Primary sources are original sources that first report on research or an idea. In other words, they are documents or records that contain firsthand reports or original data on a topic. Examples of primary sources include:
The BC Historical Newspapers project features digitized versions of 24 historical papers from around the province. The titles, which range from the Abbotsford Post to the Phoenix Pioneer, date from 1865 to 1995. Permitted Uses for this Database
All the issues of the British Colonist (also called The Daily British Colonist, the Daily Colonist, and other variants) from 1858 to 1980; every page is searchable. Permitted Uses for this Database
This digital archive contains the original correspondence between the British Colonial Office and the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia.
This online resource houses a collection of digitized historical photographs and textual documents, including city meeting minutes and organization member lists from museums and archives in the Okanagan region.
If you are in BC or the Yukon, you can access these digitized newspapers for free: The Vancouver Sun (1912-2010), The Times Colonist (1884-2010), and The Province (1894-2010). Permitted Uses for this Database
"Over 3500 original drawings by Len Norris, Roy Peterson, Graham Harrop, Bob Krieger, Dan Murphy, Bob Bierman, Ingrid Rice, and Edd Uluschak published in Canadian newspapers between 1952 and the present."
Highlights include a Ships and Shipping Database with descriptions of more than 13,000 ships either built on the Pacific Coast or with a connection to the Pacific Northwest.
Vancouver Public Library has a comprehensive collection of materials to help with local history research. Much of this material can be found in Special Collections at Central Library and well as online through Digital Local History Resources
Digitized historic records about the history of Vancouver Island. The Vancouver Island portions of the 1881 and 1891 censuses are available for searching, along with various statutes and municipal bylaws, as well as a small selection of maps.
Canada’s most popular archival collections encompassing roughly 40 million pages of primary-source documents.
Associated with other databases, Heritage and Early Canadiana Online Permitted Uses for this Database
It includes first-hand accounts of Samuel de Champlain's voyages in New France as well as the diary from Sir John Franklin's first land expedition to the Arctic, 1819-22.
The Senate and House of Commons Debates, commonly known as the Debates, or Hansard, contain the transcribed, edited and corrected record of full deliberations of both Houses of Parliament and are available in both official languages.
Gateway to a variety of primary and secondary source collections focusing on significant events, time periods and topics in Canadian history: maps, photographs, diaries, letters, paintings, posters, newspapers, political cartoons, official documents, oral history, film, audio interviews and recordings, monographs.
