Foreign and Commonwealth records from 1782 - The National ...

Enter your keyword (such as a country or person) and your chosen record series code
You can further restrict your search by date
Some record series have indexes and registers which may be more effective than a
keyword search – see below for more information
Please note that a number of the records described below have either been reproduced in published
volumes, or more recently in commercial licensed digitisations (see Further reading). These may
provide an easier method of accessing the records than consulting the original documents.
4. General correspondence: 1782 to the present
4.1 Searching general correspondence
The general correspondence consists of the original papers accumulated in London:
original despatches from British representatives abroad with any enclosures
drafts of outgoing despatches; minutes
domestic correspondence with foreign representatives in this country, with other branches of
the British government and with private individuals and bodies.
General correspondence covers a large number of record series. Until 1938 their catalogue
descriptions are usually very basic, often giving nothing more than the surname of the relevant
diplomatic representative (to 1905) or the name of the country (from 1906), but there are
registers and indexes that can help.
4.2 General correspondence 1782-1905
Records before 1906 are in the series FO 1 to FO 82 and FO 99 to FO 110. For the most part,
they are arranged by country. There are also some series of a general or miscellaneous nature not
related to a particular country: FO 83 (General correspondence, Great Britain and other); FO
84 (Slave Trade department correspondence); FO 95 and FO 96 (Miscellanea); and FO 97
(supplements to general correspondence).
To locate records within general correspondence 1782-1905, search our catalogue, or browse our
catalogue from FO. For further details on the contents of each records series refer to the following
registers and indexes:
To 1891: Library series registers and indexes (FO 605). These are the best registers and
indexes to access the major record series up to 1891. Registers and indexes arranged by
country; consist of subject indexes which refer to registers which then refer to the records in
FO 1 to FO 90 and FO 95 to FO 105
1891-1905: Indexes to departmental registers (FO 804). Arranged by country or subject;
coverage is good but not comprehensive. Photocopies of selected volumes are in The
National Archives' reading rooms (FO 738); they must be cross-referenced with
departmental registers (see below)
Departmental registers (FO 566). Registers of correspondence by department. Useful for an
overview of correspondence up to 1890. 1891-1905 these are main form of reference, in
conjunction with the indexes to departmental registers
Note that reference conversions from old Foreign Office to current National Archives
references will be necessary
4.3 General correspondence 1906-1966
From 1906 the general correspondence covering for all countries is arranged in a small number of
subject series. Of these, the political correspondence (FO 371) is by far the largest and generally
most important.