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The Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property – genealogical documents for Japanese Canadians

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Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property, Héritage Canadiana

Every so often, someone will ask me, “In your travels, do you find documents about Japanese Canadian genealogy?” And I promise, “Not yet. But I will let you know when I do.”

Well, this week, I did. In this post I’ll tell you about how I found The Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property, what records are available, where they are located, and most importantly, a finding aid for navigating the files. The records handled by the secretive and shadowy Office included property held by all persons considered suspicous: Japanese, Chinese, Germans and likely more.

But let’s start at the beginning.

What is the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property?

From 1916-1985, the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property oversaw the seizure and liquidation of enemy property. Initially, it was set up to handle reparations for property owned by Germans, but then its scope broadened with the seizure, property confiscation and internment of Japanese Canadians. Here is a Wikipedia article.

I found it at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) when I was looking for my grandfather’s company, Wing Wah Company. I thought: What is that?

Result of search for Wing Wah Company, Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property, Library and Archives Canada, first accessed 11 Feb 2020

Then I hit the jackpot. I found a paper written by Judith Roberts-Moore on Archivaria, The Journal of the Association of Canadian Archivists: Studies in documents: The office of the Custodian of Enemy Property: An overview of the Office and its Records, 1920-1952. This paper established the framework for my understanding the documents, without which I wouldn’t have been able to draft a Finding Aid.

Where are the fonds of the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property?

Library and Archives Canada

I spoke with Library and Archives Canada on 14 Feb 2020 about these fonds, listed as “RG117-A-3“. There are 100 metres of files, and 183 reels. I requested the Finding Aid which as of this writing hasn’t yet arrived. Note that LAC has done an excellent job of describing these fonds and organizing them into categories, however, there are no digital fonds available to view online. [EDIT: I spoke in haste about what is and what isn’t findable at LAC. I’ll keep you updated in a future post.]

Héritage Canadiana

I also located fonds relating to the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property at Héritage Canadiana. You will find 25 reels comprising just over 59K documents. It is not text searchable. There is no finding aid (that I can find).

Here is their description of the fonds:

The Canadian Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property existed between 1916 and 1985. It derived its authority from the War Measures Act of 1914 and the Trading with the Enemy regulations. It dealt with the property of Canada’s enemies in both World Wars as well as with the seized property of Japanese Canadians. Generally, during the two World Wars, the office’s functions included the seizure and liquidation of enemy property. Between 1919 and 1939, it served the function of administering war claims and reparations. After the Second World War, the Custodian had the responsibility for resolving Canadian war claims.

And here is the site:

Fonds and 25 Reels, Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property, Héritage Canadiana, first accessed 11 Feb 2020, available at http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_135184

Finding Aid – Reels 9299 – 9304

Before I go too much further, let me define the term “finding aid.” From Wikipedia comes this excellent description:

A finding aid, in the context of archival science, is a tool containing detailed, indexed, and processed information about a specific collection of records within an archive. Finding Aids often consist of a documentary inventory and description of the materials, their source, and their structure.

Here is my finding aid to the first section of reels.

To draft this Finding Aid, I have scrolled through and made notes of every reel in groups of 500, including the first and last viewable images in each reel. As of 15 Feb 2020, I have reviewed 6 reels with 25,940 documents. They are filmed more or less in order, with notes about the beginnings of new record sets. These notes are below. These documents are in English.

How to use this Finding Aid

To find your people, use the notes below, then go to the reel on Heritage Canadiana and the closest image number. Surnames are listed in capitals. For example, if you were looking for MISUKO, look for the names beginning with “M” below, which is listed in Reel #C-9301. MISUKO would be between images 2500-3000.

To navigate the reels, use the image dropdown. There is no text search available.

How to navigate the collection, Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property, Vancouver Office: Office Files, Héritage Canadiana, first accessed 11 Feb 2020

Reels C-9299-9304: Alphabetical listings of Japanese Canadians

The first 5 reels are a card catalog, ending in the 6th reel. They are organized from ABE to ZIEGLER. With rare exception, they are cross-referenced with the names and file numbers of their closest family members. They may also list addresses. Most are from BC but there are some from Alberta. There are men, women, children and businesses listed. The 6th reel begins the “X.I. ###” files. See below for more information.

C-9299 – 5044 images – ABE to INOSE

First card in reel C-9299, Héritage Canadiana, first accessed 11 Feb 2020 and available at http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c9299/2?r=0&s=1

C-9300 – 3335 images – INOSE to KOBAYASHI

C-9301 – 5219 images – KOBAYASHI to NAKAO

C-9302 4153 images – NAKASHIBA to SANO

C-9303 5222 images – SANO to URASE

C-9304 3011 images – URASE to ZIEGLER

The “X.I.###” Files

The “X.I. ###” files are collected forms and documents pertaining to the intake and internment of Japanese Canadians. They may contain police and RCMP reports, statements of property, mortgage documents, probate, insurance, internee files, storage invoices, transport invoices, letters, legal correspondence, business documents, Property Loss Claims, newspaper clippings, Lists of chattels sold, handwritten notes, documents vary by file. These files are not in alphabetical order.

X.I. 122, Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property, Héritage Canadiana, first accessed 11 Feb 2020 and available at http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c9304/2349?r=0&s=1

Notes: Reel C-9310 continues with “X.I” files. Reels 9305-9309 presumably also contained “X.I” files and are not available on this site.

Postscript

I was reflecting on why I am so motivated to spend the hours putting this information together, and it comes down to three main reasons:

  1. Making it easier for people doing Japanese Canadian genealogy to find their families;
  2. Directing traffic to Héritage Canadiana to show our support for free, online, digitized archives; and
  3. By improving the metrics of sites like Library and Archives Canada and Héritage Canadiana, we improve the chances of more funding being directed there.

We live in a digital age. One of the major metrics for websites is the number of visits a site gets – NOT how important we think the content may be. What gets counted gets funded. Our archives are precious and, as we are finding, extremely vulnerable to sudden funding cuts.

Also, we live in the age of Google. Google is our first and favourite search engine. But Google doesn’t search the deep web like these archives, and doing a Google search for your relatives’ names is like searching for book contents by only reading the titles. By listing the names here, I make them easier for Google to find. And if Google can find it, then maybe somewhere, somehow, I can make it easier for Japanese Canadians looking for their family documents.

Caveat

I transcribed these names. There will be errors.

Thank yous

My thanks go out to Kimiko Karpoff, Mika Local, Linda Harms Okazaki and Marisa Louie for their comments and thoughts this week in my Facebook Group Genealogy for Asian Canadians. Come join the conversation.

Also thanks to SLIG and my course on Chinese Ancestry in January, where Marisa Louie taught us about archive structure and organization. It was an eye-opener.

What’s next

Well, I can hardly stop now, can I?

Stay tuned for more finding aid notes on the other 19 reels. I promise you, it’s worth sticking around. Sign up to get emails alerting you to the next post.

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