Thanks to a generous donation in support of the VHL, we have been able to purchase this database. It is available to Oxford users via OxLIP+.

This resource gives full-text access to a selection of TNA Colonial Office and Foreign Office papers, reports, dispatches, weekly summaries, etc. The collection covers a broad sweep of history from 1824-1961, taking in the USA, Canada and the Caribbean. There are also some items that cover South America. All items marked ‘Confidential Print’ were printed and circulated immediately to leading officials in the Foreign Office, to the Cabinet, and to Heads of British missions abroad.

CO 880/1-32 spans the years 1839-1914 and is primarily focused on Canada. It includes topics such as the birth of the railways, fisheries, border disputes, the Hudson’s Bay Company, clergy reserves, trade, Treaty of Washington, Native Americans, shipping.

CO 884/1-38 covers the years 1826-1961 and focuses on the Caribbean. Topics such as slavery and apprenticeship, trade, economy, agriculture, boundary disputes, the Morant Bay rebellion, troops, military expenditure, indentured labour, health and disease, finance, and communication are all covered.

FO 414/1-278 covers a vast array of subjects from the years 1824-1941 including: Prohibition, Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between US and Germany, Conference on Electrical communications, Canadian claim to territories, Liquor smuggling, Reports on the Ku Klux Klan and its declining membership and influence, The League of Nations, World War II, etc.

FO 461/1-13 – covers both North and South America over the time period 1942-1956, and includes the text of President Roosevelt’s broadcast address regarding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and the entrance of the USA into the war, USA and WWII, Anglo-US co-operation in WWII, Nazi activities in Chile, Columbia and WWII, Financial situation in Venezuela

FO 462/1-10 covers the U.S.A. from 1947 to 1956. Topics covered include the aftermath of World War II, the rise of Communism, McCarthyism, The atomic bomb, Strikes, US policy towards China, Racial desegregation in the US, the hydrogen bomb, “Atoms for peace” conference, Ireland, etc.