This series contains records relative to Council and the City Clerk’s office. The First Box is strictly correspondence, alphabetically filed and dating from 1903 to 1913. Additional materials are arranged by file code and can be accessed through reviewing the file list.
Records in the Fort William City Clerk’s Files reflect some of the above mentioned legislative requirements, however, this series largely reflects local issues including correspondence relative to Council actions and the administration of the City through its various Boards. The earliest records of the of Fort William Clerks Files consist of correspondence for the Town of Fort William in the early part of the 20th century. These records are alphabetically ordered and cover the period from 1903 to 1913. Latter records are subject-based files organized by a file code. The following titles are in no way exclusive or consistently applied over the span of years for the City Clerks files. They are included here to reflect the variety and scope of issues addressed by the Clerk.
File headings include the following: Auditorium, Board of Education, Bridges, City Statistics, City Hall, Complaints, Court of Revision, Council, Court of Revision – Voters List, Elections, Fort William Gardens, General Correspondence, District Officer of Health, Health, Housing, Historical, Hydro-Electric Commission, Industry, Legislation, Local Improvements, Loch Lomond, Public Utilities, Railways, Rinks, Royal Visit, Streets, Street Railway, Tax, Tourists, Town Planning, Transit, Visitors, Vital Statistics, War and Zoning. A detailed file list is available.
In 1949 a report conducted by Stevenson and Kellogg identified the work performed in the Clerks department. In addition to duties already mentioned, the clerk oversaw City insurance matters, performed secretarial duties for Council and its committees (such as the Police Commission and Board of Health) issued marriage licenses, and was responsible for the internal coordination of work between departments as well as the coordination between departments and the committees of Council which managed the City. This last responsibility for the coordination between departments and Council was likely alleviated after the appointment of Sydney H. Blake as City Administrator in January of 1958, his duties being described in By-law 58-1961 to include the control and direction of department heads.
