Archives

OAK BAY BUILDING PERMIT RECORD :

click here to download Excel file - ordered by street address

click here to download Excel file - ordered by permit number

Updated 22 March 2024

Explanatory notes

This Excel file contains Oak Bay building permit data up to 12 January 1955 (permit numbers 1 to 7684), and a few permits beyond that date, usually for additions or changes to existing houses.

A review of the building permits in this file is underway, checking entered data and adding street notes. Progress: to permit 966 as of March 2024.

Data entry and notes by Paul Maurenbrecher, volunteer at Oak Bay Archives.

Oak Bay Archives has five building permit ledgers:

1. Permits # 24 - 4649 (21 May 1909 - 15 Sep 1942) - browse online here

Notes:

• There are two permits numbered 85.
• On p.9 of Vol 1, during 1932, the permit sequence skips from 2900 to 2951. The missing 2901-2950 appear in April-August 1933.
• On p. 46 of vo1. 1, no. 3815 is out of sequence, following 3812 on the preceding page instead of following 3814.

2. Permits # 4650 - 7151 (29 Sep 1942 - 29 May 1953) browse online here

3. Permits 7152 - 9592 (1 Jun 1953 - 28 Aug 1959) browse online here

4. Permits 9593 - 12083 (1 Sep 1959 - 9 Dec 1965 ) browse online here

5. Permits 12084 - 15474 (13 Dec 1965 - 17 Sep 1971) browse online here

Oak Bay Archives also has a cash book (ledger) containing similar information to the permit books for a limited period: permit numbers 1 (19 Sep 1908) to 3750, and 3880 to 3904.

Data for houses before 1908 with no permits are given a permit number of 0. This will allow these houses to appear before 1908 when sorted by permit number. They are listed at the end of the sheet showing the building permit entries.

Data for permits 1 to 23 was entered from the cash book. The cash book does not include the name of the building contractor.

The entries for the number of buildings, material, number of storeys, purpose of building, number of rooms & estimated cost are taken from the cash book, up to building permit # 1757. From permit 1758 onwards, this information was also added to the permit books. The estimated cost was included in the permit books from permit 1209 onwards.

Street names and numbers listed are the current ones. The original street name and number in the permit book, if different, are also shown. Current street names and numbers, if not correct in the permit books, are usually taken from appraisal cards or subsequent permits with same map, block & lot numbers. The street name is listed in the permit book but usually not the type of street (e.g. street, avenue, place, drive...). These are added in accordance to present day usage. If the original street number is not given in the permit book, the current number is added in italics. House numbers for the earlier permits were usually not entered although many were added in later in ink or pencil (see notes column under street & number; this column being updated). House numbers were usually added from permit 1015 onwards. A separate column for house numbers was added to the permit books from permit 1758 onwards.

Other data may conflict with current records, especially map, block and lot numbers. Since this is an index of the original permit records, the original data is included. Current data is often added between brackets or in the notes columns. Other added information is also added between square brackets.

Plumbing, sewer & electrical permits contained in the permit books are not included. If there is a separate line entry for plumbing & sewer, these are included so owner and house location data can be included. If given, the name of the plumbing or sewer contractor is placed in the contractor column. Often no (exact) date is included in the permit book. In this case the date for the preceding building permit is entered. When the date entered is different from the preceding building permit, the exact location of the entry is given in the 'Notes' column.

Data for pre-1908 houses and any houses with no permit number were taken from small appraisal card unless otherwise noted.

The permit book sometimes uses 'wf' as an abbreviation for 'with' (first noted in 1937 permits). In this record 'with' is used throughout.

The permit book has several columns to define the building location. Initially there were six: Section, Map, Sub-division, Block, Lot, Sub-lot (the cash book has four columns: Lot, Block, Section, Subdivision/Map). The sub-division and sub-lot columns were mainly used as overflow columns. Sub-lot information was mainly to define a particular part of the lot (e.g. W, S, Sly [i.e. abbreviation of southerly] half, ...). The sub-lot column was discontinued after permit 1127 (it was converted to estimated cost). The sub-division column was discontinued from permit 1758 onwards. In this file any information included in the sub-lot column is incorporated in the lot column.

The buildings at the Exhibition Grounds (Carnarvon Park area, formerly bounded by Neil, Eastdowne, Fair and Henderson) existed until demolished in 1949. They were also known as the Willows Fair Grounds, but to keep all such entries together, the term "Exhibition grounds" is used for the street name.

This file contains four additional columns:

- column T: the architect's or designer's name is added if known from other sources. The names were not listed in the permit books.

- column U: d or m is added if the house has been demolished or moved to another location within Oak Bay or out of Oak Bay. Demolition information is taken from small appraisal cards or the Oak Bay Archives demolition binder. This data is not up to date.

- column V: x or s is added if the house is included in Stuart Stark's book on Oak Bay's Heritage Buildings: More than just bricks and boards. 1995 printing, Hallmark Society.

- column W: x is added if the house is included in the Archives Residental Database. The database contains more detailed information about the house.

This file also contains an additional single line shaded header. This allows the space above this header to be easily erased and then the data in the file can be sorted easily.

"UVic file" refers to Architectural plans of Samuel Maclure and other architects, an inventory prepared in 1993 and stored at UVic. "McCann file" refers to an Excel file kept in the archives. Reference is also made to the book Building the West by Luxton (contains information about early architects in British Columbia).

Publications referred to:

The Life and times of Victoria architect P Leonard James. Rosemary James Cross. Dear Brutus Publishing. Victoria. 2005. 220 p. [927.2 JAM]

Oak Bay's Heritage Buildings: More than just bricks and boards. Stuart Stark. Hallmark Society. Updated for 1994.

CRD Art Deco and Moderne. Donald Luxton.

The Artistry of Art Deco. Mary Conley. 2018. published by Mary Conley. Victoria. 114 p.

Building the West: the early architects of British Columbia. Compiled & edited by Donald Luxton. Talon Books. 2003. 560 p.

St Patrick Street Oak Bay - Oak Bay Avenue to Brighton Avenue, an architectural & social history. Robert Taylor & Janet Morningstar. 2018. Published by Perivale and Taylor Consulting Inc. Vancouver & Victoria, Canada, London, UK. www.perivaleandtaylor.com.

Built by Luney Bros. Ltd. by Nancy J Hughes. Wildflower Publishing House, Victoria. 2010.172 p.

Note about street numbering from 1910-11 Henderson's Greater Victoria City Directory

The system of numbering adopted by the City of Victoria is that known at the Philadelphia or Decimal System. By this system an even hundred numbers are allotted to each block and the principal advantage of the system is that the number indicates how many blocks distant it is from any given point on the street or avenue.

A number is allotted to every 20 feet.

All short streets take their numbers from the through streets, and correspond with them.

The odd number are on the south and east sides of streets.

Dallas Road is taken as the base for all streets running northwards starting at 1 and going northwards 100 to the block to Tolmie Avenue, the northern boundary of the city.

The number at the intersection of Fort Street being 1100.

Streets running eastwards are numbered from an imaginary base line extending from the Outer Wharf to Harrie Street, starting at 1 and going eastwards 100 to the block to the eastern boundary of the city.

The number at the intersection of Douglas Street being 700.

Victoria West - Streets running north and south are numbered from Victoria harbor at a base starting at 100 thence northwards 100 to the block to Victoria Arm. Westbound streets are numbered from Point Ellice bridge as a base westwards 100 to the block to the western boundary of the City.

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

Collection descriptions & finding aids

• List of community records
• Reference library catalogue
• Reference files index
• Oak Bay Building Permits index (to 1955)
• 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

• 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

Municipal Hall Foyer displays

• 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
  • 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 -

[If you find the display font small for reading, try pressing Ctrl and + on your keyboard.]

This post was first published in October 2021 - now updated to spring 2024.

The Archives are open to volunteers, visitors or researchers in person, with drop-in hours on Tuesdays 10-1, and appointments available morning and afternoon on Tuesdays and Fridays. Here are contact details for all enquiries and research appointments: email, post and phone.

Planning ahead: before visiting the Archives, you will have made an appointment in advance by emailing archives@oakbay.ca or calling 250-598-3290 and receiving confirmation of your appointment time. This is also worth doing even if you're planning to drop by on a Tuesday morning.

Making appointments is mostly new for Oak Bay Archives, but usual/required in many archives. Our space for visitors is smaller than before, and we want to make sure researchers are able to make the most of their time. Here's a quick photo orientation to the new layout of Oak Bay Archives, following Municipal Hall renovations in 2021:

As before, the Archives office and reading room are at the front of the lower floor of Municipal Hall.

From the outside, the Archives windows are the two at lower right, indicated by the yellow oblong above. Step-free access to the Archives is, as before, via the entrance on the side nearest Athlone Court, indicated by the yellow arrow above.

Access via the side entrance is operated by staff key fobs only, so you will need to ring the doorbell or call 250-598-3290 when you arrive, and the Archivist or an Archives volunteer will meet you at the door and accompany you to the Archives.

You can also access the Archives from the main foyer upstairs; if you have an appointment, ask at the main reception desk. Staff will call down to the Archives and the Archivist or an Archives volunteer will come upstairs to meet you and accompany you to the Archives.

Please note, there is no elevator or other step-free access indoors between the two floors. For step-free access to the Archives, please come to the side entrance on the ground floor.

The internal entrance to the Archives is no longer via the double doors immediately inside the side door, but at the end of the hall. This was the 'staff entrance' to the Archives before and is now the main (only) entrance. There is a single washroom nearby.

At the reception/reference desk, you'll sign in and receive the paperwork and orientation you need to get started. If you've made an appointment or called ahead with your query, we will already know about your topic of interest from appointment correspondence or conversation, and will have your first box or file of archival material ready for you. This room used to be the processing area and archivist's office, and is now the searchroom.

The big table in the searchroom is large enough for maps, drawings, large reference books etc. Normally this table is for one user at a time. Does only one person need so much space? Imagine having a laptop, digital camera, a reference publication or two, and just one map or house drawing on that surface. It will fill up quickly! We need to allow enough space per researcher that all files and documents have enough room on the table without getting piled on each other, getting mixed up, or hanging over the edge.

Reference files of cuttings and other printed sources for people, places and events in Oak Bay history are in the big vertical file cabinets by the copier. You will be able to consult the Archivist or reference volunteer on duty about scanning or photocopying requests.

The reference library, with sections for published works about the history and architecture of Oak Bay, Greater Victoria, Vancouver Island, and BC, plus biographies and memoirs by and about Oak Bay people, and a general section on heritage buildings, is in the other room along with the archivist's office area. This area also houses the printed city directories for most years 1956-1998.

While the big windows to the front lawn are familiar, we also have a new window and a new wall! The window between the searchroom and the office improves sightlines between the two rooms, especially when the connecting door is closed, and the new wall separates the office and reference area from the new offices created in what was the large meeting room across the whole front of this floor. The connecting door is unchanged, as is the footprint of the office and reference area.

Above, the new wall. In the reference area you will find another table/work station and the reference library. Did you know the reference library catalogue is online? Click here to browse our holdings. Search by keyword, or sort and browse the collection by clicking on the column headings - Author, Title etc.

All researchers at the Archives are invigilated, which means that the Archivist or duty volunteer is always on hand at the reference desk to answer questions, help you to find useful reference works, return archival material you've finished using and bring your next box or file, and assist you with correct handling, especially of large or fragile items.

When your research session is finished, you'll return your archival and reference materials and complete any copying request forms etc. Once you're ready to leave, the Archivist or duty volunteer will accompany you to the exit. Please make sure you have all your belongings with you as you go, as the door will lock behind you!

On the other side of what's now the inner room is the Archivist's office. In the foreground you can see some recent accessions awaiting processing - listing, describing, arranging and packaging - before being moved to the repository for storage.

What was it like before? Let's go back in time... click here for the pre-2021 photo tour

But what about the archives? Where are all the boxes and volumes on shelves? Where's the map chest? Still here, but the renovations gave us some more storage space! This means that now all reference material is in the searchroom, and all archival material is in the repositories. The archives are still on site at Municipal Hall and are produced to the searchroom on request.

Part of one archives repository, showing different box formats and unboxed ledger volumes.

Teachers: Interested in incorporating archival records, historic photographs, maps, local history into lesson plans? Wondering how to connect school classes with archives during the pandemic? Please get in touch!

Researchers: Doing a house history, genealogy or local history research? Please get in touch! News and highlights will appear here on Connect Oak Bay and on Twitter, and new research resources on the Archives pages of the Oak Bay website.

Donors: Thinking of giving historic records to Oak Bay Archives? Thank you! Please have a look at the BC Archives' donations guidelines at https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/assets/Donating-records_Brochure_BCA2018.pdf. Most of this is relevant to any archival donation - translate 'BC' to 'Oak Bay' of course!

Website: https://www.oakbay.ca/archives

Photo Search: https://www.oakbay.ca/our-community/archives/photographs-view

Blog posts: https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives

Email: archives@oakbay.ca

Phone: 250-598-3290

- Post by Anna Sander, updated April 2024.

Some highlights from 17.5 hours/week at Oak Bay Archives in 2023:

Arrangement & Description (Cataloguing):

• Local history reference files: index new online here
• Local history reference files: 8 large drawers reversed for easy access and filing
• Community records @Oak Bay Archives: live and updatable list now on Connect here Formerly a list of 6 items, now 125, more to come.
• MemoryBC: arranging, describing and digitizing several small previously unprocessed collections of mostly photos, and uploading draft fonds descriptions to MemoryBC.
• OBA PR 104 Harold & Sally Francis photos: new detailed listing of online here
• archivist successfully completed AABC course on managing oral history collections, projects and programs
• OBA PR131 Logan Mayhew House plans etc updated file list new online here
• OBA PR 231 Dr Larry McCann's research papers about John Olmsted's design of the Uplands and many other planned suburbs, file list new online here
• Marion Cumming books: received a donation of books and papers for the archives reference files and library from Marion Cumming's estate. The books are in the archives' online library catalogue https://www.librarything.com/catalog/OakBayArchives(External link) and featured in an MH foyer display over the summer.

Digitization:

• OBA PR 132/01 Kootenays photo album online View on Flickr
• OBA PR 132 Burgess diary digitized, transcribed, and posted online: a 353-page, 40,000 word diary written by Mrs Mary Burgess of Bentinck Ontario in 1907-1908, during part of the time she and her husband spent in Central/North Saanich helping their daughter and her husband establish their farm and care for their then 2 small children. More about the transcription project here.
• OBA PR 104 Francis photos (150 images) online View here
• OBA PR 198 Bert Howell photo collection: continuing work on several hundred individual film negatives and glass plates from the 1900’s to 1920’s. Bertram Howell (1877-1972), formerly of Marrion St., was an Oak Bay electrician and prolific photographer.

Outreach:

• Attended Heritage Foundation meetings throughout the year
• Created a new Archives leaflet
• provided binder "On the Street Where You Live" for St Patrick street party, containing extracts from city directories 1910-1998, index of building permits for the street 1909-1971, list of street names & changes, archives leaflet.
• virtual class visit with the Grade Fours at GNS
• featured in the ‘Tea With’ article in the spring Tweed magazine (p.18)! While press interviews are not a standard thing for municipal staff, this one was a good way to introduce what would normally be my rather more public-facing face, and get some information about the archives out into the community.
• Display, MH foyer and online: using digitized historic city directories for local history research
• Display, MH foyer and online: Marion Cumming gift

Volunteer program:

• preparation for restarting in-person Archives visits, Archives volunteers and enquirers back on site - full revision of the volunteers' handbook (previous version 2013) and creating additional policy & procedure documents, project descriptions etc, to form an archives volunteer program structure.
• meetings in April & June with Archives volunteers, Director and Deputy Director of Corporate Services, Cllr Watson (Archives Liaison)
• restarted monthly volunteers' bulletins

The archives reopened to researchers in person by appointment 9.30-4 Tuesdays and Fridays at the end of June. In mid-July, two archives volunteers returned for weekly work slots. By the end of the year, 4 new regular volunteers had joined us, and several more people had expressed interest in volunteering in the new year.

Volunteer work in 2023 totalled 110 person-hours, and included:

• indexing Oak Bay's historic building permits - continuing an long-standing project
• indexing the contents of demolished-property files transferred from the Building & Planning department - catching up on another ongoing project
• reference files - overhaul & 2 add recent large accessions
• physical numbering of items in a new accession of personal papers
• maps survey: - listing and photographing rolled oversize maps/plans/drawings
• tagging (subject indexing) photos online - remote project
• oral history transcripts - checking/revising

Public drop-in hours resumed on Tuesday mornings 10am-1pm (restoring and extending the pre-2020 Tuesday 9.30-12 slot). There were 14 in-person enquiries in the latter half of 2023, <1 per week and 9% of the year's total.

Some numbers:

• Enquiries: 149. 14 in person, 10 by phone, a couple of letters, the rest (83%) by email
• Images created: 1100
• Images uploaded to Flickr: 11,500
• Blog posts: 14
• Tweets: only about a dozen tweets. X has changed the analytics function so I don't have a sum total of views for this year.
• Flickr views: 27.7K in 2023
• Volunteer e-bulletins: 3

Summary

Change, as usual

Once again, the numbers show a change in emphasis in my work from last year to this. Much of my time in the first half of 2023 was occupied with creating new documentation for a structured archives volunteer program, in preparation for bringing volunteers back on site. The latter half of 2023 has been my first experience at Oak Bay Archives of having volunteers and the researching public back in person. I had 3 different line managers in the course of the year.

Making it work - volunteers & researchers on site in a smaller space

Space-wise, we are now working in the "new normal" - because we no longer have access to the big meeting room that used to adjoin the reference library area, we have max 4 work stations available at any one time, and we only have one table large enough to accommodate maps, plans, or most oversize material. With the archivist and two volunteers working on Tuesday mornings, one drop-in visitor brings us up to capacity! There has not been a great rush of drop-ins; most people seem to have grown used to being able to email or phone in their enquiry and receive an electronic response, with images and more information attached or linked for download.

Increasing Discoverability

Looking ahead, my own work is concentrated as much as possible on improving descriptions of the collections, and making those descriptions accessible - that is, archival cataloguing. An underlying, and related, massive project is a full assessment of the "described-ness" and "findability" of the collections: there is a summary list of most of the holdings, but what exactly is in each box? In many cases the most detailed list of the contents is on the outside of a folder or envelope, rather than in any printed or electronic catalogue, so as I physically open each box and check the contents, I am thinking about questions such as:

• what needs appraisal and weeding?
• does the list on this folder exist elsewhere, or do I need to copy it?
• Does it correspond to the box or folder's contents?
• which collections, files or items have not yet been described in detail?
• what donor/accession information is on record for each collection?
• which collections have photographic elements that need digitising? have some been scanned and not others?
• are any of these items modern prints of copy loans rather than original material in the OBA collections? If so, are they identified as such, and is their source identified? Copy loans should not be accessioned as though they were original archival material - they should be in the reference files.
• are any of these items printed books that should be transferred to the OBA reference library shelves and catalogue?
• which items are in fragile condition and may need conservation repairs?
• What sizes and shapes of files need new acid-free boxes, folders and envelopes?

So far, results and research outcomes of increased descriptions online are still on a small scale, but my anecdotal observation is that there is plenty of substantial content for research and public interest in the collections, and there is a lively research community - professionals, academics, students, local historians, and the researching public - ready to engage with collections as soon as descriptions can be made available.

I hope the increasing visibility and findability of Oak Bay's collections online will encourage enquirers and researchers, and that it will prompt those considering what to do in the long term with their personal, business, or family collections of letters, diaries, administrative records, photographs, drawings, and other forms of textual and visual records to think of Oak Bay Archives as a good option.

- Anna Sander, March 2024

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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, April 2023.

To cite: Sander, Anna. (2023, April). '2023 in review.' [Blog post]. District of Oak Bay, Archives. Retrieved from https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives/news_feed/2023-in-review [date accessed].

Where archives are concerned, there's no such thing as a small leak. One of the archives repositories was affected by a leak elsewhere on the ground floor at Municipal Hall in mid March. Fortunately it was clean water, and only at floor level, i.e. the carpets got wet, and it was discovered and dealt with quickly. The contents of the largest repository were decanted into the search room & other repositories, disrupting volunteer and drop-in hours for the week. Since (of course) no boxes were sitting on the floor, no archive material got wet. Many thanks to the recovery team who dealt with the incident promptly and thoroughly, and to colleagues who helped move boxes and shelving in both directions. A week after the leak, all was back to normal. Temperature and relative humidity are continuously monitored, and rH is back to the usual consistent <50%.

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 12 March.

Enquiries: 9, of which in person 1. People have been getting out into their gardens! and half of March was spring break for many schools and families.

Running total for 2024: 40

On-site volunteer hours logged: 42 (4 volunteers)

Volunteer projects:

• municipal demolished-property files indexing
• historic building permits indexing
• scanning photographs
• physical numbering of hundreds of items in several collections of personal papers, preparatory to cataloguing

Digital images:

• Larry McCann & UVic students' photographic sample of Oak Bay houses by building era, photos taken ca. 2000-2002: 800 of 1700 uploaded so far, scanning and processing of 2nd half underway

Views on Flickr in March: 11.6 K (total 265.3 K by 2 April, since 3 Mar 2022, i.e. a monthly average of about 10,000 views of individual photos).

There are now more than 3,000 publicly viewable photos on the growing Oak Bay Archives Flickr account in addition to the 1300 on the District website. The rest are access and preservation copies. Owing to copyright restrictions and other access conditions, these individual copies can be made available to researchers on request for private study purposes only. They are also used remotely by volunteers working on indexing and tagging projects, and in-house for reference during cataloguing, to minimize light exposure to and handling of the originals.

What are people looking at?

The most-viewed single photo so far is a page from the middle of a Taylor family album, showing several photos in which they visit the Porritt family in Calgary in 1937. I have no idea why this particular photo has had more than 1300 views so far! The rest of the photos in the same album average 30 views each.

The most-viewed album is the big series of photos taken from historic appraisal cards; most individual photos have had several hundred views, and some more than a thousand.

Archivist's work:

• dealing with consequences of the flood
• continuing shelf check & locations register update
• scanning and processing of digital images as above
• scanning and processing access & preservation images of photographs, updating catalogue descriptions of PR 131 Mayhew house papers
• reviewing and updating catalogue descriptions of PR 106 Pattinson family papers
• internal and external enquiries research and responses, facilitating researcher visits, volunteer management & monthly bulletin

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 April 2024.

To cite: Sander, Anna. (2024, April). 'March in the Archives.' [Blog post]. District of Oak Bay, Archives. Retrieved from https://connect.oakbay.ca/archives/news_feed/march-in-the-archives-2 [date accessed].

We're back to normal after last week's little Moisture Incident, so drop-in hours resume tomorrow, 10-1. Kudos to the recovery team and many thanks to colleagues for help with moving boxes and shelving!

With apologies for the short notice, drop-in hours @OakBayArchives tomorrow 12 Mar are cancelled, as the contents of one storage area affected by flooding (small, clean water, dealt with) have been decanted into the search room & other repositories. No archive material got wet.

The affected storage room is the largest, so its shelving and contents are filling up the search room and the aisle in the smaller repositories.

Thanks to prompt response from disaster recovery teams and lots of help from my Municipal Hall colleagues, the affected room has been emptied and drying out is underway.

OBA PR 231 OB Houses 015 742 HAMPSHIRE - from McCann papers, photographic sample of Oak Bay houses by building era, ca. 2000/2001.

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.

Enquiries: 16, of which 4 in person.

Running total for 2024: 30

On-site volunteer hours logged: 45 (5 volunteers)

Volunteer projects:

• municipal demolished-property files indexing
• historic building permits indexing
• reference files overhaul
• physical numbering of hundreds of items in several collections of personal papers, preparatory to cataloguing
• assisting with enquiries research e.g. compiling data from city directories

Digital images:

• Larry McCann & UVic students' photographic sample of Oak Bay houses by building era, photos taken ca. 2000-2002: 500 of 1700 digitized, upload pending further processing

Views on Flickr in December & January: 3.7K (total 253.7 K by 1 Mar, since 3 Mar 2022).

There are now 11,000 photos on the growing Oak Bay Archives Flickr account in addition to the 1300 on the District website.

Archivist's work (66.5h):

• attended AGM of Anglican Diocese of BC's Archives Advisory Committee as their external professional member (starting year 2)
• a print copy of Council minutes 1906-1912 is now available to consult in the Archives searchroom.
• continuing shelf check & locations register update
• scanning and processing of digital images as above, further processing of Annandale collection
• enquiries research and responses, facilitating researcher visits, volunteer management & monthly bulletin

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, 1 March 2024.

To cite: Sander, Anna. (2024, February). 'December & January in the Archives.' [Blog post]. District of Oak Bay, Archives. Retrieved from https://connect.oakbay.ca/admin/projects/archives/news_feed/december-january-in-the-archives [date accessed].

Open hours: The Archives were closed to the public during December, normally a very quiet time for enquiries and a busy time outside the archives for volunteers. The archivist and volunteers returned in the second week of January and had drop-in hours on 4 Tuesday mornings as usual.

Enquiries: in January, 12, of which 2 were research visits in person.

Final total for 2023: 149, a small advance on 2020, 2021 and 2022. Of the 64 enquiries received after the archives opened for visitors in person in July, 15 (23%) were made in person, 11 (17%) by telephone and the remaining 38 (59%) by email. More enquiries by all methods in 2024, please!

On-site volunteer hours logged: 3 in December, 25 inJanuary

Volunteer projects:

• municipal demolished-property files indexing
• reference files overhaul & adding 2 recent large accessions of news cuttings on Oak Bay topics
• physical numbering of items in a new large accession of personal papers
• maps survey: listing and photographing rolled oversize maps/plans/drawings, hitherto undescribed
• tagging (subject indexing) Taylor family photos online - remote project
• oral history transcripts - checking/revising

Digital images:

• Annandale collection numbered, listed, digitization of 105 photos completed

Views on Flickr in December & January: total 247K by 9 Jan, so 14K in Dec-early Jan (a huge spike) and another 2000 to the end of January.

27,722 views of individual photos in 2023, passed 250,000 total views at the end of January.

There are now 11,000 photos on the growing Oak Bay Archives Flickr account in addition to the 1300 on the District website.

Archivist's work:

• PR 131 Mayhew house section 2/10 (plans & drawings) renumbered, description updated and online
• continuing shelf check & locations register update
• processing new accessions
• digitization as above, further processing of Annandale collection
• volunteer management including monthly bulletins, year-end online meeting

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 February 2024.

To cite: Sander, Anna. (2024, February). 'December & January in the Archives.' [Blog post]. District of Oak Bay, Archives. Retrieved from https://connect.oakbay.ca/admin/projects/archives/news_feed/december-january-in-the-archives [date accessed].