Collection search - Civil Secretary, records relating to Rebellions. Upper Canada [textual record]

Record information – Brief
1
Civil Secretary, records relating to Rebellions. Upper Canada [textual record]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

1837-1839, 1841, 1846-1847.

Reference:

R14571-0-1-E, RG5-B36, RG5-B44, RG5-B43, RG5-B41, RG5-B40, RG5-B39, RG5-B38, RG5-B37

Type of material:

Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

105220

Context of this record:

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Civil Secretary, records relating to Rebellions. Upper Canada
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Record information – Details

Fonds includes:

8 lower level description(s)
View lower level description(s)

Date(s):

1837-1839, 1841, 1846-1847.

Place of creation:

Ontario

Extent:

0.785 m of textual records.

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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The special files of records relating to the Rebellions of 1837-1838 consist of minutes of proceedings for the trials conducted by the magistrates, 1837-1838, and the proceedings of the militia courts martial, 1838-1839, for the London District (series B 36 and B 37); contemporary copies of the 1839 proceedings in the Court of Queens Bench in England resulting in the release of ten out of twenty three men from the Niagara District intended for transportation to Australia (series B 38); records of the inquiry into the conduct of Colonel John Prince at the Battle of Windsor, 1839 (series B 39); proceedings of the courts martial at Fort Henry, Kingston, 1838-1839 (series B 40 and B 41); and documents relating to the prosecution of Alexander McLeod for the destruction of the CAROLINE, 1841 (series B 43). Only a small number of claims for losses incurred during the Rebellions and returns of claims submitted, 1846-1847, were segregated as series B 44. Other claims may be found elsewhere, notably in the Provincial Secretary's numbered correspondence files (RG 5, C 1).

Provenance:

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Upper Canada. Civil Secretary. Records relating to the Rebellions

Biography/Administrative history:

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Upper Canada. Civil Secretary. Records relating to the Rebellions : Proceedings of treason trials, reports from the judicial authorities, opinions of the Law Officers of the Crown on sentences rendered in the (civil and military) courts and a variety of related documents arising from the prosecution of those implicated in the Rebellions of 1837-1838 were forwarded to the Lieutenant Governor. After consulting these records, as well as the Governor-in-Chief at Quebec and his own Executive Council, the Lieutenant Governor either confirmed the court sentences or authorized issuance of conditional pardons commuting capital sentences from death to banishment or penal transportation and unconditional pardons remitting such legal penalties as the forfeiture of personal property.

Finding aid:

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Textual records (Electronic) The shelf lists in the Guide for RG 5 identify the reel numbers for the seven series which have been microfilmed and provide descriptive detail to the file title level. An index or table of contents is found within some volumes, as noted below. The names of individuals tried have been indexed in the General Index and in Finding Aid 910. MSS2434 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/p000003161.pdf

Textual records (Electronic) The finding aid is a guide to sources on the Rebellions of 1837-1838 and includes a nominal index to certain major series of records relating to the prisoners tried for treason in Upper and Lower Canada, as well as an annotated copy of the bibliography of manuscript sources which had appeared in the Report of the Public Archives of Canada for 1939, pages 65-82. That bibliography offers only a summary description of the documents acquired by the Archives prior to 1938, without explanation of the relationships amongst series of records, but does indicate the variety and range of documentation available. The finding aids for specific series offer some explanation of their inter- relationships. MSS0910 (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000001757.pdf

(Electronic) All or some of the documents described have been digitized and are available at the following address: (90: Open)
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_105220

Textual records (Paper) This fonds is available in the General Index (or, card cabinets) in the Reference Services room, 2nd floor, 395 Wellington in Ottawa. These cards are arranged alphabetically by collection and include names, places and subjects. The collections are from various time periods between the 1600s and the early 1980s. (90: Open)
http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/genealogy/Pages/general-index.aspx

Additional information:

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Custodial history:

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The segregation of some records in separate series while other documents remain in the primary series of submissions to the Executive Council (RG 1, E 3) and correspondence received (RG 5, A 1 and C 1) is difficult to explain from available evidence. It is probable that the Civil Secretary, in preparing copies of documents to be enclosed with the Despatches to the Colonial Office, kept these records separate. Abstracts, extracts or full copies of trial proceedings and of opinions from the Law Officers, returns or lists of prisoners, and petitions from convicts are found as enclosures to the Despatches (see MG 11, Colonial Office 42 and the "duplicate" despatches in MG 40, A 2). Selected despatches and their enclosures were subsequently printed with the British Parliamentary Papers: Colonies, Canada, volumes 12 and 13.

Petitions on behalf of convicts and opinions of the Law Officers were most often retained with the Submissions to the Executive Council (RG 1, E 3), or with the Upper Canada Sundries (RG 5, A 1). Some trial proceedings are found with the Submissions. A variety of records relating to the Niagara district were retained by the Sheriff, A. Hamilton and are now found with his papers (MG 24, I 26, volumes 46-47 and 65). Records of expenditures for apprehending, transporting, imprisoning and executing the prisoners are found with the audited Public Accounts (see RG 1, E 15 B).

Availability of other formats note:

All series except the losses claims (B 44) were microfimed in December 1980, with the inventory entry and shelf lists describing them as a preface to each series, and are available on reels C-15688 to C-15691.

Source:

Private

Former archival reference no.:

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RG5-B36
RG5-B44
RG5-B43
RG5-B41
RG5-B40
RG5-B39
RG5-B38
RG5-B37
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Conditions of access:

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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]
Series which have been microfilmed are now withdrawn from circulation as a protective conservation measure. Researchers must use the microfilm for consultation and for reproduction purposes.

Finding aid box [FA 910] 87

[Consultation 10 Closed]

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Date modified:: 2024-05-10