 1913-1956 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1978 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Continuation of the story about J.V. Fisher. Working conditions within the public service. Tentative steps towards a public service union. Anderson in the Canadian Armed Forces during World War I. Anderson's war work as an air mechanic and bookkeeper. Bookkeeping innovations introduced by Anderson. Anderson went to work in the Sales Tax section, 1949. Brief comments on the Bennett government. TRACK 2: Anderson a member of the Canadian Legion and Masonic Order. Anderson peripherally involved in the "Police Scandal", 1942, which involved Premier John Hart. Anderson testified before an investigating committee. Anderson's family. (End of interview)