Document Record

Title

Civil Secretary's letter books

Identifier

lac_mikan_192908
126289
RG 7 G 17-C
oocihm.lac_mikan_192908

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.
The letters in this collection cover a wide variety of matters including patronage, the civil administration, petitions and replies, militia and military matters, the administration of justice, and other subjects, all between the years 1839 and 1867.
No finding aids appear to be available on the microfilm reels. Also note that these collections are typically shared on the microfilm reels in question with other collections, so researchers will have to do some searching around to find the material that they are looking for.

URL

https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_192908