Library Research Guide for British Colonial and Foreign Relations Sources

The Colonial Office List. London : Harrison, 1862-1966.
--Titled: The Dominions Office and Colonial Office list for .. 65th (1926)-79th (1940).  
--The Colonial Office List (1946-1966) [Absorbed India Office and Burma Office list, 1951- ]  HOLLIS Records
--Commonwealth Office yearbook (1966- )
LLMC Version (1946-1965)
HOLLIS Record (1889-1940)
HathiTrust Version (1878-1925, incomplete)
Internet Archive Version (1862-1966)
Internet Archive Version (1862, 1881-1940)
Internet Archive Version (1951-1968)

A valuable source. Each volume includes brief descriptions of each colony with officials and statistics (largely population and import/export), brief biographical information on Colonial Office personnel, “Imperial and Local Acts of General Interest", colonial regulations, and “Papers Presented to Parliament relating to the Colonies since 1864” arranged by colony.

Administering the Empire, 1801-1968 : a guide to the records of the Colonial Office in the national archives of the UK, by Mandy Banton. London: University of London, Institute of Historical Research, 2008, 402 p.
HOLLIS Record
Online Full Text

Colonial Office Confidential Prints (1848-1915) index over 1000 items.

British documents on the end of Empire. [Series C], Sources for colonial studies in the Public Record Office, by Anne Thurston. London: HMSO, 1995-1998. 2 v. 
Vol. 1: Records of the Colonial Office, Dominions Office, Commonwealth Relations Office and Commonwealth Office
Vol. 2: Records of the Cabinet, Foreign Office, Treasury and other records
HOLLIS Records with online access (Vol. 1 only)
Internet Archive Full Text

Colonial Office : colonies general supplementary original correspondence, 1759-1955 (CO 537) & colonies general register of secret correspondence, 1865-1938 (CO 694) / Public Record Office. Kew, Richmond, Surrey : List and Index Society, 1988. 446 p.
Law School | CD 1052 1988

Great Britain. Public Record Office. List of Colonial Office confidential print to 1916. London, H.M. Stationery Off., 1965. 179 p.
Widener | Br 98.440 no. 8
Documents (Lamont) | Br Doc 6.5 no. 8

Great Britain. Public Record Office. List of Colonial Office records, preserved in the Public Record Office. New York, Kraus Reprint Corp., 1963, 337 p 
Documents (Lamont) | Br Doc 40.7 no.36
HathiTrust Full Text
Original 1911

Although not a governmental organization the Royal Commonwealth Society Library includes many records of colonial governments.

Bibliographies

Bibliographie d'histoire coloniale (1900-1930). Paris, Société de l'histoire des colonies françaises [etc.] 1932, 667 p.
Widener | Econ 2428.9

Modern European imperialism; a bibliography of books and articles, 1815-1972, by John P. Halstead and Serafino Porcari. Boston, G. K. Hall, 1974. 2 v.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive Full Text (Vol. 1 only)
--v. 1. General and British Empire.-- v. 2. French and other empires.

Periodicals of Queen Victoria's empire: an exploration, ed. by J. Don Vann and Rosemary T. VanArsdel. London: Mansell, 1996, 371 p.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive Full Text
--Divided by region. Historical/bibliographical essays with lists of periodicals.

Women and the British empire: an annotated guide to sources, By Susan F. Bailey. NY: Garland, 1983.
LOCATION: Schlesinger: Ref. 016.941 B15w
LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC HQ1593.Z99 B34 x, 1983

Subject catalogue of the Royal Commonwealth Society, London. Boston, Mass., G. K. Hall, 7 v., 1971
Location : Widener Br 385.42.10 F

--v. 1. British Commonwealth and Europe. Asia: in general, Mideast, India.--v. 2. Asia: other Asian areas. Africa: Africa in general, North Africa.--v. 3. Africa: West Africa, East Africa.--v. 4. Africa: non-Commonwealth Africa, including former foreign colonies, Republic of South Africa, other southern African countries.--v. 5. The Americas.--v. 6. Australia, New Zealand, Pacific.--v. 7. Biography. Voyages and travels. World War I. World War II.
--Supplements the Subject catalogue of the Library of the Royal Empire Society and the Biography catalogue of the Library of the Royal Commonwealth Society.
No author index.

Subject catalogue of the library of the Royal Empire Society formerly Royal Colonial Institute, by Evans Lewin. London: Royal Empire Society. 1930-37. 4 v.
Location : Law School Rare Treatises R [Consult Special Collections]
Location : Widener Br 385.42.15

--v.1. The British Empire generally, and Africa.- v.2. The Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, the South Pacific, general voyages and travels, and Arctic and Antarctic regions.- v.3. The Dominion of Canada and its provinces, the Dominion of Newfoundland, the West Indies and Colonial America- v.4. The Mediterranean colonies, the Middle East, Indian Empire, Burma, Ceylon, British Malaya, East Indian Islands, and the Far East.
--Geographical arrangement. Subjects under each country, and entries arranged chronologically under each subject. Author index. Includes not only books and pamphlets, but also articles in reviews and journals, papers read before learned and other societies, etc.

The local colonial administrations published their own documents.

The Government Documents/Microforms Collection holds a collection of paper government documents on Level D in Lamont (Information available at the Reference Desk, Level B).

These can be browsed online. For HOLLIS, use the “Starts with/Browse …” link on the basic search screen and browse Old Widener Call Number: Afr Doc 3200.

To find the proper call number for such a browse and to find government documents elsewhere at Harvard, search your country as an author. In HOLLIS Library Catalog Advanced Search, change menu to: Keywords anywhere to Author.  You can further refine your search in the right hand column of the Results page. Also try: Subject contains: "government publications" and Uganda.

For censuses search HOLLIS: census Malaya.

Bibliographies:
"government publications" and Uganda and bibliography  (Bibliography must be searched as a Subject keyword)

Government Gazettes are periodicals published by government which report its administrative, judicial and legislative actions. Content varies considerably among governments.  Find them in HOLLIS by searching, for example Gazettes Malaya. Also Gazettes Malaysia, Singapore, Straits, etc.  Some are here at Harvard, some must be obtained via Interlibrary Loan from the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) in Chicago.

There are two series of reports on the colonies: the Colonial Reports and the Blue Books (statistical).  They are the printed versions of reports sent to the Colonial Office from the colonies. The Reports were issued as Annual (on particular colonies) and Miscellaneous (on general colonial topics).

Many Colonial Office reports, blue books and other publications are available in the Internet Archive collections: Colonial Office (Great Britain) publications and Medical Officer of Health reports (includes many Annual Reports as well as health commissioner reports).

Colonial Reports

In HOLLIS and HathiTrust there are records for individual reports, country series, and the general series listed below.  Internet Archive has numerous individual reports  (1846-1973).  

They are listed by year and country in the Colonial Office List. (available in LLMC (1946-1965)). In Colonial Office List for 1948, pp. 557-575:  List of Colonial Office reports, 1926-1948, arranged by general subject (Miscellaneous), then under particular colonies (Annual).  For later years there are annual lists.

Find Colonial annual reports in HOLLIS by the search:

Author/creator exact phrase: Colonial Office
AND
Keywords anywhere contains: Uganda

Author/creator exact phrase: Colonial Office
AND
Keywords anywhere contains: report*

The Reports were published in several series: 

Reports showing the present state of Her Majesty's colonial possessions (1845-1887)
HOLLIS Record, with link to HathiTrust full text
HathiTrust full text: 1858-1868  --  1853  --  1845, 1847, 1867

Her Majesty's colonial possessions
HOLLIS Record (1888-91)

Great Britain. Colonial Office. Colonial reports - annual. London  H.M. Stationery Off., 1891-1940, No. 1 (1889)-no. 1936 (1938/39). 1936 v.
HOLLIS Record  --  HOLLIS Record (1924-1961)
--Paper Index: Nos. 1 (1889)-1936 (1938/1939). 1 v.
--No. 1-1071 (1889-1921) were issued as Papers by command and available in House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
--In HathiTrust: Colonial Office List for 1925, pp. 522-548 : List of Colonial Office reports 1887-1925 arranged by general subject, then under particular colonies.     This will give the Report numbers needed to find a report in the collective Colonial Reports record in HathiTrust. HathiTrust also has records for individual Reports. More HathiTrust full text  (includes pre-1891 reports)

Annual Report on the Colonies (1946-1965)
HOLLIS Record

Reports to 1921 were published as Parliamentary Command Papers (Cmnd) and are available via House of Commons Parliamentary Papers

The titles and dates of the various series through 1921, by colony, may be found in Serial publications in the British Parliamentary papers, 1900-1968; a bibliography, by Frank Rodgers. Chicago, American Library Association, 1971, 146 p.
Documents (Lamont)  |  Br Doc 14.15
Internet Archive Full Text

Africa: a guide to reference material, by John McIlwaine. London; NY: Hans Zell Publishers, 1993, 507 p.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive Full Text
Appendix: Annual Reports on the British Possessions in Africa, Pp. 421-452 offers a short explanation of the Colonial Reports and a list of African and Indian Ocean Island reports

Blue Books

The country Blue Books were statistical reports sent to the Colonial Office annually from each colony. They contain statistical and other information on agriculture, education, transport, imports and exports, crime, hospitals, health, laws passed, expenditures and revenue, etc., together with the name, date appointed, and salary of colonial officials. They are described in Royal Commonwealth Society Official Publications Project. They are not available in the House of Common Parliamentary Papers database.  Any that Harvard does not possess must be obtained via interlibrary loan.  Find them in HOLLIS by searching the country and the phrase “blue book”. Example:

Nyasaland. Blue book.
Documents (Lamont) | Afr Doc 3603.5 F (Holdings:  1904/5-Dec. 1929 incomplete)

Confidential Prints

From 18 the Colonial Office and the Foreign Office made printed copies of most significant  documents for distribution, as needed to Parliament, the Cabinet Office and to CO officials in London and abroad. Appeared in several regional series and a Misc. series. For more information.

List of Colonial Office confidential print to 1916.  Great Britain. Public Record Office

• HOLLIS Records:
  • Microfilm
  • Print: Latin America, 1845-1914  –  Arabia, 1905-1906  –  Kuwait, 1896-1905  –  International organizations, commonwealth affairs, and general, 1946-1950
• CRL holdings
• Harvard E-Resources: Africa, 1834-1966  --  Middle East (includes Egypt)  --  North America, 1824-1961 (including the Caribbean)  --  Latin America, 1833-1969
• Many prints for other regions and general prints are available in the enormous print British documents on Foreign Affairs: Reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print. Harvard only has two series:
  • British documents on foreign affairs : reports and papers from the Foreign Office confidential print. Part IV, From 1946 through 1950. Series M, International organizations, commonwealth affairs, and general. 6 v. HOLLIS Record
  • British documents on foreign affairs--reports and papers from the Foreign Office confidential print. Part I, from the mid-nineteenth century to the First World War. Series A, Russia, 1859-1914. 6 v.  HOLLIS Record
  • British documents on foreign affairs. Reports and papers from the Foreign Office confidential print. Part IV, From 1946 through 1950. Series E, Asia   HathiTrust, vol. 1-11; Internet Archive Full Text (Volume 7: Burma, Ceylon, India and Pakistan, October 1947—December 1948);
  • Other volumes available via Interlibrary Loan. WorldCat record listing the four Parts and the Series within each Part
• Internet Archive offers a variety of Confidential Prints

• Foreign Office Confidential Print, largely microfilm, available in Harvard Library. Many on areas not covered by the four online databases , above. For detailed contents: National Archives Catalogue for Confidential Print
  HOLLIS Records

  [Confidential print. Eastern]. Microfilm. Great Britain. Colonial Office. London.
  v. 1-12; 1847-1933 [Public Record Office] CO 882
  HOLLIS Record
  --Largely Ceylon and East and Southeast Asia. Detailed contents

Document Collections

British documents on the end of empire.
Location : Widener WID-LC DA10 .B75  Online Access

Series A: HOLLIS Record
•Vol. 1: Imperial policy and colonial practice, 1925-1945
•Vol. 2: Labour government and the end of empire, 1945-1951
•Vol 3: Conservative government and the end of empire 1951-1957
•Vol. 4: Conservative government and the end of empire 1957-1964

Series B: HOLLIS Record
•Vol. 1: Ghana  --  Vol. 2: Sri Lanka  --  Vol. 3: Malaya  --  Vol. 4: Egypt and the defence of the Middle East  --  Vol. 5: Sudan  --  Vol. 6: West Indies  --  Vol. 7: Nigeria  --  Vol. 8: Malaysia  --  Vol. 9: Central Africa  --  Vol. 10: Fiji  --  Vol. 11: Malta

Series C: HOLLIS Records
•Sources for colonial studies in the Public Record Office.
--v. 1. Records of the Colonial Office, Dominions Office, Commonwealth Relations Office and Commonwealth Office. Online version 
--v. 2. Records of the Cabinet, Foreign Office, Treasury and other records.

Empire On-Line offers archival and printed materials relating to the British Empire in Africa, Australasia, the Americas, Oceania, and South Asia.

Images of Colonialism largely consists of late-19th and early-20th century trade cards and illustrated European newspapers

Empire and commonwealth: archives of the Royal Commonwealth Society from Cambridge University Library. 2 pts on <43> microfilm reels
Pt. 1: The colour question in imperial policy, 1830-1939 (reel 1-25), includes materials concerning relations with native races, issues of race and empire, initial cultural contacts and race and cultural interchange.
--pt. 1 Online Guide
Pt. 2: Imperial & commonwealth conferences, 1835-1955 (reel 26-43), and materials on colonial reform.
--pt. 2 Online Guide
HOLLIS Record

Great Britain. Colonial Office - The Online Books Page

Medical Officer of Health reports (British and Colonial) (Medical Heritage Library)

Great Britain Colonial Office pamphlets about Africa : microfilm 698, Duquesne University Library : contents listing / by Donald Vrabel. Pittsburgh, PA : Duquesne University Library, 1974. 180 leaves in various foliations.
CRL (Ctr for Research Libs) | [To obtain CRL items, submit an Interlibrary Loan request

Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British Empire offers information on over 6000 films with over 150 films online.