Pre-emption--British Columbia

Taxonomy

Code

Scope note(s)

Source note(s)

  • GR and MS subject headings

Display note(s)

Hierarchical terms

Pre-emption--British Columbia

Equivalent terms

Pre-emption--British Columbia

Associated terms

Pre-emption--British Columbia

33 Archival description results for Pre-emption--British Columbia

33 results directly related Exclude narrower terms

Cariboo district land records

  • GR-1374
  • Series
  • 1861-1972

This series contains the records of the Gold Commissioner, Government Agent, and Assistant Land Commissioner, Cariboo District (Quesnel). The records consist of lot registers, certificates of purchase, certificates of pre-emption, registers of pre-emptions (canceled and allowed), registers of land applications and lands purchased, register of leaves of absence granted pre-emption on active service, minute books containing lot register of lands along the route of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, and registers of hay and pasture land leases. The series also includes townsite registers for Quesnel, Barkerville, and Wells and lot registers for some townships in the Peace River Block. Volumes 89-98 and 153-158 are oversize.

British Columbia. Cariboo Land District

Certificates of improvement : Cariboo District

Series consists of copies of certificates of improvement forms bound in a book. Each form lists the name of applicant for a pre-emption, the description of the property, and a signature stating that the property has been reviewed. Certificates are dates 12 Apr 1870 to 12 Dec 1873.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Certificates of purchase

  • GR-1521
  • Series
  • 1859-1944

This series contains acknowledgements of moneys received by the Lands Department pursuant to the pre-emption or sale of crown land. These certificates of purchase include district, legal description of land, acreage, date and terms of payment, name of payer, pre-emption record number, certificate of improvement number, crown grant number and departmental file numbers. The certificates are divided into four series.

SERIES 1. CERTIFICATES OF PURCHASE BY LAND DISTRICT, 1859-1913. Volumes have alphabetical indexes.
SERIES 2. CERTIFICATES OF PURCHASE, 1874-1890. TOWN LOTS AND MISCELLANEOUS DISTRICT CERTIFICATES. Volumes have alphabetical indexes.
SERIES 3. CERTIFICATES OF PURCHASE, SERIES 4. CERTIFICATES OF PURCHASE, 1907-1944. Vancouver Island certificate books.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands

Correspondence and memoranda

  • GR-1132
  • Series
  • 1895-1903

This series contains correspondence and memoranda of the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works with the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Nelson, regarding land disputes. File 1 contains correspondence relating to the disputed pre-emption claim of E.P. Dunn at Slocan City, 1895-1897. File 2 deals with a three-sided dispute over lands at Bonnington Falls between the City of Nelson; L.A. Campbell's application for a mill site (under the Mineral Act), and the West Kootenay Power and Light Company.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Correspondence and other material, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works

  • GR-1381
  • Series
  • 1863-1896

This series contains miscellaneous records of the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works. The records consist of correspondence, receipts, accounts, petitions relating to pre-emptions, ferries, roads, public works, leases, and tax assessments. Includes (1) Metchosin District assessment roll, 1863; (2) pre-emption correspondence with William G. Cox and Peter O'Reilly, 1865, 1869; (3) receipt book for rental of crown lands, including waterfrontage and timber cutting, 1868-1869; (4) indenture for ferry charter at Omineca, 1872; (5) accounts relating to roads and bridges 1872-1873; (6) an 1880 petition re the graving dock; (7) report on Thompson River Bridge, 1876, 1882; (8) an 1892 pre-emption of Allison, Carefoot and Cameron in Yale District; (9) copy of a letter re road to Montgomery Landing, Kootenay District, 1896.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Crown land pre-emption records

  • GR-0112
  • Series
  • 1859-1971

The series consists of pre-emption records created by the Lands Branch and its predecessor bodies between 1859 and 1971. The Chief Commissioner of Lands was responsible for the administration of Crown lands under successive governments (Colony of Vancouver Island, Colony of British Columbia, Province of British Columbia) until 1911. In 1929 the Minister delegated authority for Crown lands to the Lands Branch, headed by the Superintendent of Lands.

The series includes 216 volumes of certificates of pre-emption and 33 volumes of pre-emption registers. Some volumes contain certificates of Improvement and certificates of purchase.

Most of the volumes of certificates are arranged by district and then numerically by pre-emption number although there are many cases where individual documents from files are spread out throughout an entire volume. There are also some pre-emption numbers that are missing from volumes. One or more volumes cover the pre-emption registrations for each land district, and volumes 86-90 and 246-248 relate to railway lands on Vancouver Island, particularly in Cowichan and Nanaimo Districts (1884-1887). Pre-emptions were generally numbered sequentially based on the Land Act enforced at the time. Sequences can be found in the collection based on the Land Acts of 1860, 1870, 1874, 1875 and 1884. The New Westminster land district also includes a sequence based on rural or country land pre-emptions. Some land districts maintained the same numbering sequence throughout the entire time period. If no date is mentioned in the description, the sequence is based on the 1884 Act.

The pre-emption registers (volumes 213-245; microfilm reels B13858-B13860) summarize the information from the certificates. Each volume covers the pre-emption registrations for a district. The pre-emption registers are arranged in Lands Branch volume number order, volumes 1-27 (including three a volumes where two volumes are required for a district), followed by three unnumbered volumes that cover Fort St. John and Victoria. Each register lists pre-emptions in registration number order, with an alphabetical index of pre-emptors' names at the back. The following information is recorded: registration number, date of registration, pre-emptors name, lot number (not always recorded), acreage (for ca. 1915 on), certificate of improvement number (if issued), file number (sometimes), and remarks (either a code number, possibly accompanied by a date, or a phrase: cancelled, abandoned, or no application or declaration received). This information is hand-written in columns with printed headings.

British Columbia. Lands Branch

Crown Lands records

  • GR-1088
  • Series
  • 1877-1980

This series includes correspondence files relating to the administration, management, conservation and development of Crown lands and natural resources. Series 1: early chronological series (files created, 1877-1911). Series 2: 1912 series (files created, 1912-1917). Includes correspondence, memoranda, reports, plans, 1877-1980.

British Columbia. Surveys and Land Records Branch

Crown lands records

  • GR-0039
  • Series
  • 1874-1944

The series consists of records relating to the pre-emption, sale, and registration of land in New Westminster, Sayward, and Coast (Range 1-5) Land Districts, created by the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works and Vancouver District Land Commissioners, pursuant to the Land Act.

The records include pre-emption applications, 1887-1911 (11 vols.); certificates of pre-emption, 1884-1938 (57 vols.); certificates of purchase, 1874-1944 (95 vols.); registers of sales of unsurveyed lands, 1884-1911 (4 vols.); lot register, City of Vancouver, 1886-1892 (3 vols.) and a register of lot owners, Town of Granville, 1874-1884.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands

Governor Douglas correspondence

  • GR-0984
  • Series
  • 1859

This series consists of miscellaneous Governor James Douglas correspondence regarding the selection of site for capital and claim of land near Fort Hope, 1859.

British Columbia (Colony). Governor (1858-1864 : Douglas)

Kamloops Government Agent land records

  • GR-0522
  • Series
  • 1877-1977

The series consists of the business records, 1877-1977, of the office of the Kamloops Government Agent, including the records of several additional positions usually held by the same individual: Gold Commissioner, Mining Recorder, and Land Commissioner for the Kamloops Land District. The series also includes records of the Canadian Department of the Interior; most created and received by the Dominion Lands Agent at Kamloops as part of the administration of the Railway Belt.

Record types and subject matter include, but are not limited to the following: land alienation through pre-emption or purchase from the provincial government and homesteading or purchase from the federal government; a variety of leases of Crown land; other more general types of records; and records regarding Indigenous peoples and Indian Reserves.

Records related to land alienation include: applications for pre-emption records; land classification reports; forms completed by land inspectors of the Department of Lands Inspection Branch; declarations of occupation and permanent improvement on pre-emption claims; applications for homestead entry, cancellation, and abandonment; homestead Inspector’s reports; affidavits in support of an Application for Entry for a homestead, pre-emption or purchased homestead; land sales records including applications to purchase and certificates of purchase.

Records related to a variety of leases and other uses of Crown lands include: grazing leases; foreshore leases; dredging leases; indentures to reassign leases; special use permits; timber permits; water records including conditional water licenses, and permanent water licenses; applications for irrigation schemes; petroleum and natural gas leases; quarry leases; bar leases; coal leases; mining leases regarding surface and subsurface rights; applications for lease of crown-granted mineral claims; applications for placer leases under the Placer-Mining Act; and the lapse of a lease or forfeiture of a mineral claim to the Crown.

Other more general types of records include: correspondence regarding Crown grants; inquiries about land availability; surveyor’s reports; preliminary plans and correspondence for the surveys of townships; Soldier Settlement Board records including forms, correspondence and records of soldier land grants; attestation papers and discharge certificates; naturalization papers; personal correspondence; correspondence files on specific topics such as hay permit regulations or precipitation measurements; records regarding taxes; and business records of the office, including inter-department correspondence, circulars, and memorandum related to matters of land administration.

Files also exist for specific Indian Reserves, and can include correspondence; water records; surveys; and inspection reports created in the process of allotting new, and canceling existing Indian Reserves. Some files document instances of overlapping land use and conflict between settlers and Indigenous peoples on specific parcels of land.

Files are generally either correspondence files on a particular subject, or a variety of records related to a particular piece of land. Many files cover a wide time period and may be associated with multiple individuals or companies as land rights were often transferred to others or cancelled and reapplied for. Only the name of the first and last individual listed on the file is included in the file list. This means there may be additional names associated with files not included on the file list. The file list may also only include part of the legal description of land in cases where the description was exceptionally long, or included many different pieces of land. Single individuals may also have multiple files for each piece of land they are associated with.

Cartographic materials, consisting of blueprints and hand-drawn maps or plans, indicating the parcels of land relevant to the file, are commonly found throughout the records.

No file list or indexes were transferred with these records from the Kamloops Government Agent. Most files only included numbers with no clear names, so titles were created by the archives based on the contents of the files or by transcribing information on relevant file backs.

A fire on 17 September 1893 at the Dominion Lands Office in Kamloops destroyed some files. The contents for these files are marked [empty]. Files marked as [file back only] were likely destroyed in the fire, but then had their titles and some additional information transcribed by Lands employees onto file backs from letter books or other surviving records which were not transferred with these records.

British Columbia. Government Agent (Kamloops)

Lands records

  • GR-0767
  • Series
  • 1858-1863

This series consists of land records from the Colony of British Columbia Lands and Works Department, 1858-1863. Most records are related to the sale of town lots at Langley, 1858-1859, and New Westminster, 1860-1862, including records of exchanges of lots at Langley for lots at New Westminster. The series also include various other land records related to New Westminster, Douglas, Hope, Yale, Lytton and Lillooet, including pre-emptions, lot registers, accounts for sales of town and suburban lots, and lists of deeds issued.

British Columbia (Colony). Lands and Works Dept.

Letterpress reference books of surveyed land

  • GR-1058
  • Series
  • 1908-1914

This series contains letterpress reference books of surveyed land, usually including name of land holder and lot number. The entries are arranged by land district for each reporting date. These lists were published later as notices in the British Columbia Gazette. These books were used by the Dept. of Lands to record file numbers and other information concerning the process.

British Columbia. Surveys Branch

List of lands resumed by the Crown under B.C. Soldiers' Homestead Act, 1916

  • GR-1133
  • Series
  • 1916-1919

This series contains a list of lands resumed by the Crown under B.C. Soldiers' Homestead Act, 1916. Includes legal description and file references. Also contains an undated letter of John William McIntosh, Member of the Legislative Assembly, to the Deputy Minister of Lands regarding moneys owed on land by a wounded veteran.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands

New Westminster Land Commissioner files

  • GR-4121
  • Series
  • 1882-1978

This series consists of records related to the administration, management and alienation of land in the New Westminster land district from 1882-1978. The records were primarily created by the provincial Government Agent and the Dominion Land Agent stationed in New Westminster. The majority of these records are homestead files created by the dominion government. These files contain information about homesteaders, their applications and the process of obtaining title to land.

Record types and subject matter include, but are not limited to: land alienation through pre-emption or purchase from the provincial government and homesteading or purchase from the federal government; a variety of leases of Crown land; other general subject files; and records regarding Indigenous Peoples or Indian Reserves.

Records related to land alienation include: applications for pre-emption, purchase or lease; land classification reports; forms completed by land inspectors of the Department of Lands Inspection Branch; declarations of occupation and permanent improvement on pre-emption claims; applications for homestead entry, cancellation, and abandonment; homestead Inspector’s reports; affidavits in support of an Application for Entry; land sales records; correspondence with settlers and other government officials; patents; Crown Grants; certificates; forms; maps and plans; financial records including receipts and cheques; court records, such as probates; survey records; notices of sale or cancellation; and sale agreements.

Records related to leases and other uses of Crown land include: grazing leases; foreshore leases; dredging leases; special use permits; timber permits; timber berths; water licenses; applications for dyking schemes; campsite leases; oyster bed leases; right-of-ways (ROWs) through land for railways, roads, powerlines or pipelines; petroleum and natural gas leases; quarry leases; bar leases; coal leases; mining leases; and mineral claims. Other uses include government reserves, the establishment of parks, and the reservation of land for school sites or other public uses.

Other more general subject files include: inquiries about land availability; preliminary plans and correspondence for the survey and sale of townsites; Soldier Settlement Board records including forms, correspondence and records of soldier land grants; correspondence files on specific topics such as canal construction, the reclamation of Hatzic Lake, the draining of Sumas Lake and the establishment of fish culture and fish hatcheries; and business records of the office, including inter-department correspondence, circulars, and memorandum related to matters of land administration.

Files also exist for specific Indian Reserves, and can include correspondence; water records; surveys; and inspection reports created in the process of allotting new, and canceling or amending existing Indian Reserves. Some files document instances of overlapping land use and conflict between settlers and Indigenous peoples on specific parcels of land.

Files are generally either correspondence files on a particular subject, or a variety of records related to a particular piece of land. Many files cover a wide time period and may be associated with multiple individuals or companies, as land rights were often transferred to others or cancelled and reapplied for.

Only the name of the first individual listed on the file is included in the file list. This means there may be additional names associated with files not included on the file list. The file list may also only include part of the legal description of land in cases where the description was exceptionally long, or included many different pieces of land. Single individuals may also have multiple files for each piece of land they are associated with.

The series also includes some files related to land in the Yale Division and Kamloops Division of the Yale Land District; as well as the Lillooet Land District. These records were created in the offices of the Kamloops and Clinton Government Agents, but at some point became intermingled with the New Westminster records.

Maps, plans and sketches indicating the parcels of land relevant to the file are commonly found throughout the records.

British Columbia. Government Agent (New Westminster)

New Westminster Land Commissioner record books

  • GR-4122
  • Series
  • 1859-1980

This series consists of a variety of bound volumes related to the administration, management and alienation of land in the New Westminster land district from 1858-1980. The records were primarily created by the provincial Government Agent and the Dominion Land Agent stationed in New Westminster. The records have been arranged into the following subseries:

  1. Indexes and maps.

The indexes cover many of the homestead files in GR-4121, by file number and alphabetically by name of the homesteader or licensee. There are two volumes of reference maps for various municipalities, sub-divisions, right-of-ways and townships.

  1. BC government land registers : district lot system

Variations of this system of surveying land were used from 1859 onwards. All of these volumes appear to have been created and maintained by the BC government. The registers list the lots in numerical order and record the alienation of land from the Crown by purchase, pre-emption, lease, mineral claims, timber use, etc. Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books. There is an alphabetical name index in most volumes. The registers cover range 1 Coast District, range 4 Coast District, Yale Division Yale District (YDYD) country lands, Texada Island District, Point Grey townsite, Powell River townsite, Hastings townsite, and New Westminster District group 1, group 2 and 3 group 3.

  1. BC government land registers : township system

Variations of this survey system were used from 1873 to approximately 1912. All of these volumes appear to have been created and maintained by the BC government. The land entered in the majority of the volumes was surveyed and made available for settlement in 1873 and 1874. The registers list land in numerical order by Sections within Townships and record the alienation of land from the Crown by purchase, pre-emption, lease, etc. Information may include the name of the purchaser, dates and numbers of certificates issued (including Crown Grants), dates and amounts of payments, and reference numbers to correspondence files and field books. There is an alphabetical name index in most volumes. The registers cover New Westminster District townships 1 to 50 with some townships missing.

  1. Dominion government : general land registers

These volumes were likely created by the Dominion Land Agent. It appears that at least some records were copied from provincial records to determine what land had been alienated before the transfer of the Railway Belt and what Crown land still needed to be managed by the dominion government. The registers, arranged by legal description, indicate the nature of the grant, the number, date of entry, file number, patent approval date, and name of grantee. The registers cover various townships in the New Westminster District and various lots throughout the Hope district, Yale district, Kamloops district, town of Hope, town of Yale, and Boston Bar.

  1. Lease registers

These volumes were created in the New Westminster government agent's office. They record leases for a variety of purposes including: quarry, campsite, booming ground, agriculture, foreshore, forestry, and grazing. Many volumes are indexed and may include file numbers linking to GR-4121.

  1. Pre-emption records

These records were created by the BC government. Pre-emption was a system of obtaining title to unsurveyed land (similar to the Dominion "homesteading" system) which occurred until 1970. Individuals could purchase land which had not been fully surveyed. However, grants to these lands were not issued until the applicant had made specified improvements, passed inspections, satisfied residency requirements, and had the lands fully surveyed. Records include certificates of improvement for the Vancouver Divisions of the New Westminster District and Coast District; certificates of pre-emption for the New Westminster District and Vancouver Division; and registers of pre-emption records.

  1. Land purchase records

These records were created by the BC government. Once land was surveyed, it could be purchased outright instead of being pre-empted. These records include certificates of purchase for the New Westminster District.

  1. Mining records

The majority of these records were created by BC Government Agents, Gold Commissioners or Mining Recorders. Records include mineral claim minute books, records of conveyances, bills of sale, applications for mineral lands and petroleum and natural gas leases, and coal applications. Records are from the New Westminster District, Hope and Yale. Most volumes include an alphabetical index and some may include references to file numbers in GR-4121.

  1. Range and timber records

These records were created by the dominion and BC governments. Records include range leases, grazing leases and information on timber berths.

  1. Water licence applications

These records are water licence applications created by the BC government.

  1. Cancellation records

Cancellation registers created by the BC and Dominion governments. Some volumes include alphabetical indexes and have file numbers related to GR-4121.

  1. Financial records

Various financial records created by the Dominion government and BC Government Agents. Records include Dominion crown timber financial statements; form J (cash books) created by Government Agents documenting their expenses and fee collection, such as the sale of marriage licences; and a land revenue return of payments from the central Victoria land office.

  1. Other land administration records

Includes dominion created applications for patents and homestead inspectors instructions, as well as BC Government Agent books recording lands resumed under Soldier’s Homestead Act, Crown granted mineral claims which have reverted to the Crown for non-payment of taxes, and surveyed lands open for use.

British Columbia. Government Agent (New Westminster)

Pre-emption of Sara Julia McKinlay

Item consists of one letter written to Peter O'Reilly as a request to pre-empt land. Included in the letter is a hand-drawn map outlining her requesting pre-emption as well as the land pre-empted by Archibald McKinlay.

Pre-emption record files, Penticton

  • GR-1386
  • Series
  • 1920-1955

The series consists of a selection of pre-emption record files originally created by the Dept. of Lands Government Agent W.R. Dewdney, stationed at Pentiction. The selection is a random sample of 13 cm from the original ca. 2.5 metres of records and covers the period 1920 to 1955. The files contain correspondence and other information regarding land
pre-emptions in the Penticton area.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Forests

Pre-emption records

  • GR-1182
  • Series
  • 1860-1874, 1884

This series contains records relating to pre-emptions in the Cariboo, Lillooet, Lytton and Kootenay Districts recorded by various Gold Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners of Lands and Works. The records consist of correspondence, notices of claim, sketches and affidavits and pertains largely to records in the vicinities of Quesnel, Alexandria, Williams Lake, Lytton and Cache Creek. The series also includes a detailed account of town lot sales at Quesnellemouth held on 13 October 1863 as well as an application for wages due, correspondence on various land disputes, several water records, and proposed leases of government reserves.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Pre-emption registers

The series consists of registers of pre-emption claims to land in the Colony of British Columbia including the districts of Douglas, Hope, Lytton, New Westminster, Similkameen, and Yale. The series also includes pre-emption registers for other districts of the Colony.

British Columbia (Colony). Lands and Works Dept.

Record of pre-emption records cancelled in Barkerville Assessment District

  • GR-1142
  • Series
  • 1911-1923

This series include a summary of pre-emption records cancelled in the Barkerville Assessment District. The series contains one volume of a register that contains the name and number of the pre-emption record, the lot number and acreage, and the date and cause of cancellation.

British Columbia. Government Agent (Barkerville)

Records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Cariboo District

  • GR-0824
  • Series
  • 1863-1893

This series consists of 11 volumes of records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Cariboo District, 1863-1893. Records include certificates of pre-emption, certificates of improvement, lot register of Group 1, Cariboo District, sale of town lots of Richfield, Barkerville, Cameronton, and Quesnellemouth, and certificates of purchase. Also contains water rights recorded for irrigation purposes and an accounts book.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Lillooet District

  • GR-0827
  • Series
  • 1860-1874

This series consists of records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Lillooet District. Records include four volumes of pre-emption records. Volume 1, Records of Pre-empted Lands in the Lillooet District, nos. 1-330 (1860-1869); includes notices of water records nos. 1-114 (1865-1869) and later notices of cancellations and Crown grants. Volume 2, pre-emption claim certificates, nos. 331-418 (1870-1874, 1881). Volume 3, pre-emption claims, nos. 89-128 (1862-1863) consisting of sketches pasted into ledger of cash collected for road tolls, 1862-1865. Volume 4, preemption claims, nos. 20-88 (1861-1862), no. 120 (1863) and nos. 187-200 (1865-1866), including sketches.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Similkameen Division

  • GR-0825
  • Series
  • 1905-1920

This series consists of records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands, Similkameen Division, Yale District, 1905-1920. Records include two volumes of declarations for Certificates of Improvement, nos. 1-182 and 183-561. The declarations give a description of improvements made on preempted lands. Some certificates are from Osoyoos Division, Yale District. There is an index at the back of each volume. Some records may relate to Vernon and Fairview as well.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands

Records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Yale District

  • GR-0826
  • Series
  • 1859-1886

This series consists of the records of the Assistant Commissioner of Lands and Works, Yale District, 1859-1886. Records include five volumes of pre-emption records. Volume 1, nos. 1-392 (1859-1872); Volume 2, nos. 275-312 and 1-24 (1870-1871); Volume 3, nos. 25-279 (1871-1884); Volume 4, certificates of record of unsurveyed land, nos. 250-294 (1874-1885); Volume 5, certificates of record of unsurveyed land, nos. 292-295 (1883-1886). Volumes 1 and 4 have nominal indexes.

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Works

Results 1 to 30 of 33