General Correspondence from Political and Other Departments

Division within FO

1756-1966

Before 1906 the general correspondence of all the departments of the Foreign Office, except the Chief Clerk's Department, the Library, and until 1892, the Slave Trade and African Departments is arranged in a series of country series.

Country series before 1906: Abyssinia (Ethiopia) FO 1; Africa FO 2; Algiers FO 3; America Central, and Guatemala FO 15; America, United States FO 4 , FO 5; Argentine Republic FO 6; Asia Central FO 106; Austria FO 7; Barbary States FO 8; Bavaria FO 9; Belgium FO 10; Bolivia FO 11; Borneo FO 12; Brazil FO 13; Brunswick FO 14; Chile FO 16; China FO 17; Colombia and New Granada FO 18, FO 55; Comoro FO 19; Corsica FO 20; Costa Rica FO 21; Cuba FO 108; Cyprus FO 67, FO 512; Denmark FO 22; Dominican Republic FO 23; Ecuador FO 25; Egypt FO 24; Flanders FO 26; France FO 27; Genoa FO 28; Germany FO 29, FO 30, FO 31; Greece FO 32; Hamburg and Hanse Towns FO 33; Hanover FO 34; Hayti [Haiti]FO 35; Heligoland FO 36; Holland / Netherlands FO 37 , FO 38; Honduras FO 39; Iceland FO 40; India, East FO 41; Ionian Islands FO 42; Italy FO 43, FO 44 , FO 45; Japan FO 46; Liberia FO 47; Madagascar FO 48; Malta FO 49; Mexico FO 50; Montenegro FO 103; Monte Video (Uruguay) FO 51; Morocco FO 52, FO 99; Mosquito FO 53; Muscat FO 54; Nicaragua FO 56; Nice FO 57; Norway FO 109; Pacific Islands FO 58; Panama FO 110; Paraguay FO 59; Persia (Iran) FO 60; Peru FO 61; Poland FO 62; Portugal FO 63; Prussia and Germany FO 64; Romania FO 104; Russia FO 65; Salvador, El FO 66; Sardinia FO 67; Saxony FO 68; Serbia FO 105; Siam (Thailand) FO 69; Sicily and Naples FO 70; Spain FO 72; Sulu FO 71; Sweden FO 73; Switzerland FO 74, FO 100; Texas FO 75; Tripoli FO 76, FO 101; Tunis FO 77, FO 102; Turkey FO 78; Tuscany FO 79; Venezuela FO 80; Venice FO 81; Wurttemberg FO 82; Zanzibar FO 107.

From 1906 to 1966, correspondence of the Political Departments, FO 371; Supplementary correspondence, FO 97.

Registers of correspondence and indexes: for 1761 to 1893 FO 605; Registers for 1891 to 1905 FO 566, indexed in FO 804; Registers for 1906 to 1920 FO 566 and FO 662, indexed in FO 409.

For records of the political departments of the Foreign Office after 1966, and of the political departments of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from October 1968, see FCO series assigned to individual departments.

Public Record(s)

English

• Foreign Office, Northern Department, 1756-1824
• Foreign Office, Political Departments, 1824-1966
• Foreign Office, Southern Department, 1756-1824

104 series

Topics

International

Trade and commerce

Asia

Caribbean

Europe and Russia

Slavery

Australia and Pacific

Americas

Middle East

Africa

The political or diplomatic business of the Foreign Office was dealt with by a number of departments arranged geographically. Originally there were two departments (each headed by an Under-Secretary), the Northern and Southern reflecting the division of foreign affairs before 1782. From 1824 onwards this simple division disappeared when a third under-secretary was appointed and the number of departments varied.

By 1840 the number of departments had risen to four, a fifth being added in 1854 and a sixth in 1857. From this point, the number of departments was steadily reduced until 1882, when there were just three. Thereafter the number of departments tended to grow again (by 1924 there were eight), dealing with progressively smaller numbers of overseas territories.