The fonds consists of minutes, membership lists, financial records, correspondence and printed material generated by the Archaeological Society of British Columbia between 1966 and 1985. The fonds also includes a run of the Society's newsletter The Midden and a scrapbook illustrating the activities of the organization from 1966 to 1972.

The fonds consists of a photocopy of the first of three volumes of Bobillier's diary describing his journey from France to the Yukon in 1939 and his subsequent missionary activities on behalf of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in British Columbia and the Yukon.

The fonds consists of correspondence with the Colonial Secretary's Office (1865-1867), a newspaper clipping and undated biographical notes.

The fonds consists of a bound, handwritten transcribed copy of Robert Haswell's log of the Columbia, which chronicles two trips of her sister ship, the sloop Washington, to the vicinity of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in 1789. The fonds also includes a photostatic copy of Captain Robert Gray's log for the Columbia in 1791. It records voyages along the northwest coast of Washington State and British Columbia.

The fonds consists of an album entitled "Caravaning to the Land of the Golden Twilight, June 13 - July 1, 1930," assembled by Miss J.E. Denison. It includes a description of a motoring trip from Blaine, Washington to Hazelton, B.C., then to Vancouver, B.C. The caravan trip involved groups from the United States, Alaska and British Columbia. The B.C. party included Premier S.F. Tolmie, Minister of Mines W.A. Mackenzie and Lieutenant-Governor R.R. Bruce. The purpose of the caravan was to investigate the proposal for an Alaskan highway which would join up with the B.C. highway network.

The fonds consists of a one-volume journal kept by H.B. Foster during a voyage from Jamaica to England via New York and Canada in 1876.

The fonds consists of index cards, engravings, notes, maps, printed material and documents from McKechnie's B.C. Place Names project. The fonds also includes forty engraved prints related to the project, illustrating British explorers or events in the 18th and 19th centuries and a map of Russian discoveries on the Northwest Coast (ca. 1780).

The fonds consists of a translation of an arctic diary kept by missionary Miertsching. He was forced to abandon his original diary with the ship "Investigator" in Mercy Bay. He later reconstructed it and added notes from the log of Captain McLure. The manuscript translation is of the reconstructed diary which was written in German.

The fonds consists of a journal of a trip from London to Naples (1840-1843) and letters from Parish to his father during his employment in the Consular Department in China (1844-1852).

The fonds consists of an unpublished original manuscript (including 80 photographs) of a train trip from New York to Los Angeles, Vancouver, Winnipeg and then back to New York via St. Paul, Minnesota (1907). Also included is an unpublished typewritten manuscript on three weeks in Glacier Park, Montana (1919).

The fonds contains 14 of John Smiths diaries, starting on July 14th, 1892, and running until December 19th, 1949. (There are no diaries for the periods between March 1, 1901 to May 31, 1903 or February 24, 1912 to December 31 1922.) The first diary records his emigration to Canada and purchase of his homestead. The rest record daily activities and weather conditions relating to operation of his farm, the community, and family life.;A separate diary was kept by Smith when he traveled to the Yukon from March 15 to August 31, 1898. This diary was transcribed by his daughter Olga in the late 1940s. In 1952 this diary was published in the British Columbia Historical Quarterly, with an introduction and annotations by Walter N. Sage. The diary was thought to have been donated to the provincial archives, although no record of the donation exists. A copy of the published article by Sage is included in the fonds. During Smiths absence, his wife Rose maintained the diary recording the daily events of their homestead. The fonds also contains four letters patent appointing Smith to public office, and one letters patent rescinding one of these appointments.

The fonds consists of two diaries which chronicle Sprague's 1906 trip from Edinburgh to Hope, B.C.

The fonds consists of a memoir of Stead's war service in the Mediterranean entitled "A Leaf Upon the Sea: A Small Ship in the Mediterranean" and an autobiographical memoir entitled "Survey Story" which relate Stead's experiences growing up in Vancouver and his surveying activities near Salmon Arm and Prince George, including the Cariboo and Nechako River territory (1930-1936).

The collection consists of ship logs bound into two separate volumes, spanning the years 1882-1885. The logs document multiple voyages of three British battleships sailing the coast of North and South America.

The logs were kept by C.F. Henderson, F.A. Hodge, and possibly other crew-mates, as in some instances the recorder of the log is not named. They contain a meticulously detailed account, written and layouted in script, of the routinized and often eventful day to day lives of mariners who sailed South America, the west coast of America, and the Pacific west to the Hawaiian Islands.

Interleaved between the daily record of the voyages are manuscript charts and detailed diagrams of the ships themselves. There are charts delineating parts of South America, the Hawaiian Islands and the western coastline of America, including Vancouver Island and vicinity in detail. All the charts bear the manuscript tracks of the ships. Many of the diagrams and drawings of the ships and their parts are in color and show profile and sectional views of machinery and artillery as well as plans of the ships as a whole.

The manuscripts are bound with twine, and canvas wrapper over marble boards.

The voyages documented in the logs, including destination and date range are as follows:

Volume 1:

Log I: HMS Swiftsure. Commanded by Captain R.C. Atchinson. July 1882 –January 1884. Kept by C.F. Henderson. Rio de Janerio to Montevideo to Sandy Point to Coquimbo to Callao to Pisco. Pisco to Callao. Callao to Chimbote to Pacasmayo to Paita to Galapagos Islands to Honolulu to Esquimalt to San Francisco to San Diego to Acapulco to Panama (Tobago Island) to Callao to Pisco to Arica.

Log II: HMS Sappho. Commanded by Commander Bouverie F. Clark. January 1884--Feb 1884. Kept by C.F. Henderson. Pisco to Arica to Iquique to Coquimbo to Valparaíso.

Log III: HMS Swiftsure. Feb. 1884-July 1884. Kept by C.F. Henderson. Valparaíso to Caldera to Iquique to Callao to Honolulu to Esquimalt.

Volume 2:

Log IV. HMS Swiftsure. Kept by F.A. Hodge March 1883-June 1884. Galapagos to Honolulu to Esquimalt to San Francisco to San Diego to Acapulco to Panama. Port La Union to Panama Bay to Callao to Pisco to Arica to Iquique to Coquimbo to Valparaíso to Coquimbo to Caldera to Iquique to Callao to Honolulu.

Log V. HMS Mutine. Commanded by Captain Edwards. Kept by unknown. June 1884-July 1884. Honolulu to Esquimalt.

Log VI: HMS Swiftsure. Commanded by Captain R.C. Atchinson. Kept by unknown. July 1884-Aug 1884. Esquimalt.

Log VII: HMS Swiftsure. Commanded by Captain Guy Mainmariny. Kept by unknown. Aug 1884-October 1884. Esquimalt to English Bay. Burrard Inlet to Esquimalt.

Log VIII: HMS Swiftsure. Commanded by Rear Admiral Baird, Captain F.S. Brand. October 1884-June 1885. Esquimalt to San Francisco to Mazatlan to San Blas to Acapulco to Panama to Payta to Callao to Mollendo to Arica to Coquimbo to Valparaíso to Coquimbo.

The fonds consists of photoprints on his activities as a government employee and the regions in which he worked. He was employed as a draftsman during the 1944 season on the Pine Pass Survey and an album contains 30 prints of activities during the survey. There is also an album relating to his activities in the Fraser Valley, 1934-1938, including photos of the flood of Jan., 1935.

The fonds consists of transcripts of documents from and pertaining to the Deutsche Groenland (Greenland) Expedition of 1930-1931 headed by Alfred Wegener and, more specifically, pertaining to his death while attempting to bring desperately needed supplies of petroleum from Weststation to Eismitte. There are also ten photographs.

The fonds consists of postcards acquired in her travels, mainly in Europe and including Vienna, Paris, and various locations in Italy as well as Canada, United States, New Zealand, Japan, and Barbados. There is also a small amount of correspondence.

The fonds consists of materials related to Mabel Taylor's nursing career and international travels. The materials document the professional life and world travel of an independent woman in the first half of the twentieth century. Record types include diplomas and certificates of nursing, travel documents including Taylor's passport and visas, correspondence related to job openings, as well as Taylor's written exam for obtaining a drivers' license in Durban, South Africa.

The fonds consists of a copy of Pell's last will and testament, as well as one album containing photographs, prints, and crests collected by Pell documenting his travels in the 1870s. Many of the photographs are labelled by location, and place names include Aden, Alexandria, Batavia, Isle of Wight, Cairo, Hong Kong, Java, Marseilles, Naples, Rangoon, Singapore, and Suez. Also included in the collection is a page of crests of nobility, and two print portraits, one of Christine Nilsson and the other of Adelina Patti.

The Bush Family collection consists of records and objects gathered by various family members on specific holidays or during special occasions. George and Pearl Bush contributed memorabilia related to their family’s settlement in Vancouver, their vacations in Europe and the United States, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, the city of Vancouver, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and the country of Canada. Some records and objects commemorating the Dominion of Canada and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company feature racist depictions of Indigenous peoples. Items originating with George and Pearl date from the early to mid-twentieth century.

Patrick Bush contributed memorabilia related to his studies at the University of British Columbia, particularly his graduation and his membership in the Sigma Epsilon chapter of the Zeta Psi fraternity. Records originating with Patrick Bush date from the mid to late 1950s.

Records are arranged by subject in files. For example, all memorabilia related to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company is aggregated, as are records of Patrick Bush’s university attendance. Documentary forms include invitations and programs to UBC fraternity events; UBC fraternity decals; UBC convocation programs; copies of Patrick Bush’s university transcripts; instructions for participating in a UBC convocation; various hand-drawn maps of the U.S.S.R., likely prepared by Patrick Bush for a university course; Patrick Bush’s Bachelor of Laws degree; a single issue of UBC Alumni Chronicle (1985); blank and handwritten postcards depicting the United States and Europe; commemorative ephemera celebrating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, including a menu, church service order, and booklet; black and white family photographs; souvenir booklets containing photographs and illustrations of famous scenes in Europe and the United States; tickets for tourist attractions and transit in Europe; information booklets about tourist attractions and sites in Europe; maps for parts of Europe; menus from various cruise ships; Royal Automobile Club route cards; information booklets about Canada, the province of British Columbia, and the city of Vancouver; maps of various parts of British Columbia; a BC Emergency Air Service decal; a poster commemorating the Golden Jubilee of Vancouver (circa 1936); various correspondence addressed to George Bush, including postcards; travel ephemera from Patrick Bush; preliminary lists of electors, including Patrick Bush, as compiled by Elections Canada for the district of Vancouver Centre in 1979; black and white photographs and negatives depicting members of the extended Bush family; Canadian Pacific Railway company employee photographs, voyage programs and menus, sailing listings, promotional tour pamphlets and booklets, steamship passenger lists, log book abstracts, monogrammed envelopes, voyage guest feedback forms, staff bulletins, gazettes (newspapers), and ship deck plans; photocopies of various Vancouver and London, England newspapers featuring articles about members of the Bush family; a decorative leather wall hanging belonging to George Bush; a matchbox; and a coaster.

The collection reflects the careers and interests of the Farris family, who were prominent members of the Vancouver elite. Their status as a family of lawyers and educated individuals often allowed them the opportunity to travel and attend noted events such as the Royal Ascot Racecourse, and encounter several distinguished individuals, such as Prime Ministers Louis St. Laurent and Pierre Trudeau, Lieutenant Governor Walter Owen, and Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The collection consists chiefly of correspondence, photographs, matters of estate, family history, notebooks, manuscripts, legal memorabilia, and family memorabilia of John Wallace de Beque Farris, Evlyn Keirstad Farris, John Lauchlan Farris, and Dorothy Farris.

The fonds consists of diaries, scrapbooks, and correspondence spanning the period 1910-2003 and related to the professional and personal lives of three generations of the Bamford family—William Blackley Bamford, his son William Blackley Stanley Bamford, and his grandson William Huestis Bamford—as well as to members of the Lasell and Ord families, related by marriage to William Huestis Bamford. Diaries in the fonds include concise “five year” or “line a day” diaries, as well as more detailed daily journals and many cover aspects of the Bamfords’ professional and personal life.

Scrapbooks in the fonds, which contain newspaper clippings, ephemera, correspondence, photographs, notes, and other material, primarily reflect the Bamfords’ personal interests, but also interests their chosen professions and employers, including the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and the Bank of Montreal. Beyond the incoming and outgoing personal and professional correspondence included in the scrapbooks, the Esther Adelina Lasell Bamford series contains incoming correspondence related to a branch of the Ord family living in New Zealand.

The fonds is arranged into four series by family member: William Blackley Bamford; William Blackley Stanley Bamford; William Huestis Bamford; and Esther Adelina Lasell Bamford.

The fonds consists of clippings, outlines for advertising, annual reports (1963), correspondence, essays, tourist promotions and printed material pertaining to tourism information and the B.C. Chamber of Commerce.

This fonds consists of documents, archival records, photographs, ephemera, and artifacts pertaining to the life and work of Hanne Wassermann Walker. These materials relate to several broad themes: health and fitness, travel, friends and family, immigration to North America, and art/photography. Hanne's collection provides a window into the early 20th century physical culture movement; the experience of Jewish Europeans in the lead-up to, during, and after World War II; and the landscapes of British Columbia between the 1940s and 1970s. The fonds is comprised of manuscripts and published materials, correspondence, government records, photographs (including negatives, metadata, and albums), and more. In addition to Hanne's extensive collection of letters, postcards, personal and official records, and assorted odds and ends (e.g. household receipts, business cards, recipes, etc.), the fonds also contains the records of her husband, George Dickson Walker.

Fonds illustrates James R. Stanton’s personal life and guiding business in Knight Inlet, British Columbia. It consists of an unpublished biography written by Stanton (including a foreword by R.M. Lorentsen and an epilogue by Blair Mclean), photographs selected by Stanton for his manuscript, and additional photographs and slides of the Stanton family.

Collection consists of documents and maps that supported the findings in McDowell's book, Uncharted Waters: The Explorations of Jose Narvaez (1768-1840), published in 2015 by Ronsdale Press, Vancouver, BC.

All items in this collection are photocopies. The dates of the originals fall between 1788 and 1830. When available, information about the locations of the originals is specified in the file-level description.

From McDowell: "One of the least appreciated, but potentially most important set of historical documents in [RBSC] are those related to the overlooked Spanish navigator Jose Maria Narvaez (1768-1840), the first European mariner to explore the central and northern parts of what we now call the Salish Sea in 1791 -- one year before the famous captains Dionisio Alcala-Galiano, Cayetano Valdes y Bazan, and George Vancouver investigated the same inland sea. Although Narvaez's remarkable achievements and contributions were largely ignored, overlooked, or minimized until 1998, a more accurate assessment is emerging, and it has been supported significantly by the documentary information in [RBSC]."

The fonds consists of correspondence, journals, legal documents, financial documents, printed drawings, watercolours, an order book, and personal and other documents created and/or accumulated by Edward Belcher and other members of the Belcher family. The majority of the Edward Belcher material is related to his naval career.

The collection consists of correspondence, warrants, commissions, printed ordinances, a deed, a financial statement, literary works, other documentary forms, and a seal pertaining to various figures and events in Canadian history. MacMillan assembled the material from various sources. Also included is a photograph of a logging scene in Vancouver (ca. 1900) and of East Indigenous workers at Canadian Western Lumber Company, ca. 1900-1910.

The fonds consists of records related to Simons’ writing career, travels, and personal life. Records span a period from Simons’ early years in university to 2012 and were created predominantly in Vancouver, British Columbia. Some records were created during Simons’ travels in England, France, Japan, Hong Kong, India, and Burma. The fonds comprises the following three series: Literary Works; Professional and Personal Records; and Travel Records.

The Literary Works series features drafts of Simons’ literary works in various genres, particularly drama (stage, radio, and film) and fiction (for children and adults). Record types include publications, drafts (typed, handwritten, and hand-annotated), outlines, notes, research materials for projects, several recordings of Simons’ works, and large poster boards Simons used for plotting one of her fiction projects.

The Professional and Personal Records series contains records related to the administration and management of Simons’ literary career, particularly her attempts to submit work to various publishers and producers, mount productions of her dramatic works, and secure adequate financial resources to sustain her writerly practice. Administrative records are frequently mixed physically with Simons’ personal correspondence to family and friends. Record types include drafts of Simons’ curriculum vitae, grant applications, professional and personal correspondence, professional photographs, and contracts.

The Travel Records series aggregates records from Simons’ three major trips: Europe from 1959-1961; Japan, Hong Kong, and India from 1967-1968; and Hong Kong, Burma, India, and Japan in 1986. Simons attended many plays, conferences, and art shows while traveling and preserved programs as a source of inspiration for her creative work. Simons also maintained correspondence with friends and family during her travels. Record types include programs, personal and professional correspondence, personal photographs, and Simons’ notes on various activities.

The Mavis Hall collection comprises of a variety of printed and photographic materials collected by Margery McCuaig, Hall’s mother, during a trip to Japan, sponsored by the Japanese Tourism Ministry and the Japanese Government Railways, from July-August, 1939.

The collection contains commercially-produced slides, postcards and souvenir photographs, as well as Board of Tourism publications, prints, and a few personal items and memorabilia of McCuaig, such as a passport, scrapbook, and autograph book. McCuaig also collected ephemera from the time she spent on the cruise ship, including daily ship menus, news bulletins, travel brochures, and entertainment programmes, that exhibit her experiences onboard.

The collection reflects the research interests of Maurice Hodgson and includes research correspondence and notes, films, cassettes, microfilms, photographs, and slides. The series divides into three series: Belcher Research and Work, Polar Research and Work, and Herridge Research and Work.

The fonds consists of correspondence, field circulars, financial records, licenses, a map, and miscellaneous items made or received by Bruce Woodsworth between 1936 and 1939 regarding his employment in Northern Rhodesian and Nyasaland in mining ventures.

The fonds consists of Work's handwritten diary of a trip from Fort Simpson to the Queen Charlotte Islands (May 13-26, 1851) to investigate the reported gold discoveries there.

Fonds captures the life of Jack Pearcey in British Columbia in the 1920s when he was an engineering student at the University of British Columbia (class of 1927) and when he traveled the province as part of his work for the Geological Survey of Canada. Photographs depict Pearcey and his colleagues doing survey work in rural areas and feature such locations as Nakusp, Prosperity, Green Point, Wreck Bay, Victoria, Marmor Glacier, and Blair Glacier. Pearcey’s Geological Survey of Canada work in the Slocan region features Slocan, Slocan Lake, Kaslo, Kootenay Lake, Sandon, New Denver, and Carpenter Creek Valley. Photographs also depict Britannia Mine and miners, bunk houses, work camps, regional flora, UBC (including construction of the science building), camping/hiking, and more.

The fonds consists of Holderness' manuscript diary and expense account of a business trip to Canada and the United States in connection with the timber trade in 1837. He took particular note of his means of transport, which included steamer, railroads, schooners, canal boats, stage coaches, wagons, gigs and horses. The diary provides an excellent description of travel in North America at that time.

Fonds consists of documents related to Stacey's career as a fisherman, historian, writer, researcher, curator, and consultant. Materials include correspondence, photographs, recorded interviews, reports, handwritten notes, clippings, research materials, prints, postcards, ephemera and other documents.

The "Gulf of Georgia files" series was arranged by the records creator and has been respected. All other series have been imposed by the archivist and arranged according to materials that relate to Stacey's roles as expert witness in various trials, historical and industrial researcher, collector and curator, and commercial fisherman, respectively. Where correspondence and photographs were stored separately by the records creator, they have been retained together in series according to their document type; otherwise, file integrity has been respected and these materials may be found in other series as well.

A significant amount of material, consisting primarily of copies of photographs obtained by Stacey from various archival institutions, has been removed.

The fonds consists of textual and photographic records relating to personal, business and financial matters of the Wilkinson family and their lives in British Columbia in the twentieth century. The fonds includes individual photographs and a photograph album depicting locations of the lower mainland and Vancouver Island, student group photographs and images of family members and individuals. The textual records pertain to the personal correspondence of the members of the Wilkinson family, school records, an appointment book, a diary, sketchbooks of international travel, personal financial records and statistical records relating to British Columbia logging practices.

The fonds is comprised of materials related to Brown's personal life (mostly recorded through photography) and his various professional positions, particularly his role in the White Pass & Yukon Corporation and its expansion into containerized shipping.

Approximately one third of the fonds is materials that have been condensed by Brown's descendants and filed chronologically. This portion has been called the Chronological papers, and materials related to all other series may be found there, as well as a wide range of personal materials.

The rest of the fonds has been divided into 10 series of: general correspondence; papers from Brown's two government posts; his work for the White Pass & Yukon Corp.; his work for MacMillan, Bloedel, and Powell River; his work as director for other companies; subject files related to his interests; speeches and articles he wrote; personal papers; and slides (both personal and professional).