Foreign Office: Chinese Secretary's Office, Various Embassies and Consulates, China:...

FO 682

1861-1939

This series contains surviving Chinese-language correspondence between British representatives in China and the Chinese authorities between 1834 and 1939. The bulk of the series consists of diplomatic and commercial correspondence; in addition, the series contains a small number of miscellaneous papers.

We are aware of the existence of some duplicate descriptions which make the identification and production of these records (in Chinese) difficult.

The present arrangement of the series reflects the work of two scholars: the late Mr P D Coates, a former member of the British consular service in China, and acting Chinese Secretary 1944-1946, and Dr J Y Wong of the University of Sydney, Australia.

The series is listed in five sections. Sections 1, 2, 4 and 5 give detailed piece descriptions; section 3 is a tabular summary.

Section 1: This list, prepared by P D Coates, covers a small number of miscellaneous records, mostly undated, apparently from the CSO. They are similar in character to the CSO miscellanea transferred to FO 1080; there is no evidence to show why these items were not included in the transfer. The piece numbers range from FO 682/1/32 to FO 682/1971/73.

Section 2: This material, CSO correspondence 1839-1861, was sorted and listed in detail, with a substantial introduction, by Dr Wong. His work covers the piece-range FO 682/1972-1993.

Section 3: This covers correspondence, created in or formerly in the custody of the CSO, from the period 1861 to 1939. The bulk of the material was reassembled in its original order of registration by P D Coates, working with the aid of a grant from the Oriental Documents Committee of the British Academy. His tabular outline list notes the surviving correspondence (now FO 682/1994-2458), with reference to the related registers.

Section 4: This list, also prepared by P D Coates, covers CSO correspondence of 1834-1838, when the Superintendency of Trade was still in Canton, and British dealings with the Chinese were still restricted largely to correspondence with the local authorities on matters of trade. This section covers FO 682/2459-2463.

Section 5: This section gives detailed descriptions of FO 682/2464-2468, added to the series in 1990.

Public Record(s)

Chinese

2500 papers and volumes

Additional safe handling procedures are in place. Records must be ordered in advance.

Open unless otherwise stated

in 1990 Foreign and Commonwealth Office

in 1961 Foreign Office

Topics

International

Trade and commerce

Asia

The records were amassed in the Chinese Secretary's Office (CSO).