Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Superintendent of Provincial Police correspondence inward
General material designation
- textual record
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on the contents of the 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)
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1891-1910 (Creation)
- Creator
- British Columbia. Superintendent of Police
Physical description area
Physical description
9.5 m of textual records
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
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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
Prior to the establishment of the Province of British Columbia, policing in the Colony of British Columbia was the responsibility of the Chief Inspector of Police (1858-1863) or Superintendent of Police (1863-1871) and in the Colony of Vancouver Island by the Commissioner of Police (1858-1866).
In 1871, when the Colony of British Columbia joined confederation as a province of the Dominion of Canada, the police came under the authority of the Attorney-General. The reporting structure required the Superintendent of Police to report to the Attorney-General. Supervision of Police Constables throughout the province was divided between the government agent of the district and the Superintendent located at the Police Headquarters in Victoria.
The legal authority of the Superintendent of Police was not formally enshrined until the 1888 Police and Prisons Regulation Act (c.53, s.1). The position may have also been referred to as the Commissioner of Provincial Police.
The Superintendent acted as the Provincial Game Warden from 1918 to 1929 and was also the Inspector of gaols.
The British Columbia Provincial Police Force ceased to exist in 1950, when provincial policing was taken over by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Custodial history
Custodial history unknown. Accessioned by the archives in 1975.
Scope and content
The series consists of Superintendent of Police correspondence inward from 1891 to 1910. The correspondence is generally filed chronologically and alphabetically by sender's name.
With the exception of certain files in 1896 and 1897, the correspondence from 1891 to 1900 is organized by date and then by letter of the alphabet. From 1901 to 1910 the correspondence is organized by alphabet ranges, and then by varying date ranges, e.g. Jan 1901-Mar 1903 for Aa-Bx but Jan 1901-Sep 1902 for Caa-Cz. Correspondence for a particular time period is therefore also not sequential. A single year or date range is distributed over several different boxes, depending on the name of the correspondent. Date ranges are not exact, i.e. files may contain earlier correspondence than indicated if it is part of an ongoing issue. The letter ranges are guides only and do not necessarily reflect the exact contents of a file, e.g. Com-Cz may contain correspondents ranging from Cotton to Cutter only.
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
A file list is available: http://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Document/Finding_Aids_Atom/GR-0001_TO_GR-0500/gr-0055.pdf
Associated materials
Superintendent of Provincial Police correspondence inward:
GR-0066 for years 1891-1910
GR-0055 for years 1891-1910
GR-0056 for years 1910-1912
GR-0057 for years 1912-1922
GR-0058 for years 1923-1929
GR-0063 for correspondence from the Attorney-General 1891-1910
Accruals
General note
Accession number(s): 75-G-066
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- British Columbia. Superintendent of Police (Subject)
- British Columbia. Provincial Police Force (Subject)