O F T H E BUREAU O F ARC H VES FO R TH E PR O V I NC E O F O NT A R I O BY ALEX A NDER FRAS ER ARCHIV I ST ‘ PRI NT ED BY ORDER O F LEG ISLAT IVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO T O R O N T O C O N T E N T S . PAG E . Letter o f T ransmiss ion Scope o f the Bureau Plan o f Work Selections from Co rrespondence On the Deve10p1n en t o f His torical Research Histo ry o f a To wnship FI RST R EPORT O F T H E E E BU R A U O F A RC H IV S . The H o n o u r a b l e G OR G O S S R . &c . E E W . , LL D , o P r emi er of On ta ri . S I R —I n u to b the i r R e , have the ho o r su mit to you following Prelim na y _ port in connection with the recently established Bureau of Archives for the Province of Ontario . b I have the honour to e , Sir , Your obedient servant , ALEX AND E R F RAS E R , ’ ’ Pr ov i n ci a l Ar chzm st . R N Bl 903 st 1 . TO O TO , December , ' Ex reb us a nfi m s erml il io m'ia q uer . R E P O R T O NT A R I O A R C H I V ES ; Pre fa t o ry . The documents appertaining to the history of a country are now classed a u b i m mong its most val a le possess ons . But history has assumed a new ean in t g with the advance of civiliza ion , and , to day , the Records of Government , ’ o im m nce the student s richest mine , share their portance with the ephe eral ’ memorabilia which concern the life of the people . The historian s point of d view has undergone a radical change . A knowle ge of the social conditions o f a nation is a first requisite to the study o r writing of history ; hence the high value now placed upon family papers , diaries , account books , etc . , which f n contain the humble records o social and family life . This change has arise ' naturally from the g i a d u a l widening of the political su il i a g e a n d it s 1 e a c u on . t h e m upon legislation The laws reflect e public n eds , and order to legislate ‘‘ m wisely and intelligently , the social atmosphere and environ ent , the se u en c b t i m o r t n c o f e . a e q s in social development , must e known Hence also he } documentary history in which a traveller ’s j ournal may rank with a political r m m despatch ; and the eason why papers fro private sources , unicipal , edu c a ti o n a l n , and ecclesiastical reports and documents o the one hand , and t v r i . S ate papers on the other , are given a place among public a ch es The o n the e is the raw material for the general historian , the other for history of ' f 1 a m public af airs . Legislation s the expression in legal form of the hopes , b t t n i i ions , and necessi ies of a people . The public archives should fur sh material t o show how political and social exigencies influence the 1 a w s a 1 (1 how 1 ff t he . in tu n , the laws a ect common weal K IN G S F OR D : Looking forward to a time w hen Canadian Archives would v receive further recognition at the hands of the Go ernment , Kings 1 1 m 0 1 . ford wrote (Arch . pp . It is mere co monplace to point o u t that every country acts but with ordinary prudence , and fulfils Sim n a ple duty , when it preserves it archives and the writte ma t er i al on s for its history . So much depends the fact that history be h o f a onestly and truthfully written . Much our person l liberty of the presen t time comes from the consideration of the past . We are ne ver so wise as when we profit by the teaching of experience . Everything to be permanent must be sl owly and gradually pro t d u ce d n h a i . Constitutio s may be granted , but t ey can alone ob n H nce “ c s r t {1 0 m m a n d . e t eng h ti e usa cge They grow to maturity 1 e 1 1 m in n a n d st q m tl e eans of st u dy g their advanceme t , we be watch the i nt u re by kn o wing perfectly the trials and difficul t ies of forme r When the sources o f original info r ma h on - 1 a t u ssi h i s t mu t i s l c t ( all , nquiry is i la ed by it , and the historical st udent w ho has in du stry t o see k o a inv e st i a t 1 o n . u t f cts , pushes g into the remotest sources N T H E R E PO RT O F T H E o . 48 8 B r m ne r m B R YMNE R : As far back as 1 8 2 Douglas y , the late Do inion v s m . Archi ist , foreshadowed the establi h ent of Provincial Bureaus “ In his report for that year he says : The policy of ha v 1 ng one gen era l collection of historical documents a t the seat of the Federal c h Government , and one special to each Province in ea m 1 t s Pr ov m c ia l Capital , is of importance fro various po n V o f of iew . In respect to investigations a general , natur e , all the documents should be together classified t , and accessible , so hat , at the least possible expense those who t o o f desire to study the papers relating the history British, North America should be able to d o so without being compelled to make long and tedious j ourneys in search of the information wanted . the On the other hand , the records of each Province , being in f o r possession of the Provincial Government , are available the use e of those who only seek t o make a special investigation . But ther is another and even more important end to be served . The posses c r sion of documents in dupli ate is a guarantee , to a la ge extent . of fi v . their preser ation from destruction by re Experience , and not t he m the least that of Canada , shows risk fro this cause , by which u t s doc men s have been lost that can never be replaced , and it seem almost impossible to collect again the printed records of the past the history which have thus been destroyed . By the burning of m 1 849 of House of Asse bly at Montreal , in , the whole collection printed and manuscript records contained in the library and depart m ents in the building were swept away . It was only by the greatest exertions and by appeals to the liberality of those who possessed collections o f the papers that single copies of many of them could i m be secured for the Parl a entary Library . The destruction of the o f m public buildings at Fredericton , New Brunswick , the Custo o f the House and of the Court House at Quebec , are other instances danger to which attention is called . In respect to printed docu m ents the loss is very serious , but it need scarcely be pointed out ’ that it is much more so when original manuscripts are destroyed o f ” i ex l sts wh ch no copy . O S C P E o r TIIE B UREAU . m tm v v e st a b l ishm en In assu ing the duties of my appoin ent , in ol ing the o f A e s t i n a "e n t e m a Bureau of rchives for Ontario , the adage f see ed and the few months which have elapsed ha ve pro m v i pressed by the wide field , and with the a r iet ter est s c con erned , and it has been obvious tha t broadly laid in order hat our civil , political , re i - o f m a m N r h story showing the full progress our life y be built upon the . b ' ' s f o r v mu t genealogical data be overlooked , the history o f a n indi idual m y im o f m un have an portant bearing upon the events a co m ity . Useful sugg s ' tl ou e have been found in the systems prevailing in Great Britain and in ‘ of o f v most the States the Union , as well as in the course pursued by the G o ernment f s o Nova Scotia and Quebec ; but most o f all have I been aided by the 0p 1 n i ons received from students of Canadian history whose accompli ent l tl e d m ments the to be heard with respect .