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Times Colonist

newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ970454
Source-derived summary

The Times Colonist is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed by the September 2, 1980, merger of the Victoria Daily Times, established in 1884, and the British Colonist (later the Daily Colonist), established in 1858 by Amor De Cosmos who was later British Columbia's second premier. The British Colonist was B.C.'s first paper "of any permanence". De Cosmos was the editor until 1866 when D. W. Higgins took over—he would remain in the role for the next twenty years.

Local news receives the greatest prominence in the Times Colonist. Stories and photographs about Greater Victoria are often featured on the front page. The newspaper also has national and international stories, plus sections covering the arts, sports, and business. The Times Colonist has a website as well as an e-edition, which offers a digital replica of the printed pages. According to News Media Canada, the Times Colonist saw an average daily circulation of 58,297 in 2015. From 2016 and into the 2020s, the average press run was below 31,000 copies daily.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Times Colonist” is newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Times, Colonist and newspaper, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1980, 1884, 1858, 1866—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1884. For this dossier, Times, Colonist and newspaper is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q970454. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1980, 1884, 1858 and 1866.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Times Colonist”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Times Colonist primary sources, Times Colonist archive and Times research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Times Colonist”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Times Colonist” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.