Document Record

Creator

Canada East. Provincial Secretary's Office.

Title

Canada East : Provincial Secretary letterbooks, Quebec, Lower Canada and Canada East

Identifier

lac_mikan_126151
RG 4 C 2
Government
oocihm.lac_mikan_126151

Document source

Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada

Language

English

Description

At the union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1841, the division of responsibilities between the offices of Civil Secretary and of the Provincial Secretary and registrar was clarified. Where the Civil Secretary had been the principal channel of communication for the government before the union, the Provincial Secretary's office became the focus after 1841. This evolution in the bureaucracy paralleled and reflected the development of responsible government in the political arena. While the office of the Civil Secretary to the Governor was unified in 1841, that of the Provincial Secretary and Registrar continued a separation based on geography. The old territory of Lower Canada was now termed Canada East and the old Upper Canada was called Canada West. Parallel record-keeping systems were established by the Provincial Secretaries, using a numbered file registry system.
This collection includes an entrybook of documents relating to military affairs, 1763 and 1765-1771; letterbooks of the Provincial Secretary for Lower Canada, 1812-1819 and 1828-1841; and letterbooks of the Civil Secretary for Lower Canada, 1829-1841.

URL

https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_126151