Function and purpose

The main correspondence series was created and maintained by the Prime Minister’s Department from 1926 to 1939, and consists of files of papers covering a wide variety of subjects. They are arranged according to fairly specific subject headings in numerical sequence given in series A1607, Registration booklets, Secret and Confidential series (Third System) 1926-1939.

The subject headings are as follows, under the title ‘Secret Records - Register’ in the control series A3936:

The last two entries are handwritten into the Register; the others are typed. 

1.              Arbitration

2.              Arms and Ammunition

3.              Associations

4.              Aviation

5.              Bolshevism and Communism

6.              Censorship

7.              Charts

8.              Codes and Cyphers

9.              Commodities

10.           Correspondence

11.           Conferences

12.           Countries- General, Disputes, Relations

13.           Commissions

14.           Communications and Transport- Wireless, Shipping

15.           Defence and Naval

16.           Deputations

17.           Financial

18.           Fisheries

19.           Flags

20.           Governments

21.           Governor-General

22.           Honors

23.           Immigration

24.           Imperial Matters

25.           Individual Cases

26.           Industrial

27.           Islands

28.           League of Nations

29.           Legal

30.           Mandated Territories

31.           Medals

32.           Parliamentary

33.           Publications

34.           Public Service

35.           Suspected Persons

36.           Science and Industry

37.           Strikes

38.           Tariff

39.           Treaties

40.           Visits

41.           War and Peace

42.           Miscellaneous A-Z

43.           Trade

44.           British Phosphate Commission

The series is controlled by primary number to indicate main subject, sometimes with secondary number ie 14/1, followed by secondary subject control symbol in the form of a letter prefix; for example: 15.  Defence and Naval, under which is A. Establishment of Imperial Defence College; B. Movements of Australian Warships; C. and so on.  The first prefix (SC) is the ‘Secret and Confidential’ tag.

There are also more general collections of files grouped together, e.g. under 'Correspondence' and 'Miscellaneous A-Z'. 

Many files have been top numbered from a multiple number system.

System of arrangement and control

The ‘Honors’ files  (SC 22/1 Honors-Pending, SC 22/2 Honors-Individual Cases and SC 22/3 Honors-Granted) did not have unique numbers. The surname on the file was included to make the third sub-division when listing the file title on the inventory. A large number of these files consisted of the front cover only.

Arrangement & Description was asked to do some work on this series in 1993 by Information Services as they were having trouble retrieving the files with the surname added to the 22/2 and 22/3 groups. A single running number has been imposed, 22/2/1 - 22/2/235; 22/3/1 - 22/3/208 instead of the person’s name.

Finding aids

 Detailed consignment lists exist for this series. As at 18 December 2002, 864 items have been registered onto RecordSearch out of 5.85 m.- most if not all of the series.