Quebec, Lower Canada, Upper Canada, Canada. Civil Secretary to the Governor : While a governor communicated with colleagues in other jurisdictions and with senior officials in his own name, letters and petitions from individuals (even when addressed to the governor) were responded to by the Secretaries on his behalf. By convention, despatches from colleagues were filed separately from general correspondence, and the replies were recorded in separate entry books. Matters relating to the civil administration of the province were handled by the Civil Secretary and those relating to military affairs by the Military Secretary. The superintendence of Indian affairs was at various times classed as a matter of civil or military administration; the appropriate Secretary to the governor preserved the correspondence and letter books in separate series.
Distinctions between the responsibilities of various offices are often not readily apparent. While the Private Secretary was on the personal staff of the Governor and the Civil Secretary was part of the permanent staff of the province, on occasion one individual held both offices. Continuity of operations was provided by the Civil and Military Secretaries remaining in office while Governor succeeded Governor. Of much greater import for record-keeping at this period was the imprecise demarcation of responsibilities between the Civil Secretary and the Provincial Secretary. A further layer of confusion was added when through plurality of office-holding a Secretary took responsibility for widely varying functions but did not maintain separate record series for each (see RG 4, A 1 and RG 5, A 1).
The practice of preparing duplicate entry books, such that a governor might retain one set for future personal reference, extended to the Secretaries' letter books. Examples (albeit from the periods of Lower and Upper Canada) of these private copies are found in the Robert Prescott fonds (R6918, formerly MG23-GII17) and in the Peter Hunter collection (R2456, formerly MG24-A6). Where the official record has not survived, such private volumes take on a new significance.
The primary function of the Civil Secretary to the Governor-in-Chief was to support the civil administration in the province through the management of correspondence. This included receipt and acknowledgement of petitions, memorials and applications for office; preparation and recording of replies; transmission of messages and documents to and from the Legislature; referral of petitions to the appropriate public departments; and preparation of those licences to which the governor's Privy Seal was affixed.
At the Union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1841, the division of responsibilities between the Civil Secretary and the Provincial Secretary was refined; further clarification occurred with the evolution of responsible government, shifting authority to the Provincial Secretary. Records relating to the superintendence of Indian Affairs - a responsibility assigned at various times to the Civil or the Military Secretary - were maintained separately. Despatches exchanged by the Governor and the Colonial Office were maintained as distinct series; despatches exchanged with fellow governors and other senior officials might be formed into distinct series or included with the letters handled by the Civil Secretary on behalf of the governor. The various and complex responsibilities of the Civil Secretary and the evolution of his functions are reflected in the records of which he was custodian.
