Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
John Keenlyside Legal Research Collection
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on contents of fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
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)
-
1858-1903, 1923-1950. (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
2.25 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
Custodial history
The provenance of this collection starts with a fire in the Supreme Court in Victoria in the mid 1890s. In a rush to evacuate the records, a portion went to the British Columbia Provincial Archives and the other portion was removed and held by Justice Sir Henry Crease and his descendants until about 1950. The documents were then acquired by Dr. Joseph Pearce (Dominion Astrophysicist in Victoria) who had it administered by the well-known collector Gerald Wellburn after Pearce became critically ill. Wellburn sold the entire collection to a Vancouver stamp dealer in 1960 where it sat in a downtown vault of a trust company until 1991 when Keenlyside purchased it.
Rare Books and Special Collections acquired the Augustus Pemberton subseries from John Keenlyside on February 26, 2008 and the Inferior Court of Civil Justice subseries from Keenlyside December 30, 2008. Subsequent accruals acquired were also collected by John Keenlyside.
Scope and content
The fonds consists of legal documents collected by John Keenlyside over the last thirty five years. The documents give insight into the formation of British Columbia's legal system when it consisted of two colonies. The legal records (including writs, testimony, judgements, and other court documents) were produced by judges, magistrates, defendants, claimants, and other relevant parties. Some figures of historical significance who created legal records in this fonds are the first judge in BC, the first Attorney General, and BC's earliest clergy, businessmen, and other prominent figures from the colonial period.
This fonds also consists of documents related to the British Columbia Provincial Police force and various Japanese-Canadian and civil rights groups.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Accrual transferred from John Keenlyside in two portions in October and December of 2009.
Another accrual acquired from John Keenlyside in December 2010.
A third accrual was acquired from John Keenlyside in December 2013.
A fourth accrual was acquired from John Keenlyside in December 2018.
A fifth accrual was acquired from John Keenlyside in December 2019.
A sixth accrual was acquired from John Keenlyside in December 2021.
A seventh accrual was acquired from John Keenlyside in 2022.
Arrangement
Material was collected and arranged by John Keenlyside.
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Associated materials
Accruals
Additional accruals are expected.
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number area
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Keenlyside, John S. (Collector)
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
Rules or conventions
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Description revised by Natalie Trapuzzano in February 2020 to accommodate 2019 accrual. Additional revision by Allison Gale in January 2022 to accommodate 2021 accrual. Additional Revision by Matthew White in August 2023 to accommodate 2022 accrual.