Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Returned Soldier's Aid Commission records
General material designation
- textual record
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on contents of series.
Level of description
Series
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)
-
1916-1920 (Creation)
- Creator
- British Columbia. Returned Solders’ Aid Commission
Physical description area
Physical description
2 m of textual records
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
Biographical history
The Returned Soldiers' Aid Commission (RSAC) developed from the Provincial Returned Soldiers Commission of British Columbia. The latter was formed by Order-in-Council on 29 November 1915 to deal with the provision of farm lands for settlement by returned First World War soldiers and sailors, the provision of academic, technical, and agricultural training for returned men, the establishment of province-wide bureaux to assist veterans seeking civilian employment, and the 'provision of a supply farm for use in conjunction with the Military Convalescent Hospital at Esquimalt, B.C.
The Returned Soldiers' Aid Commission worked closely with the Dominion government's Military Hospitals Commission, an agency which also assisted returned men. The Military Hosptitals Commission (which, in 1918, expanded to become the Department of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment) looked after a number of hospitals and convalescent homes in the province. These institutions were under the command of Colonel James Swan Harvey (1872-1932), a Nanaimo-born officer who was responsible for all demobilization in British Columbia and the Yukon.
The report was dated March 16, 1916, Dr. H. E. Young, LL.D., M.L.A., chairman. The Returned Soldiers' Aid Commission was re-organized by order-in-council in Nov 1919. The reorganized commission consisted of twelve members, with the Provincial Secretary (the Hon. J.D. MacLean) as Honorary Chairman. Over seventy local committees directed by provincial and federal government officials and by representatives of various veterans' organizations, were also established at this time to help demobilized servicemen throughout the province. Until the RSAC was closed in 1929, it provided aid to veterans and aid to dependents of those who gave their lives during the Great War of 1914-1918.
Custodial history
Transferred from Topaz Avenue in 1975.
Scope and content
The series consists of records created by the Provincial Secretary between 1916 and 1920, in his capacity as chairman of the British Columbia Returned Soldiers' Aid Commission. Appointed by Order-in-Council on 29 Nov 1915, the Commission was established to help with the resettlement of soldiers, sailors, and airmen who had served in the First World War.
The records include daily orders issued by Col. J.S. Harvey, Commander of Unit "J", Military Hospitals, No. XI District Depot Casualty Company and Hospital Section (Victoria, B.C. and Hastings Park, Vancouver, B.C.). The series also includes lists of B.C. men who served in the armed forces of Canada and Great Britain during the First World War. The lists are arranged by servicemen's former civilian occupation.
The records are arranged into two subseries:
A. Daily orders
B. Lists
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
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
Finding aids
Finding aid: box/file list. http://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Document/Finding_Aids_Atom/GR-0001_TO_GR-0500/gr-0126.pdf
Associated materials
For related records see:
GR-0161 and GR-0321 (Minutes of the Returned Soldiers' Aid Commission, 1915-1920) and
GR-1315 (Returned Soldiers' Aid Commission correspondence and reports, 1915-1929).
Accruals
General note
Accession number(s): 76-G-056
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Canada. Army. Canadian Expeditionary Force (Subject)
- Harvey, James Swan, 1872-1932 (Subject)
- British Columbia. Returned Solders’ Aid Commission (Subject)
- British Columbia. Dept. of the Provincial Secretary (Subject)