The Colony of Vancouver Island was established in 1849, had an appointed Council in 1851, and finally an elected House of Assembly in 1856.
Two years later, in November 1858, the Colony of British Columbia was officially established. This Colony was ruled by proclamations of the Governor until its first Legislative Council met in 1864.
In 1866, the Colony of Vancouver Island and the Colony of British Columbia became one colony - the united Colony of British Columbia.
1871
The first statute revision for the united colony took place in 1871. The Laws of British Columbia, Revised, 1871 (available in resource and regional libraries) was a new edition of the laws for the colony of British Columbia, in force April 27, 1871.
It includes a Table of Laws, which is divided into three sections, reflecting the fact that until 1867 the colonies had separate legislative systems. The first section is the Laws of the formerly separate Colony of Vancouver Island, the second is the Laws of the formerly separate Colony of British Columbia, and the third is the Laws of the Colony of British Columbia since the Union.
In order to find an act in this table, first find the correct jurisdiction, and then find the act as it is listed in chronological order.
In this Revision of the Laws of British Columbia, the Revised Statutes Act, 1871, No. 163, section 4, designates one printed copy to be sealed with the Great Seal and deposited in the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court, with such copy to be the original of such corrected edition of the Acts, Ordinances and Proclamations of British Columbia.
This revision is cited both as RSBC 1871 and RLBC 1871.
On July 20, 1871, British Columbia entered Confederation as the sixth province in the Dominion of Canada.
1877
According to the Commissioner's Note, the Consolidated Statutes of British Columbia, 1877 (available in resource and regional libraries) revised and consolidated the laws for the province of British Columbia, in force on May 7, 1877.
This revision can be cited as CSBC 1877.
However, the Consolidated Statutes Act, 1877, CSBC 1877, chapter 1 does not have a section designating one copy to be sealed and deposited as the original copy of the laws. Therefore, it seems that these Consolidated Statutes were less of a revision, and more of a convenience copy of the consolidated acts.
The Table of Laws at the beginning of the volume states that the abbreviation RS indicates the Revised Statutes of 1871.
1888
The Consolidated Acts, 1888 (available in resource and regional libraries) came into force on February 7, 1889, as per the Act Respecting the Consolidation of the Statutes, SBC 1889, c. 1.
Section 1 of this act does designate one printed copy to be sealed with the Great Seal and deposited in the Office of the Provincial Secretary, to be the original copy of the Statute Laws of British Columbia.
This revision may be cited as CA 1888.
An explanatory note at the end of the Table of Contents states that the abbreviation RL indicates the Revised Laws of British Columbia, 1871 (available in resource and regional libraries). The CSBC 1877 is not referred to in this revision.
See also: When did the revised statutes of BC come into force?
- British Columbia Concordance to Pre-Confederation Acts (available in the Vancouver courthouse library).
- Part B of the Revised Statutes of British Columbia, 1979, Appendices, Volume 7 (available in resource and regional libraries), contains constitutional documents from the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia to 1871.
- Part C of the Revised Statutes of British Columbia, 1979, Appendices, Volume 7 (available in resource and regional libraries), contains constitutional documents for the Province of British Columbia to 1975.