Sub-series consists of secret, confidential and private despatches to and from the Colonial Office. The despatches are in chronological order. The correspondence for the years 1867-1870 (volumes 1 and 2) includes despatches of the British representatives in the United States addressed to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Secret and confidential despatches traditionally are not numbered. Although the definitions of secret, private and confidential changed within the colonial service during the nineteenth century, the Colonial Office maintained a marked distinction between numbered and unnumbered despatches. Throughout the middle decades of the century, numbered despatches from the Colonial Office could be, and often were, shown to the Prime Minister, the Cabinet (or Executive Council prior to Confederation), or the Legislature and then could be published if circumstances warranted. Unnumbered despatches were those of crucial import which required a certain degree of secrecy and consisted usually of two types: secret and private or confidential. In principle, permission was required from the Colonial Secretary for the Governor to show secret despatches to anyone. Private or confidential despatches could be, but were not necessarily, shown to Cabinet (Executive Council before 1867) at the discretion of the Governor.
Matters discussed in unnumbered despatches were often mentioned in numbered despatches but no specific mention of an unnumbered despatch was permitted. Researchers should note that while the scenario described above was the usual routine in the colonial service, exceptions were frequent and practices changed. Depending on the relationship between the Governor and the Colonial Secretary, private letters were often exchanged which conducted official business, albeit in the most informal of terms.
