Papers : 1784-1877.

            As Jonathan Odell was Clerk of the Executive Council and Provincial Secretary from 1784-1812, most of the early documents bear his signature.  He was succeeded in 1812 as Provincial Secretary by his son, William Franklin Odell, and father and son held the same office for 60 years.

His Majesty’s Council of New Brunswick, as established by Royal Proclamation in 1784, was abolished and replaced by His Majesty’s Executive Council of New Brunswick on December 31, 1832. The Council advised the Lieutenant Governor and together were the main decision-makers in the government. Government consisted of a lieutenant governor who represented the king, an executive council, an appointed legislative council, and an elected legislative assembly.                        

            The Papers of the Executive Council, which were selected for microfilming, are a large, varied, and exceedingly rich collection of material on every conceivable subject which came to the attention of the Executive Council or emanated from that body. The subject matter relates to the governance of New Brunswick from the province's inception in 1784 and its early years of growth, broadly encompassing topics of government and politics, and subtopics such as social and family history, citizenship, war, economics, industry, transportation, maritime matters, education, and justice and law.

The following categories of material are included: Clerk of the Executive Council and Provincial Secretary - General Correspondence; Provincial Secretary -General Correspondence and Papers; Forms of Oaths; Oaths Administered; Attorney General - Correspondence; Attorney General - Cases and Opinions; Auctions and Auctioneer; Grain Bounties; Court Houses and Jails; Education - General; Education - UNB; Education - Madras School; Education - Recommendations and Applications; Education - Teachers' Licences, Grants and Allowances; Fisheries - General Correspondence; Fisheries - Bounties; Improvements - General Correspondence and Papers; Inquests; Kings - Death of George III and George IV; Legal Papers, Cases and Proceedings; Supreme Court; Lighthouses;  Lists of Magistrates; Magistrates - Correspondence; Magistrates - Marriage Bonds and Certificates; Members of the Legislative Assembly - Travel Allowance; Mills and Manufacturers; Miscellaneous - Debtors, Ferries and Packet Ships, Loyalists' Boards and Shingles, Postal Service, Religion, Prisoners of War (American) 1812-1813, War of 1812; Naturalization -General; Naturalization - Certificates; Notary Republic; Returns and Statistics; Roads and Bridges; Solicitor General - Correspondence and Papers; Health and Sickness (including references to almshouses, the Department of Health and Wellbeing, disabled persons, Overseers of the Poor, etc.); Poor - Petitions for Assistance; Poor - Correspondence; Poor - Assistance to Seamen; Crime and Pardons; Sheriff's Bonds; Estates - Correspondence; Estates - Intestate Estates; Estates - Memorials and Reports; and "Indians"/native/indigenous people.            

            A combined table of contents and microfilm shelf list is available in print in the corresponding red Loyalist Collection Inventory binder. It is also available as an Electronic Finding Aid Record (linked below). 

FINDING DOCUMENTS:          
1. Use the table of contents/microfilm shelf list, which provides a reel number for each of the named sections (categorised into box numbers).
2. Find the box no. containing your desired content.  Note the corresponding reel no. 
3. Load the reel and advance to correct box.  Each box is separated by a typed title page.            

These documents were all part of RG 2/RS 8 at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. However, the original records in RS 8 have been reorganized by the Provincial Archives since this film was produced. Check for additional PANB reference numbers in the Table of Contents, as they reflect this reorganization.

The typed table of contents, which was microfilmed with the material, is very incomplete and, in some instances, inaccurate. Researchers are advised to use the combined table of contents and microfilm shelf list which is available online (as an Electronic Finding Aid Record) and in print (in the Loyalist Collection Inventory binders).

A second copy of Sheriffs' Bonds is available at MIC-Loyalist FC LPR .N4E9S5.