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Archival description
CoV-CR-0315 · Series · 1974-2004
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of minutes of this special committee of Council, which serves as a forum for Councillors to consider and discuss various issues in a less formal manner than Council meetings themselves permit.

There is a gap in this series from 1978 to 1981.

Victoria (B.C.). Committee of the Whole
CoV-CR-0313 · Series · 1985-2005
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of agendas of this special committee of Council, which serves as a forum for Councillors to consider and discuss various issues in a less formal manner than Council meetings themselves permit. The series includes a variety of correspondence, reports, and other materials that provide the background material for discussion.

Victoria (B.C.). Committee of the Whole
City of Victoria website
CoV-CR-0361 · Series · 2023
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of the former City of Victoria website (victoria.ca), which served as a centralized place for the public to access City services and information for over a decade. The website was launched in January 2012, with regular content updates made throughout its life. Site-wide enhancements to viewing experience, navigation, and usability were made in 2014 and 2016.

The site contents were captured by web crawls between September 25 and October 23, 2023, prior to the launch of a new City website on October 26, 2023. Related subdomains and external sites were not included in the capture.

The crawled site is available for viewing through the Internet Archive's Archive-It service. Please use the link below for access.

Victoria (B.C.). Information Technology Department
Ross Bay Cemetery plot books
CoV-CR-0311 · Series · 1872-1992
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of occupancy records of burial plots in Ross Bay Cemetery. The series includes substantially the same information as that captured on the burial permit (CR-0235). Data elements include: permit number, name, age, where born, where died, day and hour of burial, clergyman, block and plot number, undertaker and remarks. The remarks section contains notes on the transfer of plots, reserve plots, exhumations, re-interments, and depths. A name index at the start of each volume gives a cross-reference to a folio in the volume.

The permit number system was not introduced until March 1884.

Victoria (B.C.). Parks Department
CoV-CR-0266 · Series · 1929-1990
Part of City of Victoria fonds

The series consists of receipts for a contract for the maintenance of grass plots in Ross Bay Cemetery.

Each license consists of two parts, a duplicate that remained in the volume, and an original that was retained by the applicant. Each record contains the following data elements: license number, name, address, amount paid, location of plot(s) purchased, date, and the signatures of both the Secretary of Ross Bay Cemetery and the undertaker or purchaser.

The maintenance of grass plots was established by bylaw 2452 "Ross Bay Cemetery Grass Plots, Maintenance Fund bylaw, 1928" and adopted by a resolution of Council on29 April 1929.

Victoria (B.C.). Parks Department
CoV-CR-0351 · Series · 1953-1987 (predominantly 1973-1984)
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of records made and received while administering land and buildings owned by the City. As such, it includes records relating to the purchase, sale, lease, use, and development of City land and buildings.

Victoria (B.C.). Property Manager's Office
Land Department agreements
CoV-CR-0347 · Series · 1886-1981
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of copies of agreements, leases, contracts and other legal documents which pertain to City-owned or leased land. These are copies of the original agreements forwarded to the Lands Department by the City Clerk.

Victoria (B.C.). Land Department
City Clerk's agreements
CoV-CR-0346 · Series · 1922-1964
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of copies of agreements, leases, contracts and other legal documents which pertain to a variety of matters including land purchases, land sales, large building projects, water supply, employment, paving, operations of concessions, Wartime Housing, and union agreements.

This series is incomplete.

Victoria (B.C.). City Clerk's Office
CoV-CR-0178 · Series · 1895-1955
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of receipts for licenses for plots in Ross Bay Cemetery.

Each license consists of two parts, an original that remained in the volume, and a duplicate original that was retained by the applicant. Each record contains the following data elements: license number, name, address, amount paid, location of plot(s) purchased, date and was signed by both the Secretary of Ross Bay Cemetery and the undertaker or purchaser.

Starting in volume 5, copies of “Application for a deed of cemetery plot” and correspondence are often attached to the license. The burial permit number(s) is noted on the license.

Victoria (B.C.). Parks Department
City Solicitor's agreements
CoV-CR-0345 · Series · 1874-1975
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of agreements, leases, contracts and other legal documents which pertain to a variety of matters including land purchases, Vic West Arbitration, and expropriation of land at Elk Lake and Sooke Lake and for water works purposes.

It also includes records dealing with expropriation of land in Fernwood for the Victoria High School as well as agreements for houses under the Soldiers Better Housing Act, and agreements with other municipalities regarding infrastructure projects.

Victoria (B.C.). City Solicitor's Office
CoV-CR-0344 · Series · 1919-1922
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of plans, specifications, receipts and correspondence for homes built under the Better Housing and Soldiers Settlement Housing Acts. Information contained in these records include: plan number, permit number, legal description, civic address, name of owner, architect, contractor and tradesmen.

Victoria (B.C.). Engineering Department
Agreements
CoV-CR-0341 · Series · 1912-1976 [predominantly 1938-1968]
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of original agreements, leases, contracts and other legal documents which pertain to a variety of matters including land purchases, land sales, large building projects, water supply, employment, paving, operations of concessions, Wartime Housing, and union agreements.

Victoria (B.C.). City Council
CoV-CR-0339 · Series · 1950-2004 (predominantly 1950-1994)
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of Advisory Planning Commission (APC) zoning and rezoning applications, related reports, correspondence, plans and photographs.

Files go up to 1994 however some files may contain more recent information.

Victoria (B.C.). Advisory Planning Commission
Archives operational files
CoV-CR-0316 · Series · 1967-2011
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of records created by the City of Victoria Archives. Includes correspondence, memoranda, reports, and guest registers.

Victoria (B.C.). Archives Division
Land acquisition documents
CoV-CR-0260 · Series · 1858-1956
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of records dealing with land sales including conveyances, deeds, mortgages, and land and Crown grants.

The documentation traces the history of ownership of various properties until they come into the possession of the Corporation of the City of Victoria.

The City acquired ownership of many of these properties for the purpose of rights of way for sewer, paths etc., the creation or extension of roads, or for public schools. City properties acquired for other purposes include the BC Agricultural Association lands at Willows in Oak Bay, the proposed cemetery at Ogden Point and Ross Bay Cemetery. Copies of various Crown grants such as the James Bay mud flats, Mt. Douglas and Beacon Hill Park are also included.

Victoria (B.C.). City Clerk's Office
Tax sale redemption receipts
CoV-CR-0237 · Series · 1937-1986
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of receipts issued upon the redemption of properties scheduled for tax sale by the payment of back taxes owed to the City.

Victoria (B.C.). Finance Department
CoV-CR-0235 · Series · 1886-1999
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of the City’s copy of burial permits.

Each permit originally consisted of three parts: the City copy, the family copy, and a receipt. Each permit is numbered and captures the following information: name, age, where born, where died, date of death, day and hour of burial, officiating clergy, block, plot and road, undertaker, reserve plots, and fees.

The earliest permits are contained in bound volumes and date from December 1886 to October 1915. In October 1915 the system was changed to a three-part carbon-copy form. And the data collected changed slightly to include cause of death, re-opening, interment, exhumation, and total cost.

Other forms related to the burial may be attached to the burial permit, such as Order for Interment of Body, Medical Certificate of Death, Warrant to Bury After a View, Certificate of Cremation, and other forms and correspondence related to the transportation of remains.

Previous record keeping practices included licences for plots and perpetual maintenance contracts in the burial permitting system. While these records use the same numbering as the burial permits, they are distinct records series with their own access restrictions (see below).

Victoria (B.C.). Parks Department
CoV-CR-0010 · Series · 1894-1973
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of an index to letters sent outward (CR-0009).

Each volume is divided into alphabetical sections. Within each section the names of correspondents, whether persons or organizations, are listed chronologically throughout the year. The index also provides in addition a note on the topic of each letter.

See also the indexes to individual letterbooks before 1893 (CR-0009) and the topical index (CR-0015).

Victoria (B.C.). City Council
City Council minutes index
CoV-CR-0002 · Series · 1879-2003 (predominantly 1879-1918 and 1977-2003)
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of an index to City Council minutes (CR-0001).

Records from 1879 to 1918 consist of single volumes for each calendar year. These volumes consist of separate sections for each letter of the alphabet, with individual entries in these sections listed sequentially by date.

Access to the minutes through these volumes sometimes requires inferences about which committee was responsible for a particular activity, since topics tend to be recorded only once and listed (where appropriate) under the name of the responsible committee with the topic given as a sub-heading; the issuing of warrants, for example, is found under 'F' for 'Finance Committee - Warrants' rather than under 'W' for warrants. References are to page numbers in the Council minutes volumes.

Records for 1977 to 1980 are in card index format, arranged alphabetically by subject within each year. Records for 1985-1995, which consist of legal size pages originally filed with the minutes at the beginning of the specific year to which they pertain, are also arranged alphabetically by subject. The index for these years provides better access than the volumes for 1879-1918, but may still cause difficulty in locating topics due to minimal cross-referencing for some years. The index for 1990-2003 will be found on the microfilm version of the Council minutes for those years.

These lists are supplemented by the topical indexes (CRS 15), which also index the Council minutes. A draft index to the minutes for 1862-1871 compiled by Archives staff is also available.

There are gaps in the records for 1892-1893, 1906, 1919-1976, 1981-1982, 1989, 1996, and 2002.

Victoria (B.C.). City Council
Group 'B' Committee records
CoV-CR-0025 · Series · 1961-1974
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of agendas, minutes, and papers of this standing committee of Council, which dealt with matters relating to public works.

The following committees reported to the Group 'B' Committee: the Public Works Committee; the Parks and Beautification Committee; the Community Development Committee; the Traffic, Street Design and Street Lighting Committee; and the Urban Renewal Committee. Included in addition to the material of the Group 'B' Committee are agendas, minutes, and papers of the Public Works Committee (CR-0028).

Victoria (B.C.). Group "B" Committee
Sewer easement records
CoV-CR-0225 · Series · 1916-1923
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of correspondence, memoranda, and agreements pertaining to sewer easements sought by the City.

This fragment of the original series comprises files 72-75.

Victoria (B.C.). City Solicitor's Office
Centennial Square files
CoV-CR-0177 · Series · 1956-1966 (predominantly 1962-1966)
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of the City Manager's administrative and operational files pertaining to the development of Centennial Square.

Victoria (B.C.). City Manager's Office
City Solicitor files
CoV-CR-0123 · Series · 1951-1969 (predominantly 1951-1965)
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of files from the office of City Solicitor Terence O'Grady (1956-1972).

They include bylaws and correspondence on local improvements, legislative regulations, agreements and other matters as well as minutes of various committees with which the Solicitor was concerned.

Victoria (B.C.). City Solicitor's Office
CoV-CR-0121 · Series · 1904-1963
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of several groups of files with no discernible relationship amongst themselves except that they were created by the City Solicitor at various times.

Most date from the period when the City Solicitor was a member of City Hall permanent staff. The series covers a full range of typical Solicitor activities including the preparation of bylaws and legislation, negotiation of agreements and contracts for local improvements, sale of lands, and supply of services to the City, general counsel in litigation, and drafting of legal opinions.

A substantial group of files concerned with the building of Johnson St. Bridge (1911-1923) is comprised of records created by the City Engineer. These may have been brought together to handle potential litigation, given the City of Victoria's sensitivity to liability arising from the Point Ellice Bridge streetcar disaster of 1896.

Victoria (B.C.). City Solicitor's Office
CoV-CR-0119 · Series · 1887-1963 (predominantly 1910-1956)
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of files created by the City Solicitor from the first appointment to permanent staff of the City in 1910 to the contracting out of the work in 1956. Some files predate the appointment of a staff solicitor when the City's legal work was contracted out to various legal firms.

Victoria (B.C.). City Solicitor's Office
Police Court charge book
CoV-CR-0114 · Series · 1882-1910
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of bound volumes containing the names of individuals charged with an offence, the nature and date of the offence and what action was taken. The action taken could range from a jail sentence, a fine or a remand date.

Victoria (B.C.). Police Court
CoV-CR-0115 · Series · 1891-1906
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of bound index volumes containing the names of individuals charged with an offence and the page of the charge book to which it refers.

There is a gap in these records from 1894-1902.

Victoria (B.C.). Police Court
Voters list
CoV-CR-0021 · Series · 1865-1996 (predominantly 1908-1996)
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of lists of all eligible voters.

The lists were updated annually at first and later semi-annually. The only voters lists available before 1908 are those for 1865, 1885, and 1896.

Victoria (B.C.). City Clerk's Office
CoV-CR-0004 · Series · 1885-1956
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of reports to City Council by various committees. Prior to the implementation of the committee system in 1885, ad hoc committees were common, and their reports were recorded in the Council minutes (CR-0001).

The reports began to be numbered in 1891. These numbers were used as references in the indexes: the record of reports of committees (CR-0005) and the topical indexes (CR-0015). A chronological item-level descriptive list provides some subject access to the reports for 1885 to 1892.

There are gaps in this series for the first half of 1887, the first half of 1888 and all of 1890.

Victoria (B.C.). City Council
City Council minutes
CoV-CR-0001 · Series · 1862-2012
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of the minutes of City Council meetings. Primary access to these records is through microfilm copies in the Archives; minutes for the most recent years are also available on the City's web site ( www.victoria.ca ).

The series includes one volume of draft minutes from 1867-1870. It also contains one volume of minutes from Feb - Sep 1876 pertaining to committees, such as Committee of the Whole, Board of Health, Water Works, and Finance (due to the fact that there was no clear distinction between the meeting arrangements and recordkeeping of Council and its committees at this time). There is also a DVD of the City's 150 anniversary special Council meeting on August 2, 2012.

The Council minutes can be accessed in several manners: through the index to Council minutes (CR-0002), the topical indexes (CR-0015), and through a subject card index created by Archives staff covering the years 1862 to 1870.

A related series (CR-0048) consists of one volume of minutes of special and closed Council meetings from 1896 to 1900, which contains only 27 pages but includes, among other things, information relating to Council's actions regarding the collapse of the Point Ellice Bridge.

The minutes were handwritten until 1909.

Victoria (B.C.). City Council
Building permit applications
CoV-CR-0265 · Series · 1907-1989
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of a log of building permits issued by the City.

Includes information on the date and number of the permit, owner of the property, its legal description, and the street on which it is located. Also includes information on how many buildings are included in the permit, building material, number of storeys, number of rooms, purpose of the building, estimate of cost, and amount of fee paid.
This series was started in 1907. Although the City likely had a regular method of recording building permits before this time, the best existing source for annual lists of building permits issued from the early 1860s to 1907 is the local newspapers, copies of which are available in the Archives' reference room.

Victoria (B.C.). Public Works Department
CoV-CR-0234 · Series · 1873-[ca. 1932]
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of records of ownership and usage of burial plots in Ross Bay Cemetery.

There are five volumes in this series. Each volume contains the following data elements: block, folio, road, plot, name and remarks. The folio number refers to the page on which the name appears in the plot books (CRS 311), the name section shows what person is interred in each grave, and the remarks section contains notes on the transfer of plots, reserve plots, exhumations, re-interments, and depths.

The organization of the volumes reflects the layout of the cemetery, a grid system that uses alphanumeric designations for the blocks, roads, direction, and plots.

The first volume, dated 1873 to ca. 1907, covers blocks A through M (not always in order). The other four volumes contain the same information as the earlier book, but have been updated. Volumes 2 and 3 contains blocks A through R. Volume 4 includes blocks S through W as well as additions to blocks Q and N and Sections 1 and 2, which were new areas of the Cemetery opened up around the time of the first World War. Volume 5 has the addition of sections 3 and 4, which were new areas of the Cemetery, opened up in the 1920s. Volumes 3 and 5 are a set.

The blocks were owned by either a church or the City. For example, blocks A, B, and F where owned by the Episcopal Church, block C and D by the Catholic Church, blocks E, F, K, L, and M by the City, block G by the Wesleyan Church, and block H by the Presbyterian Church

Victoria (B.C.). Parks Department
CoV-CR-0264 · Series · 1883-1938
Part of City of Victoria fonds

Series consists of records of interments in Ross Bay Cemetery.

There are eight volumes in this series. The first three volumes (1883-1890) contain the following data elements: name, age (years/months), where born, where died, date of death, day and hour of burial, officiating clergyman, block, plot, road, undertaker, and remarks. The data elements in volumes 4 and 5 (1890-1908) were changed slightly and include permit number, name, age (yrs./mos.), where born, where died, day and hour of burial, officiating clergyman, block, East or West, plot, road, undertaker, and remarks.

Victoria (B.C.). Parks Department