Colonial Office and successors: Maps and Plans: Post-1940 Collection

IDENTITY STATEMENT AREA

Reference code(s): CO 1054

Title: Colonial Office and successors: Maps and Plans: Post-1940 Collection

Date(s): 1897 - 1984

Level of description:

Extent and medium of the unit of description: 305 flat sheet(s)

CONTEXT AREA

Name of creator(s):

Administrative/Biographical history:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer:

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE AREA

Scope and content: This series contains documents from the third Colonial Office collection of maps and plans, covering the period from 1940 (though a few maps from this collection predate that period considerably). In August 1966 the Colonial and Commonwealth Relations Offices (CRO) were merged into a single Commonwealth Office, and maps from the CRO from that period were added to the collection. Similarly, upon the merger of the Commonwealth and Foreign Offices in October 1968, maps from the Foreign Office were added, and this collection formed the basis of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's map collection.
This series therefore includes material which would otherwise be found in the Dominions Office collections (DO) amongst the General Records of the Commonwealth Relations Office, and Records of the General Divisions of the Commonwealth Relations Office and Commonwealth Office.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

System of arrangement: This series is arranged in alphabetical order of country or place by continent, and contains a few items dated before 1940. Several descriptions include references to original map references with letter prefixes CO, DOS, GSGS, IDWO and OR. The meaning of these prefixes is as follows:

• CO - Colonial Office
• DOS - Directorate of Overseas Surveys
• GSGS - Geographical Section, General Staff
• DWO - Intelligence Division, War Office
• OR - Official Reference.

CONDITIONS OF ACCESS AND USE AREA

Conditions governing access:

Conditions governing reproduction:

Language/scripts of material: English

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids: PRO Online Catalogue (PROCAT)

ALLIED MATERIALS AREA

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related units of description: For earlier Foreign Office maps and plans see FO 925

Other maps from this collection, along with the main card index to it, were transferred to the Royal Geographical Society Library.

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION CONTROL AREA

Recorder's note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: December 2001

Interest: Caribbean, Black, Asian

Specific group:

Subjects

Colonial countries

Maps

Personal/Corporate names

Places