For much of the period from the establishment of civil government in 1764 to the union in 1841, the offices of Civil Secretary to the Governor and Clerk to the Executive Council were held in plurality by one man. The offices of Civil and of Provincial Secretary were briefly held in plurality by John Ready, 1820-1822. The "S Series" reflects the broad range of responsibilities undertaken by the Civil Secretary and the Clerk to the Executive Council, both in those capacities and in other minor offices such as Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. Incoming correspondence, petitions, reports and other documents received by the Civil Secretary on behalf of the Governor, with some drafts of replies, are the backbone of the "S Series". The drafts and copies of Minutes of Council, petitions and reports submitted to Council, and other records created or accumulated by the Clerk to the Executive Council run parallel to the Secretary's correspondence. The series also consists of 3867 postal covers covering the period from 1759 to 1846, which were in most cases mailed from villages in Lower Canada. There are major examples of postmarks used in Lower Canada for the period 1763 to 1841. Straight-line postmarks are well represented, with covers from Berthier (1786-1829), Chambley (1822), Coteau du Lac (1829), Drummondville (1819-1829), Dundee (1830), L'Assomption (1826), La Prairie (1829), Montreal (1781-1828), Quebec (1781-1809), Shipton (1821-1824), St. Denis (1828), Three Rivers (1782-1828) and William Henry (1812-1815). Manuscript postal markings (1764-1841), double circles (1829-1841) and broken circles (1829-1841) are all present in the series. The "horseshoe" type postmark for Philipsburg (1815-1828), Quebec city "fleurons" (1812-1831) and "Bishop's" (1784-1787) are also well represented. Of particular interest are the first manuscript postal markings for Montreal [M] (1765-1773), the only examples of straight-line postmarks for Terrebonne [TerreBonne] (1826) and the way office Isle Bourdon (1829).
