Downloaded from the Humanities Digital Library http://www.humanities-digital-library.org Open Access books made available by the School of Advanced Study, University of London Press ***** Publication details: Administering the Empire, 1801-1968: A Guide to the Records of the Colonial Office in the National Archives of the UK by Mandy Banton http://humanities-digital-library.org/index.php/hdl/catalog/book/administering-the- empire-1801-1968 DOI: 10.14296/0920.9781912702787 ***** This edition published 2020 by UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, United Kingdom ISBN 978-1-912702-78-7 (PDF edition) This work is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. More information regarding CC licenses is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses A Guide to the Records of the Colonial Office in The National Archives of the UK Archives National The Office in of the Colonial to the Records A Guide 1801–1968Administering the Empire, Administering the Empire, 1801-1968 is an indispensable introduction to British colonial rule during Administering the Empire, 1801–1968 the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It provides an essential guide to the records of the British Colonial Office, and those of other departments responsible for colonial administration, which are A Guide to the Records of the Colonial Office in now held in The National Archives of the United Kingdom. The National Archives of the UK As a user-friendly archival guide, Administering the Empire explains the organisation of these records, the information they provide, and how best to explore them using contemporary finding aids. The book also outlines the expansion of the British empire from the early nineteenth century, and discusses the structure of colonial governments. First published in 2008, and updated and revised Mandy Banton in 2015, Administering the Empire is available from 2020 both in print and online as an open access edition, reissued by the Institute of Historical Research and University of London Press. Dr Mandy Banton is a Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, and a former Principal Records Specialist (Diplomatic and Colonial) at The National Archives, UK. Mandy Banton Mandy ADMINISTERING THE EMPIRE, 1801–1968 Frontispiece. The General Registry of the Colonial Office [1942]: Miss Heritage, a member of the registry staff, consults a register of correspondence now in CO 378. (With thanks to Pictorial Press) ADMINISTERING THE EMPIRE, 1801–1968 A GUIDE TO THE RECORDS OF THE COLONIAL OFFICE IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UK Mandy Banton LONDON INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UK Published by UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PRESS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY INSTITUTE OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH Senate House, London WC1E 7HU in conjunction with THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UK London First edition published 2008 Revised edition published 2011 Second edition published 2015 This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license. More information regarding CC licenses is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Available to download free or to purchase at https://www.sas.ac.uk/publications © Mandy Banton All images are Crown copyright unless otherwise stated ISBN 978-1-909646-12-4 (paperback) 978-1-912702-78-7(PDF) Contents List of figures and tables ix Foreword to first edition xv Preface to first edition xvii Preface to second edition xix Glossary xxi 1. The British empire 1 ‘Informal’ empire 5 ‘Miscellaneous islands’ 7 Decolonisation 8 2. Colonial government structure and relations with London 11 Colonies, dominions, protectorates and mandated territories 11 Colonies 11 Dominions 12 Protectorates 13 Mandated territories 15 The colonial government 15 The governor 15 The legislature 16 The executive 18 Judicial establishment 19 Defence 20 Ecclesiastical establishment 21 The relationship between the Colonial Office and the colonies 21 3. Records of colonial governments 23 Locally created records in Colonial Office series 23 FCO 141, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and predecessors: Records of Former Colonial Administrations: Migrated Archives 25 4. Administration of British colonial affairs before 1801: the organisation in London 29 The Privy Council and the Board of Trade 29 v Administering the empire, 1801–1968 The secretaries of state 30 Records of the secretaries of state and the Board of Trade 30 Published finding aids 31 Original finding aids 33 5. Administration of the colonies from 1801 39 War and Colonial Department 39 Establishment of the Colonial Office 40 1907: Dominions Division and Crown Colonies Division 42 Mandated territories 43 Subject departments 43 Specialist advisers and advisory committees 45 The Colonial Office Journal 47 The Dominions Office 48 The Commonwealth Relations Office 48 Department of Technical Co-operation and successors 49 Central African Office 50 Commonwealth Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office 50 6. The records of the Colonial Office 53 Original correspondence 54 What does the original correspondence contain? 57 How the correspondence is arranged 59 ‘Case’ volumes 76 Entry books 76 Finding aids 77 Registration of correspondence before 1849 77 Indexes 78 Précis books 82 Registration of original correspondence 1849–1925 92 Indexed registers 93 Registers of non-registered letters 93 How to find the ‘original correspondence’ 93 Cross-references in the registers of correspondence 97 Confidential and secret correspondence 101 Printing of correspondence 101 Destroyed papers 104 Circular despatches 104 Original correspondence 1927–51 and its registration 105 File numbers 106 Arrangement of files 106 File covers 106 vi Contents Registers of correspondence 109 When do you need to use the registers? 111 Secret registers 112 Re-organisation of the Colonial Office in the 20th century and its effects on the arrangement of the records 112 The Dominions Division 112 Subject departments 112 Advisory committees 113 Advisers 113 Geographically arranged correspondence series after 1951 115 Some abbreviations used in the registers of correspondence 115 Printed and statistical material provided by the colonial governments 116 Acts, ordinances and proclamations 118 UK legislation enacted for the colonies or including the colonies 121 Sessional papers 122 Government gazettes 125 ‘Miscellanea’ 127 Blue books of statistics 127 Shipping returns 130 Newspapers 130 Returns of stipendiary magistrates 132 7. Records of the Dominions Office and Commonwealth Relations Office 133 8. Records of the Commonwealth Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office 139 9. Private papers and private office papers relating to colonial affairs held in the records of the Colonial Office and of other government departments 143 10. Maps and plans 145 International boundaries 147 Directorate of Overseas Surveys 151 11. Photographs 153 12. Records of other government departments 155 Admiralty 156 Board of Trade 157 British Council 157 The Cabinet Office 159 Central Office of Information 160 vii Administering the empire, 1801–1968 Civil Service Commission 160 Crown agents 161 Empire Marketing Board 161 Foreign Office 163 Home Office 167 Intelligence agencies 167 Special Branch 167 Security Service (MI5) 171 Ministry of Defence 171 Prime Minister’s Office 171 Privy Council 171 Treasury 173 War Office 177 Appendix 1: Records relating to individual dependencies and regions 179 Appendix 2: Records arranged by subject 311 Appendix 3: Newspapers 337 Appendix 4: The Colonial Office List 343 Appendix 5: Rules for the conduct of correspondence between governors and the Colonial Office 347 Appendix 6: File registration numbers 357 Appendix 7: Specimen search 363 Appendix 8: Sources for biography and family history 374 Appendix 9: Access to the records and use of online catalogues 382 Bibliography 388 Index 396 viii List of figures and tables Cover: Map of the world on Mercator’s projection showing the British empire, 1926 (with submarine cable routes shown in red), The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List for 1926, by Sir W H Mercer, A J Harding, and G E J Gent (Waterloo & Sons Limited, London, Dunstable & Watford, 1926) Back cover & The General Registry of the Colonial Office [1942]: Miss Heritage, a member of Frontispiece: the registry staff, consults a register of correspondence now in CO 378 (With thanks to Pictorial Press) Figures 1. CO 326/3, subject index to Trade papers, 1696–1714, fo. 169. Entry of 14 May 1700 for ‘a Paper about Pestilential Feavors in Barbados’ giving references to Board of Trade journal, entry book, and original correspondence (bundle). 34 2. CO 391/13, Board of Trade journal, volume E, 1700–1, p. 41 (fo. 22). Entry reporting the receipt of ‘a Paper of Considerations concerning the causes of Pestilential Feavours in Barbadoes’. 35 3. CO 29/7, Barbados entry book, volume B, 1699–1792, p. 51. Copy of a paper concerning the causes of ‘Pestilential Feavers and great Mortality in Barbados’. 35 4. CO 28/4, Barbados original correspondence, bundles C and D, 1699–1701, number 46, fo. 170. Original paper concerning causes of ‘Pestelentiall fevours’ in Barbados. 36 5. ‘Line chart of geographical department development’. Source: A. Thurston, Sources for Colonial Studies in the Public Record Office, vol. 1: Records of the Colonial