Collection search - Royal Commission to Inquire into the State of the Records of the Public Departments of the Dominion of Canada fonds [textual record]

Record information – Brief
1
Royal Commission to Inquire into the State of the Records of the Public Departments of the Dominion of Canada fonds [textual record]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

1912-1914

Reference:

R1038-0-3-E, RG33-11

Type of material:

Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

209

Context of this record:

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Royal Commission to Inquire into the State of the Records of the Public Departments of the Dominion of Canada fonds
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Record information – Details

Date(s):

1912-1914

Bilingual equivalent:

Click here

Place of creation:

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent:

1.0 m of textual records

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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Fonds consists of drafts and printed copies of the commission's report; thirty-three appendices to the report, which include minutes of meetings of the commissioners and reports on the state of the records of various departments of the federal government; daily journals and notebooks; correspondence and administrative files.

Provenance:

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Canada. Royal Commission on the Records of the Public Departments

Biography/Administrative history:

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Canada. Royal Commission on the Records of the Public Departments : The Royal Commission to Inquire into the State of the Records of the Public Departments of the Dominion of Canada was established under Order in Council P.C. 3054, 9 November 1912, under the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., c.104, 1906) and on the recommendation of the Secretary of State. The part of the Act under which this Commission was established is not indicated in the Order in Council. The Commission was mandated to inquire into: (a) the state of the records of the different departments of the dominion; (b) the nature and extent of the records; (c) their state of preservation; (d) the use made of them in conducting public business; (e) the state of the buildings and places where the documents are deposited; (f) the space they occupy; (g) the facilities for access to them by government departments and by the public; and (h) the control exercised over these records. The commissioners were Joseph Pope, Ernest Frederick Jarvis, and Arthur George Doughty and the secretary was Francis Joseph Audet.

The Historical Manuscripts Commission was created in 1907 to advise the Dominion Archivist on the operation of the Public Archives of Canada. In 1912 the commission was enlarged as its provincial representation was increased. On 16 October 1912 the members of the commission expressed concern about the lack of cooperation from federal government departments regarding the preservation of their records. The members of the commission were under the impression that much historical material existed in government departments and it recommended that the government appoint a royal commission to investigate and report on this matter. As a result of these concerns, the government established a royal commission on the state of departmental records in November, 1912. (see Order in Council P.C. 788, 17 April 1907 and Order in Council P.C. 3054, 9 November 1912). No hearings were held, but from 11 December 1912 to 28 November 1913 the Commissioners visited the various departments of the federal government in Ottawa. RG33-11 General Inventory

Finding aid:

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Textual records (Electronic) Finding aid 33-8 is a typed and handwritten file list relating to volumes 1-10. 33-8 PDF (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/33-8_209_vols_1-10_open.pdf

Additional information:

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General note:

The Commission's report, dated 3 March 1914 was not tabled in the House of Commons. The report was printed as: Report of the Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire into the State of the Records of the Public Departments of the Dominion of Canada. Ottawa, King's Printer, 1914, 16 p. The text was reprinted as: Report of the Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire into the State of the Records of the Public Departments of the Dominion of Canada (in 1912). Ottawa, King's Printer, 1924, 15 p.
For more information about royal commissions, researchers should consult: Records of Federal Royal Commissions (RG 33) / James Murray Whalen. -- (General inventory series / Government Archives Division). -- Ottawa : National Archives of Canada, 1990).

Source of title:

Order in Council PC 3054, 9 November 1912.

Accruals:

No further accruals are expected.

Source:

Government

Former archival reference no.:

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RG33-11
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Conditions of access:

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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [RG 33 11] 1--10

[Consultation 90 Open]

Terms of use:

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Date modified:: 2024-07-24