Foreign Office: Treaty Department and successors: General Correspondence from 1906

FO 372

1906-1985

This series contains correspondence, etc., of the Treaty Department of the Foreign Office. Subjects covered include treaty correspondence with other countries; shipping claims against Russia and Japan arising from the Russo-Japanese war; honours and decorations; territorial waters; extradition treaties; nationality; consular and diplomatic appointments; prize courts; diplomatic privileges; civil procedure; marriage regulations; deportation agreements; and various royal matters including state and royal visits. Files include records created by the Prize Court Department (1914-1920) and the Dominions Information Department (1926-1933).

FO 372/3360-3410 are numbers not used.

From FO 372/3308 onwards, the number in the former reference column refers to a file number.

Dominions Information Papers, which up to the end of 1928 were filed with Treaty (T) papers, were classed separately for the years 1929-1933 inclusive with the letter designation (U).

For later records on protocol matters see FCO 57

For later treaty and nationality records see FCO 53

For Treaty Department correspondence up to 1905 see

For records of the Dominions Department see FO 627

Public Record(s)

English

• Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Nationality and Treaty Department, 1968-1990
• Foreign Office, Dominions Information Department, 1926-1933
• Foreign Office, Treaty Department, 1782-1968

8215 files and volumes

Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated

From 1994 Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Topics

International

Litigation

Asia

Marriage and divorce

Treaties and alliances

Europe and Russia

Series is accruing.

There was a Treaty Division/Department of the Foreign Office from its inception in 1782 until the merger of Foreign and Commonwealth Offices in 1968 to form the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The responsibilities of the Treaty Department included: orders in council, full powers commissions, credentials, exequaturs, royal matters, British and foreign orders, medals and rewards, diplomatic privileges, ceremonial questions, precedence, nationality, naturalisation, protection, extradition, enforcement of foreign enlistments act, consular conventions and passports.

The Dominions Information Department was established in 1926, shortly after the establishment of a separate Dominions Office to supply information on foreign policy to the dominions. The department was created to deal with inter-imperial relations so far as they affected Foreign Office and to deal with matters of protocol affecting the foreign relations of the dominions. The department was wound up in 1933, its functions being transferred to the Treaty Department.