Starting an occasional series, prompted by the local headlines a century ago today. The Colonist newspaper's back issues, digitized and online up to 1980 at https://britishcolonist.ca/, are a wonderfully rich source of contemporary information. I hope they're planning to upload the next decade's worth soon!

https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist0924uvic_24/page/n1/mode/1up?view=theater

Let's see: murder trial, war, national and international politics, elections, shipwreck - and an oddly specific echo of today's news, disastrous flooding in the eastern United States.

Lower down on the front page is a not very eye-catching headline: "DEAL LIKELY TO BE CONSUMMATED".

A Oak Bay Council meeting of the Committee of the Whole is described, in which "all phases of the offer of the Oak Bay Reverted Lands Syndicate to buy from the municipality 499 of Oak Bay's reverted lots for $75,000, paying $15,000 down, and the balance of $60,000 in four annual installments of $15,000 each, with interest at [?3 or 5] per cent per annum, and paying the taxes on the said lots each year, were thoroughly threshed out" for four hours, to the exclusion of al other business on the agenda. The Reverted Lands Syndicate was represented by Alfred Carmichael, David Leeming, and Charles E. Yearwood.

Obviously, for us nowadays, it's the idea of Oak Bay land being snapped up 500 lots at a time as a bargain that gets a reader's attention! But what's the story behind it?

Questions:

Reverted Lands? i.e. reverted to ownership by the municipality for non-payment of municipal taxes. Many of these lots would have been vacant - a vigorous building boom was stopped by WW1, and the 1920s were economically difficult.

Which lots? Who owned them? What had happened to them, why were the taxes unpaid?

Sources:

George Murdoch's administrative history of Oak Bay:

in 1923," The Corporation still had some 500 lots, reverted from tax sales, on its hands and in an effort to dispose of these properties a letter was sent to the Victoria Real Estate Board requesting suggestions."

Here's some background to the syndicate from earlier in 1924:

https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist0124uvic_32/page/n73/mode/1up (column 1, "Real Estate Values")

Some years later, the issue of reverted lands - and the related rise in municipal taxes - was a sore point in the City of Victoria, to the tune of more than 2,000 reverted lots: read here

more to come...

About the Archives

• Archives introduction leaflet
• Archives Q&A
• Archives Q&A 2
• Oak Bay Archives pre-2021 - a photo tour
  
• Oak Bay Archives photo tour - current
• Donating archival material - things to think about
• Why the Archives does not collect copies from loans or from other archives

Collection descriptions & finding aids

• List of community records
• Reference library catalogue
• Reference files index
• Oak Bay Building Permits index (to 1955)
• Maps, plans & drawings
• OBA PR 103 Brown papers
• OBA PR 131 Mayhew papers
• OBA PR 132/01 Burgess diary
• OBA PR 132 / 02 Kootenays photo album
• OBA PR 231 McCann papers

Research & Collections Features

• 2024 Oak Bay Archives banners - sources of original images
• 2024 Oak Bay Archives banners - photo locations mapped
• 2024 Oak Bay Councillors 1906 - present
• 2023 Fire Chiefs of Oak Bay
• 2022 Marrion Street in photos
• 2022 schools activity - Oak Bay Avenue village history
• 2022 Principals of Oak Bay High School
• 2022 Marbled endpapers in archival ledgers
• 2022 Alice Olive Munro, nee Bunting
• 2022 #Archive30: Bert Howell photos
• 2021 Oak Bay's population over time
• 2021 Oak Bay Street Names
• 2021 #ArchiveFirsts
• 2021 #Archive30
• 2020 Reeves & Mayors of Oak Bay
• 2020 Hope Leeder wildflower sketchbook
• 2020 Discover Oak Bay history by bike

Displays - online and in the Municipal Hall foyer

• 2023 City Directories as research resources
• 2022 House photos from appraisal cards
• 2022 Sport & Recreation in Oak Bay
• 2022 Bert Howell photos
• 2022 Archives reference library
• 2021 Weather
• 2021 Willows Camp at the Fair Grounds during WW1

Reports & updates

• 2024
  • September
  • August
  • July
  • June
  • May
  • April
  • March
  • back to normal
  • flood notice
  • February
• 2023
  • 2023 year in review
  • 2023 enquiries
  • December-January
  • November
  • October
  • September
  • August
  • July
  • open to visitors in person
  • June
  • May
  • April
  • March
  • January - February
• 2022 year in review
• 2021 year in review
• closure & access in 2021-22

=================

Questions? Please get in touch!
Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs
Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
Email: archives@oakbay.ca
Phone: 250-598-3290

- Post by Anna Sander 2024 -

Public open hours: The Archives were open for enquiries and on-site research appointments 17.5 hours/week as usual, with drop-in hours on Tuesday mornings. I was at the District stall for 4 hours 4-8pm at the September Night Market on Oak Bay Avenue, with June Preston for part of the time. which generated 40+ conversations and questions answered on the spot, plus 8 written enquiries. We again shared the tent with CRD staff advertising the CRD's Home Energy Navigator Program. We were lucky with the weather again, but summer was over - it was dark by the time we were taking the tents down.

The Night Markets have been a great success and we look forward to seeing you on summer evenings next year!

Enquiries: 14, of which 8 in person.

Running total for 2024: 166.

On-site volunteer hours logged: 37 (5 volunteers)

Volunteer projects (ongoing):

• municipal demolished-property files indexing
• historic building permits indexing
• assisting with enquiries research
• file listing in a large collection of personal papers, preparatory to cataloguing
• transcribing oral history recordings, checking existing transcripts

Views on Flickr in August: (about 5K, total 307,567 by 7 October, since 3 Mar 2022).

Archivist's work:

• staffing Night Market table & responding to ensuing enquiries
• continuing survey & detailed descriptions of maps, plans & drawings in the collections
• internal and external enquiries research and responses, facilitating researcher visits, volunteer management & monthly bulletin - #55

Questions or appointment requests? Please get in touch!

Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs
More photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/oakbayarchives/
Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
Email: archives@oakbay.ca
Phone: 250-598-3290

- Post by Anna Sander, 7 October 2024.

To cite: Sander, Anna. (2024, October). 'September 2024 in the Archives.' [Blog post]. District of Oak Bay, Archives. Retrieved from https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives/news_feed/september-2024-in-the-archives [date accessed].

Public open hours: The Archives were open for enquiries and on-site research appointments 17.5 hours/week as usual, with drop-in hours on Tuesday mornings, except for one week while I took some annual leave. June Preston and I were at the District stall for 4 hours 4-8pm at the August Night Market on Oak Bay Avenue, which generated 40+ conversations and enquiries answered on the spot, plus 6 written enquiries. This time we shared the tent with CRD staff advertising the CRD's Home Energy Navigator Program. Looking forward to the last of the season on 11 September.

Enquiries: 9, of which 8 in person.

Running total for 2024: 149 - thanks to a big boost through engagement at the Night Markets, by the end of August we exceeded the yearly enquiry totals for 2020-2023.

On-site volunteer hours logged: 36 (5 volunteers)

Volunteer projects (ongoing):

• municipal demolished-property files indexing
• historic building permits indexing
• assisting with enquiries research
• file listing in a large collection of personal papers, preparatory to cataloguing
• survey of cataloguing/digitization state of oral history collection, file listing preparatory to cataloguing

Views on Flickr in August: (1.2K, total 302.9K by 30 August, since 3 Mar 2022).

Archivist's work (3 weeks):

• staffing Night Market table & responding to ensuing enquiries (bulk of work in August as well, catching up)
• continuing survey & detailed descriptions of maps, plans & drawings in the collections
• internal and external enquiries research and responses, facilitating researcher visits, volunteer management & monthly bulletin - #54

Questions or appointment requests? Please get in touch!

Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs
More photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/oakbayarchives/
Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
Email: archives@oakbay.ca
Phone: 250-598-3290

- Post by Anna Sander, 6 September 2024.

To cite: Sander, Anna. (2024, September). 'August 2024 in the Archives.' [Blog post]. District of Oak Bay, Archives. Retrieved from https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives/news_feed/august-2024-in-the-archives [date accessed].

Anna Sander, Archivist, and June Preston, Archives Volunteer, at the Archives stall during the July night market on Oak Bay Avenue.

Public open hours: The Archives were open for enquiries and on-site research appointments 17.5 hours/week as usual, with drop-in hours on Tuesday mornings, plus 4 hours at the July Night Market on Oak Bay Avenue, which generated many conversations and enquiries answered on the spot, plus 21 written enquiries.

Enquiries: 34, of which 26 in person.

Running total for 2024: 140

On-site volunteer hours logged: 46 (5 volunteers)

Volunteer projects (ongoing):

• municipal demolished-property files indexing
• historic building permits indexing, now complete to end of 1955 - view here
• file listing in a large collection of personal papers, preparatory to cataloguing
• survey of cataloguing/digitization state of oral history collection, file listing preparatory to cataloguing

New articles on Connect:

• Maps, plans & drawings in Oak Bay Archives (starting to catalogue)
  
• Oak Bay Archives Banners - photo locations mapped!

Views on Flickr in July: (6.8K, total 301.7K by 6 August, since 3 Mar 2022).

Archivist's work:

• staffing Night Market table & responding to ensuing enquiries (bulk of work in July)
• Connect articles listed above
• starting survey & detailed descriptions of maps, plans & drawings in the collections
• internal and external enquiries research and responses, facilitating researcher visits, volunteer management & monthly bulletin - #53

Questions or appointment requests? Please get in touch!

Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs
More photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/oakbayarchives/
Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
Email: archives@oakbay.ca
Phone: 250-598-3290

- Post by Anna Sander, 6 August 2024.

To cite: Sander, Anna. (2024, August). 'July2024 in the Archives.' [Blog post]. District of Oak Bay, Archives. Retrieved from https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives/news_feed/july-2024-in-the-archives [date accessed].

OBA's maps, plans and drawings have not yet been listed or described in full. Many maps are Xerox/photocopies from e.g. City of Victoria Archives and BC Archives. Originals and annotated copies are not all yet identified/noted. This list is low on detail and is gradually being updated (summer 2024).

AP.001 Aerial map of South Oak Bay and Ten Mile Point - 75x75 1965

AP.002 Aerial map of Greater Victoria - 73x49 1950

M.001 Electoral district map of Oak Bay/Gordon Head - 77x113 1978

M.002 Uplands subdivision - two parts A,B - 61.5x89

M.003 Zoning maps - Bylaw 3531, 3 sheets - 51x58

M.004 Victoria area map - original and copy - 26x91.5 1939

M.005 Harling Point subdivision plans - 56x79 1911

M.006 Zoning maps - Bylaw 353, 3 sheets, microfiche - 31x47

M.007 McLaren Avenue - plans of subdivision - 28x35 1912

M.008 Transit Road area, proposed rifle range - 37x69

M.009 Zoning map of Oak Bay/traffic accident information - 30x63 1955/1967

M.010 Vancouver Island, SE portion by JD Pemberton, copy - 44.5x60 1855

M.011 Zoning map - Oak Bay - 24.5x60 1962

M.012 Uplands subdivision - original linen plans with prices - (2) 42x56 1914

M.013 Zoning map - Bylaw 2740

M.014 Uplands plans #3 - sewers existing and proposed - 43x57 1913

M.014 Uplands plans #4 - concrete sidewalks - 43x57 1913

M.014 Uplands plans #5 - telephone system - 43x57 1913

M.014 Uplands plans #6 - street lamps - 43x57 1913

M.014 Uplands plans #7 - high voltage mains - 43x57 1913

M.014 Uplands plans #8 - private distributing mains - 43x57 1913

M.014 Uplands plans #9 - plantings 1913

M.015 Oak Bay Ave/Foul Bay Rd subdivision plans - 30x24 1891/1892

M.016 Windsor Road/St Patrick Street - subdivision plans - 36x30 1910

M.017 McNeill Estate, Blk C, subdivision plans - 50x80 1890/1904

M.018 McNeill Estate, Blk B, subdivision plans - 27x91 1894

M.019 McNeill Estate, Blk A, subdivision plans - 32x66 1892

M.020 Beach Dr/Transit/McNeill/Byng, Blk F, subdivision plans - 34x50 1893

M.021 Tod Estate, Cranmore/Cadboro Rd subdivision - 43x56 1873/1914

M.022 Tod Estate subdivision plans - 53x68 1873/1914

M.023 Tod Estate subdivision plans - 76x69 1863/1913

M.024 Oak Harbour subdivision plans (proposed) - 132x86 1891/1937

M.025 Tod Estate subdivision plans - 77x83 1891/1937

M.026 McNeil Estate, section 22 - 77x81 1880/1914

M.027 Ross Estate/Fowl Bay - 91x74 1884

M.028 Poets' Streets subdivsion plans - 46x55 1890/1951

M.029 Harling Point subdivision plans - 53x55 1911

M.030 Oak Bay Ave to Newport/Brighton subdivision plans - 51x56 1896/1929

M.031 Zoning Map: Oak Bay Parks. No date, post ca.1970 - see Oak Bay Rec Centre site on Bee/former Marrion (built 1975).

M.032 Archeological sites and boundaries - 54x158 c1966

M.033 2345 Cedar Hill Cross Rd (Uplands Estates) - Typical floor plan - 61x91 1979

M.034 2345 Cedar Hill Cross Rd (Uplands Estates) - Site plan - 61x91 1979

M.035 Oak Bay map - copy on linen

M.036 Oak Bay municipal map - blueprint on linen - 85x184 1911

M.037 Subdivision lots, Oak Bay, 8 - 50x70 1978

M.038 Zoning map, Oak Bay 1936/1943

AP.003 Aerial photo, Oak Bay - 66x128 1964

M.039 Island Blueprint & Map Co. Atlas Map of Victoria BC "pocket edition". Scale 500' = 1 inch. - 20x29, 1925. 36 pages. Images online: Part 1 front cover to p.15 (5MB), Part 2 p.16 to back cover (6.5MB)

M.040 Greater Victoria map, T.N. Hibben & Co - 56x80 1913

M.041 Oak Bay Millennium map, 2 copies - 19x29 2000

M.042 Greater Victoria Atlas Maps & Index, 32 pages - 53x67 1978/1990

Thanks to an excellent suggestion from a member of the public at June's night market: love your banners, is there a map of all the historic photo locations? Well, there is now!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/oakbayarchives/sets/72177720318516724/map

NB this is a map of the locations - to the best of our ability so far - of the historic photos featured on the three banners. Not all the photos have definite or identifiable locations, but most do. Imagine what the map of all our photo collections could look like! More to come.

A print copy of the central Oak Bay Village locations will be available at future night markets.

And some questions in the meantime:

Exactly where on a present-day map was the Mount Baker Hotel? (hint: these BC Archives photos)

Where was the first Oak Bay Boat House (hint: near the Mount Baker Hotel) and when was it moved?

Exactly where on a present-day map was William McNeill's house?

Public open hours: The Archives were open for enquiries and on-site research appointments 17.5 hours/week as usual, with drop-in hours on Tuesday mornings, plus 4 hours at the June Night Market on Oak Bay Avenue, which generated many conversations and 15 written enquiries. We also took a night market-style table of resources outside one Tuesday morning.

Enquiries: 21, of which 15 in person.

Running total for 2024: 96

On-site volunteer hours logged: 51 (5 volunteers)

Volunteer projects (ongoing):

• municipal demolished-property files indexing
• historic building permits indexing, now complete to end of 1955 - view here
• scanning photographs - completed: Martin album
• physical numbering of hundreds of items in several collections of personal papers, preparatory to cataloguing. Completed: Martin album, Pattinson album and scrapbooks, long run of Campbell scrapbooks.

New articles on Connect:

• Images on the Oak Bay Archives Banners
• Donating records to the Archives
• Why the Archives does not collect copies of records from loans or other archives
• List of Reeves/Mayors and Councillors of Oak Bay, sorted alphabetically by surname and chronologically by first year served

Views on Flickr in June: (6.5K, total 294.9K by 2 July,since 3 Mar 2022).

Archivist's work:

• preparing reference and outreach materials for summer Night Markets
• staffing Night Market table & responding to ensuing enquiries
• Connect articles listed above
• final stages of catalogue descriptions of PR 106 Pattinson family papers
• final stages of catalogue descriptions of PR 127 Barber family papers
• internal and external enquiries research and responses, facilitating researcher visits, volunteer management & monthly bulletin - #52

Questions or appointment requests? Please get in touch!

Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives
Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives/photographs
More photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/oakbayarchives/
Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives
Email: archives@oakbay.ca
Phone: 250-598-3290

- Post by Anna Sander, 2 July 2024.

To cite: Sander, Anna. (2024, July). 'June 2024 in the Archives.' [Blog post]. District of Oak Bay, Archives. Retrieved from https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives/news_feed/june-2024-in-the-archives [date accessed].

Sorted by year then name

Here are some things to consider when thinking about offering your records to Oak Bay Archives:

Transfer of Ownership

• Donors are required to transfer physical ownership of records to the District of oak Bay (Archives). This also applies to the original/master copies of electronic records.
• We do not normally accept copy loans (where the original is retained by the donor).
• The transfer of ownership ensures that the District of Oak Bay owns the records, is responsible for their custody, and can preserve and make the records accessible for current and future generations.
• To ensure their preservation, security and authenticity, once records are donated to the Archives, they may not be removed from the custody of the Archives. If original records are still required for operational purposes, they are not ready for donation to the Archives.

Transfer of Copyright

• The intellectual rights of records creators are protected under Canadian Copyright law.
• Copyright cannot be transferred, but owners are encouraged to waive their moral rights (i.e. the exercise of copyright) to the District of Oak Bay (administered by the Archivist) for the purposes of providing: access to the records; copies of records to researchers; and permission to reproduce copies.
• The waiving of copyright ensures that the records can be used by researchers for many different purposes without the Archivist needing to refer every researcher back to the donor.

Placing restrictions on records

• Oak Bay Archives promotes open access to the records it holds. However, sometimes restrictions are necessary. The Archivist will work with donors to determine appropriate restrictions.
• Records are restricted for specific limited reasons and for a specific period of time, and are opened for research when that time expires. Procedures for permitting exceptional access before the expiration date will also be established.
• Excessive conditions or duration of restrictions will not normally be accepted by the Archives. If the records are not intended for eventual public access, subject to Canadian and provincial legislation and via the usual policies and procedures of the Archives, they are not ready for donation to the Archives.

Adapted from https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/donate/consider.html

another good example: https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2018/01/so-you-want-to-donate-your-documentary-collection-to-an-archives/

= = = = =

Donations: an archivist’s questions

Some information to put together before approaching an archivist about a potential donation. Please do get in touch at any time in your deliberation if you need further information or advice about any of these things, especially physical formats or ownership/rights issues.

* What is in the collection, and how much is there? e.g. 4 banker's boxes of family diaries, letters, photographs and business records from the family of Joe and Lois Bloggs, who ran the Avenue Luncheonette on Oak Bay Avenue in the 1940s and 1950s and lived at 234 Hampshire Rd (fictional).

* What are the main subjects of the collection: people, organizations, places, events

* How old is the collection, from what dates? e.g. 1910-1930s

* Is it published or original material, or a mix? Examples of published material: printed books, newspaper and magazine cuttings, postcards. Original material: most photographs, hand written letters, diaries, households accounts. Does it include objects?

* What is the history of the collection? Who created the materials, and how did they arrange, store, and use them?

* What is the creator’s and/or collection’s relationship to Oak Bay? What does this material tell us about Oak Bay’s history? This might be the history of one person, family, house/property, business, or organization. There needs to be some connection to Oak Bay, but all the material in the collection does not need to be directly related to Oak Bay.

* Is the collection yours to donate? Do you own the physical material and the copyright and other rights in this material? Are there any rights or ethical issues to consider?

* Are you still using the materials in the collection? have they ever been published?

* What is the physical condition of the materials, where have they been stored?

* What formats are the materials in? e.g. loose papers, bound manuscript ledgers, loose photographs, bound photograph albums, electronic records stored on floppy discs or flash drives, wax cylinders, framed photos, folded or rolled large-format maps, plans or drawings, works of art on paper.

* Are there any restrictions on access to the materials? (privacy, confidentiality etc)

* Are there any student records, financial records, medical records, or legal case files relating to third parties in the collection?

* Are there any other copies of the materials (e.g. duplicate original photo prints)? If so, where/with whom?

* Are there any other potential owners, donors or archive repositories interested in the materials?

Contact:

Email: archives@oakbay.ca

Tel: 250-598-3290

Post & in person: Oak Bay Archives, Municipal Hall

2167 Oak Bay Avenue, Victoria, British Columbia V8R 1G2

Archivist: Anna Sander, BA, MPhil, MScEcon