Local Archives for Prison and Court Records

 

At the Fireside Chat after my Prison and Court Records talk today for the Ontario Ancestors 2022 conference a gentleman asked about finding prison records for Carleton. I do not have specifics as to the time period in which he was researching nor his ancestor's name.

The first thing to keep in mind is that these records will likely not be digitized, may not be fully accessioned or indexed so searching by your ancestor's name will not yield any results.

My first stop would be the Archives of Ontario. Searching for Carleton + jail yields

• Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre inmate case files: 1939-1957, 1972-1991
• Administrative records of the Ottawa- Carleton Detention Centre: 1860-1991

The second record set seems like a good place to start a search though the Ottawa Jail was a maximum security correctional facility. It includes 61 metres of textual records and 21 reels of microfilm (textual records).

"Series consists of records created and maintained by officials of the Ottawa- Carleton Detention Centre, and its predecessor, the Ottawa Jail, pertaining to the administration of the jail. Records include jail, surgeon's and punishment registers, inmate case files, drug control records, daily count and record books, historical records, and indices."

There are also the County and District Court Judges' Criminal Courts for 1869-1984.

My suggestion would be for the researcher to contact the Archives of Ontario with the specifics in terms of name and date and see if the archives has records to fit his quest. The archivist will let you know if they have records for the place and time period you require or point him to other resources.

Do not forget newspapers — if your ancestor was arrested, it likely made the news.

The Dairy Herd Improvement Association

Cowichan Jersey cows in Nanaimo, September 1957. Photo by Robin Lister

I was recently sorting through some of my dad’s slides and found a collection of square format slides from 1956 to 1958. Some of them were labelled and dated. My dad, Robin Lister, was the supervisor for the Dairy Herd Improvement Association for Duncan-Cowichan, BC from July 1956 to June 1958. 

Vancouver Sun, May 26, 1956, 29.

Dairy Herd Improvement Associations (D.H.I.A) had been know until 1953 as Cow Testing Associations (C.T.A.). Several ads for supervisors for the Provincial Dairy Herd Improvement Associations appear in the newspapers. They were looking for “actual dairy farm experience in B.C.” My dad grew up on a Jersey dairy farm and had been involved in 4H so he would have qualified. 

The Department of Agriculture’s Fifty-First Annual Report for 1956 describes the challenge of finding supervisors on page 46 under “Operations”. 

The continuing difficulty in securing sufficient suitable men for this work prevented expansion. Two short courses of instruction for intending D.H.I.A. supervisors were held at the University of British Columbia during the year, results in each case being most disappointing. One tester was secured at the course held in July and two from the course conducted in November.

Notes for the community of Cheam in the Chilliwack Progress

Further down the page it reports that “R. Lister to Cowichan to replace D. R. O'Brien (resigned).” My guess is that he was the one tester secured at the course held in July. His address was noted in the appendix as Box 1642, Duncan.

His job included milk testing for milk weight and measuring milk fat. It was not a federal program, it was a semi-provincial program for non-registered, non-purebred cows. The results were announced in the newspaper.

The Province, February 21, 1957, 4.

The January 29, 1958 edition of the Province newspaper stated that Robin Lister, and Harry Standen, along with four others were elected as directors of the Cowichan Agricultural Society. The Standen family are featured in some of the photos in this small collection. The photos also include scenic shots as well of friends and, of course, cattle.

While employed by the D.H.I.A, he lived in a cabin owned by Jack and Mabel Fleetwood who later became mainstays of the Cowichan Historical Society. It seemed fitting to donate the collection to the Cowichan Historical Society. I hope the photos help tell the story of the Cowichan valley.

Photo by Robin Lister

Gordon in the snow. Photo by Robin Lister