Subseries consists of records related to the early history of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. These records pertain to a great many areas of British Columbia history and highlight the development of the province, including voyages of discovery and exploration in the Pacific Northwest, the fur trade (including records from the Hudson's Bay Company), British Columbia geography such as the mapping and navigation of rivers and mountains, British Columbia flora and fauna, and the development of communities and regions around British Columbia including the social, cultural, and economic history of major centres such as Victoria and Vancouver.

These records include published monographs, manuscripts, pamphlets, cards, serials, correspondence, maps and maritime charts, technical drawings, journals and diaries, newspaper clippings, broadsides, scrapbooks, photographs, engraving plates, certificates, stamps, and ephemera such as calendars, menus, invitations, and receipts.

This subseries includes a number of rare items, such as "Order in council constituting the Supreme Court of Civil Justice of Vancouver Island" (1858) which is thought to be the first book published in B.C. or "The Frazer River Thermometer: Great Gold Discoveries of 1858” which provides a very rare example of a San Francisco broadside advertising the Fraser River gold rush.

Subseries consists of business records related to the Chinese Freemasons (also known by the names Cheekungtong and Dart Coon Club). With its first branches established in Quesnel and Victoria in 1876, the Chinese Freemasons were one of many benevolent associations dedicated to providing social welfare to immigrants in need and Chinese labourers out of work after the completion of the railway and to protecting the Chinese against racism.

These records include correspondence, account books, donation records and solicitations for funds to assist the Chinese in Canada, receipts for club expenses, club election records, business cards, invitations, certificates, and photographs, as well as books on topics such as Chinese games and Chinese traditional medicine.

Subseries consists of records related to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company's steamship division, which was first introduced in 1887 following the completion of the transcontinental railway. The Canadian Pacific Steamship Company (later the Canadian Pacific Steamships Ocean Services Ltd.), built a fleet of opulent ocean liners built to C.P.R. specifications, including several which operated as Royal Mail Ships for the British Empire. Canadian Pacific steamships became known for the luxury they offered passengers in addition to functioning as a major cargo carrier. Records in this subseries pertain to the Canadian Pacific steamships themselves, such as shipbuilding specifications, as well as to the ships' operations. There is a particular emphasis on the Empress line of ocean lines, although records about ships from other lines, such as the Princess and Duchess lines, are also found in this subseries.

These records include photographs and photograph albums, scrapbooks, ships histories, pamphlets, postcards, broadsides, newspaper clippings, diaries, menus and programmes, passenger lists, sailings schedules and fares, boarding cards, ship plans and technical drawings, reports, invoices, inventories, account books, log books, service records, maps, baggage labels, stationery, correspondence, ephemera, and artefacts.

Subseries consists of records related to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company's travel and tourism services, advertised as "The World's Greatest Travel System." The C.P.R. operated fleets of trains and steamships as well as luxury hotels and resorts, such as the Empress Hotel in Victoria and the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. The records in this subseries reflect the extensive promotion of travel opportunities across Canada and the world. Many of the records in this subseries relate to travel on the company's luxurious ocean liners, which were very popular in the 1920s and 1930s; the C.P.R. offered cruises not only to destinations such as the Caribbean or the Mediterranean, but also four-month-long around-the-world tours that called at 81 ports in 23 countries. The subseries also contains a small number of records related to travel on the Canadian Pacific Air Lines, which by the 1970s had overtaken ocean liners for international travel.

These records include pamphlets, photographs and photo albums, scrapbooks, travel diaries, postcards, newspaper clippings, newsletters, posters and broadsides, maps, steamship track charts, deck plans, menus, programmes, cards listing services and fares, baggage tags, C.P.R. stationery, correspondence, staff reports, rail and ship timetables, itineraries, passenger lists, and memorabilia.

Subseries contains records related to the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Company, which operated rail lines on Vancouver Island. The Canadian Pacific Railway Company extended the line to additional cities after acquiring the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway in 1905. Records in this subseries pertain to the railway's business and operations, and include records highlighting employee duties and activities.

These records include papers related to the construction and incorporation of the railway, financial statements, reports, correspondence, blueprints, train timetables, tickets and train passes, advertisements, newspaper clippings, employee handbooks, staff circulars, employee diaries and logs, shipping receipts, and photographs.

Subseries consists of records assembled by Rev. Andrew MacDonell, a Scottish minister who came to Canada after serving as chaplain with the Canadian Corps during World War I. These records relate to MacDonell's work, starting in 1922, to bring several hundred families from Scotland and Northern Ireland to settle in Alberta as well as his work with the Scottish Immigrant Aid Society. The records in this subseries predominantly pertain to the Clandonald settlement near Vermilion, Alberta, which MacDonell established in 1926. He remained actively interested in the Clandonald settlement well into the 1950s and the records in this subseries provide insight into life in the community and the development of the area.

Records in this subseries include MacDonell's diaries and notebooks from 1918 to 1948, maps and blueprints, pamphlets, local histories of Clandonald, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs, and correspondence. This correspondence includes correspondence with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, correspondence with prospective settlers and applicants for settlement, maps of Clandonald and district, and correspondence pertaining to the Scottish Immigrant Aid Society.

Subseries consists of records related to early Canadian history, particularly as relates to Canada outside of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. This subseries includes records produced during early periods of Canada's history as well as records that were produced later but which pertain to early Canadian history.

These records include essays, speeches, booklets, and artwork.

Subseries consists of records related to Asian immigration to and settlement in North America. These records pertain predominantly to Chinese immigration and settlement in British Columbia, but also include records pertaining to other Asian diaspora as well as other regions of Canada and the United States. These records document early Asian immigration and settlement following the gold rush, such as the Chinese role in the construction of the transcontinental railway, where Chinese workers were assigned the most dangerous jobs, and anti-Asian sentiment in Canada. Other records in this subseries include materials related to Canadian immigration policy and multiculturalism in Canada, Chinese-language educational materials and children's books, Chinese business and residential directories, city directories for Vancouver and Victoria, and materials related to the Sino-Japanese War. As immigration in this context pertains both to first-generation immigrants as well as their families and descendants, records in this subseries also illustrate the Asian experience in Canada and highlight the development of Asian communities, including social, cultural, religious, political, sporting, and educational activities as well as the activities of organisations such as Chinese trade societies, the Chinese Benevolent Association, the Chinese Canadian Association, and the Chinese Nationalist League of Canada.

This subseries also contains an extensive collection of early photographs of Asian-Canadians and Asian-Americans. Some highlights include historical class photographs from Vancouver's Strathcona School, street scenes from the Vancouver, Victoria, and San Francisco Chinatowns, wedding portraits, and the 1915-1918 photograph album of Jue Fong, then a Chinese-American teenager, which offers rare candid photographs from that time period.

These records in this subseries are varied and include published monographs, pamphlets, directories, catalogues, magazines, maps, government reports, legislation, petitions, memoranda, meeting minutes, speeches, contracts, forms, certificates, licenses, tickets, passenger lists, immigration papers, taxes, invoices and receipts, donation books and fundraising materials, staff rosters, school workbooks, samples of Chinese calligraphy, newspaper clippings, posters and broadsides, newsletters, brochures and advertisements, correspondence, postcards, invitations and event programmes, restaurant menus, artefacts, ephemera, memorabilia, scrapbooks, and photographs, photo albums, and photographic negatives.

Subseries consists of large-format posters and other graphic materials used by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company to advertise travel by rail, ship, and air, C.P.R. hotels and resorts, and travel packages such as tours of Canada and luxurious world cruises. Framed prints and photographs were distributed to Canadian Pacific Railway agents' offices for display, such as a framed print of the entire Canadian Pacific Ocean Services steamship fleet in 1910.

The C.P.R. often commissioned Canadian artists and photographers, such as Alfred Crocker Leighton and Peter Ewart, to produce artwork for these posters and prints. Many of these posters depicted C.P.R. trains and ships, Canadian landscapes, and foreign destinations, while others listed ship specifications such as top speed or engine type, dates of departure, ports of call, and fares.

The materials in this subseries include an extensive collection of lithoprint and silkscreen posters, photographs, prints, paintings, etchings and engraved illustrations, technical drawings, pamphlet covers, stationery, and postcards, as well as newspaper clippings, a map, and ephemera such as baggage labels, wall calendars, and printed laundry bags. This subseries also includes examples of signage, such as steamship fire safety, CPR storm and weather signals, and passenger information notices.

Subseries consists of records related to the operation of the British Columbia Coast Steamship Service, which began operating in 1903 following the 1901 purchase of the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. The records in this subseries reflect the business activities and operations of the British Columbia Coast Steamship Service and its "Princess" line of steamships, which ran passenger, freight, and ferry services along the British Columbia coast, including the popular "Triangle Route" operating between Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle. Passenger services continued on the British Columbia Coast Steamship Services until the 1970s.

These records include log books, a captain's diary, engineering notes, contracts, memoranda, reports, payroll records and timesheets, budget summaries, invoices, inventories, technical drawings, maintenance and operation manuals, maps, sailings schedules, tickets, passenger lists, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, menus, newsletters, stationery, correspondence, photographs and photographic negatives, and artefacts such as a letter in a bottle and B.C.C.S.S. facecloths.

Subseries consists of artefacts collected from Canadian Pacific trains, ships, and hotels, such as furniture and dinnerware with unique designs manufactured for use by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. This subseries also includes items produced by the C.P.R. to be sold to passengers as souvenirs. Many of the artefacts in this subseries were retrieved from the bottom of the ocean, such as a newel post from the steamship Empress of Japan, salvaged after the ship was scrapped in the Burrard Inlet, and dishware discarded by C.P.R. steamship kitchen staff too tired to finish washing up at the end of the night, salvaged by a scuba diver in the 1970s and 1980s. A highlight of this subseries is the shipbuilder's model of the steamship Empress of Asia, originally built in 1913 and purchased by Dr. Chung in 1993; the model was very damaged and was painstakingly restored by Dr. Chung over the next six years.

These artefacts are incredibly varied and include ceramic dinnerware and vessels produced for daily use on board C.P.R. ships, such as plates, teacups, soup bowls, egg cups, serving dishes, chamber pots, and wash basins; silverware marked with C.P.R. designs, such as serving dishes, trays, teapots, platters, pitchers, butter dishes, and a full range of flatware; glassware such as drinking glasses, water carafes, and vases; and furnishings, such as a ship’s chart table, firehose nozzles, signage, oil lamps, wool blankets, a trunk, and railway station clocks. Souvenirs found among this subseries are equally varied and include tableware and flatware, postcards, playing cards, luggage stickers, letter openers, cuff links, bars of soap, a passport from 1925, and a section of a steel rail from the original Canadian Pacific Railway. Also included are a small number of items from Canadian Pacific staff uniforms, such as hat badges and buttons.

Subseries consists of records related to Yip Sang, the Yip family and the Wing Sang Company (now the Yip Sang Company). Born in 1845 in Guangdong, China, Yip Sang first came to British Columbia in 1881 following the gold rush from San Francisco. Yip Sang settled in Vancouver as a merchant in 1888 and founded the Wing Sang Company, an import and export business, at 51 Pender Street. Over time, the business grew to include managing rail and steamship freight and passenger tickets as a Chinese passenger agent for the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, operating the Wing Sang Company branch of a Hong Kong-based trust company, and serving as unofficial postmasters for the Chinese community. These business records comprise a substantial portion of this subseries.

In addition to Yip Sang and the Wing Sang Company's business activities, the records in this subseries also pertain to the Yip family's personal and social lives, as well as to their philanthropic activities. A renowned philanthropist, Yip Sang was a benefactor of hospitals and schools, including Vancouver's first Chinese school and first Chinese hospital, and was a founding member of the Chinese Benevolent Association. At the end of his life in 1927, Yip Sang was a highly respected Vancouver citizen who had made a significant impact on the Chinese community and was viewed as the "unofficial mayor" of Chinatown.

The records in this subseries reflect all areas of the Yip family's business activities and personal lives, and include files related to property, taxes, passenger ticket sales, shipments, and insurance, as well as account books for funds held in trust, record books of income and expenses, receipts, business stamps and stationery, business cards, architectural drawings and blueprints, maps, contracts, advertisements, memoranda, newspaper clippings, telephone directories, pamphlets, workbooks and yearbooks, postcards, invitations and event programmes, photographs, artefacts, audio and video cassettes, and both business and personal correspondence.

Subseries consists of records related to the Canadian Pacific Railway, including records pertaining to the construction of the railway which was completed at Craigellachie, B.C. in 1885, four years behind schedule. Other records in this subseries pertain to trains, railway operations and station business, railway tourism, and settlement activities led by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company in Western Canada. Records in this subseries relate both to those travelling on the C.P.R. as well as those who worked on it, and include notable items such as and a blueprint book of Canadian Pacific Railway Standard Plans, 1908, and engineer-in-chief Sandford Fleming's "Report on Surveys and Preliminary Operations on the Canadian Pacific Railway up to January 1877."

These records include monographs about railway history, pamphlets, contracts, forms, memoranda, reports, receipts and invoices, ledgers and cash books, budget summaries, maps, technical drawings, blueprints, employee handbooks, technical manuals, newsletters, train timetables and fares, land titles, stock certificates, photographs and photograph albums, posters and broadsides, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, postcards, diaries, menus, tickets, correspondence, ephemera, and artefacts, including a slice of the Last Spike railroad track.

Subseries consists of records and ephemera related to employment with the Canadian Pacific Railway since the company's inception in 1881. During the construction of the transcontinental railway, many of these employees were Chinese immigrants, who were often assigned the most dangerous jobs. Following the completion of the railway, the C.P.R. employed workers as passenger agents, train operators, steamship captains, cooks, engineers, stewards, and many other occupations. Many of the materials in this subseries were produced as reference materials for employee use, such as lists of equipment carried on trains, designating numbers for train stations, or telegraph codes

These records include employee handbooks, operating rules for employees, examination booklets, pension regulations and employee benefit plans, employee time cards, payroll sheets, memoranda, staff circulars, employment contracts, broadsides advertising employment opportunities, certificates of discharge related to service on C.P.R. steamships, correspondence, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, an employee's diary, a blank section book, and photographs of C.P.R. employees.