Royal Roads University Archives

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Construction crew at Hatley Park c. 1908
James Dunsmuir was a businessman and politician made very wealthy by his family’s coal-mining fortune.  In 1905, he started buying the 800 acres of forested ocean-front property where he built the largest private residence on the west coast.  A large crew including sixty stonemasons and twenty-five finishing carpenters completed the forty-room mansion in less than two years. After James retired from public life in 1909, he moved his family into Hatley Park further developing his estate with formal gardens and a model farm before his death in 1920

RCNC cadets practice track and field, c. 1943
In 1940, the Canadian government bought Hatley Park for $75 000 with the intention of building a naval college.  During the decades that followed, the college changed several times:
1941 - 1942 HMCS Royal Roads – provided wartime training to Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve sub-lieutenants
1942 - 1947 Royal Canadian Naval College – provided training to future naval officers
1947 - 1948 Royal Canadian Navy – Royal Canadian Air Force College – Air Force cadets welcomed
1948 - 1967 Canadian Services College Royal Roads – offered the first two years of university-level programs to future Navy, Air Force and Army officers
1967 - 1995 Royal Roads Military College – first RRMC degrees are granted in 1975; first female cadets arrived in 1984

Location: The Archives are in the Royal Roads University Library
Hours: 9:30 - 5:30, Monday - Thursday
Contact: Sarah Elizabeth Holland – Archivist
2005 Sooke Road
Victoria, BC, V9B 5Y2
(250) 391- 2600 ext. 4122
Fax:  (250) 391-2594
RRUArchives@royalroads.ca

What is in the RRU archives?
Archives collect two-dimensional objects that are unique, original, unpublished, non-current records with legal, historical or cultural significance.  Archival records take many forms: photographs, films, video and sound recordings, and electronic data files, as well as more traditional paper records, maps, letters, diaries and documents.

The records of Royal Roads University (1995 -) are our principal concern, however, the Archives also collects, preserves, and makes available original research materials concerning predecessors on the Hatley Park site: Royal Roads Military College and its antecedents (HMCS Royal Roads, Royal Canadian Naval College, Royal Canadian Navy –Royal Canadian Air Force College, Canadian Services College Royal Roads; 1940 – 1994), and the Dunsmuir family at Hatley Park (1907 – 1937.)   The Archives works in partnership with local First Nations people to document their use of the Hatley Park area dating back to 8 000 BCE.

Do you have something that you think belongs in our Archives
The University Archives is grateful to receive any information from within the University or externally, suggesting possible sources of records to complement existing collections.  Please contact the Archivist, Sarah Elizabeth Holland.

Access Policy 
All material must be accessed in the library under direct supervision of the Archive staff.  No original archival materials may be borrowed by users for any purposes. Users must sign a "Researcher Registration Form," accepting responsibility for returning the material in the same condition as received. Special arrangements can be made to reserve a Library seminar room for teaching with archival material.
 
Access to University Records 
Access to University Records is governed by the B.C. Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Records requested will be reviewed for confidential material before release by the University Archivist or Associate Archivist (Records, Access & Privacy), in consultation with the University Secretary and the appropriate University office. In some cases, a Research Agreement will be required.