Commonwealth Relations Office and Commonwealth Office: Communications Department...

This series contains files produced by the Communications Department and its successors relating to Commonwealth communications matters generally (including posts and telecommunications and satellite communications). It includes a few files relating to libraries and publications within the Office as well as files relating to the South East Asian Cable Conference of 1961.

For later records see FCO 14

• Commonwealth Office, Aviation and Telecommunications Department, 1967-1968
• Commonwealth Relations Office, Communications Department, 1952-1965
• Commonwealth Relations Office, General and Migration Department, 1965-1966

From 2017 Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Topics

International

Communications

Responsibility for Commonwealth communications (particularly air, post and telecommunications) was added to the Political Division in 1954, having previously been part of the Southern Rhodesia and Communications Department in the Finance and General Division (in 1952 separate Communications and Central African and Territories Departments were created).

Communications were passed to the Establishments and Organisation Division in 1958, and remained there until 1964, when the department was split into (a) and (b) branches. Branch (a), covering library services, was placed in the Mediterranean, South Asia and Defence Division, while branch (b), covering communications matters, was in the Trade Division. The Communications Department was abolished in September 1965, its communications functions passing to the General and Migration Department. In the Commonwealth Office, communications matters were handled by an Aviation and Telecommunications Department.