NUS LIBRARIES’ LIBGUIDE

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https://libguides.nus.edu.sg/sgprimarysources

Primary Resources for Singapore Studies: Colonial Office Records

Conducted by Han Ming Guang

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WHAT WE WILL BE LOOKING AT TODAY…1. Timeline of Singapore History

2. Important Guides for Colonial Documents for Singapore

3. Colonial Documents before 1867

4. Colonial Office Records?

5. How do I search for CO Records?

6. Using the CO records

7. WO/DO/ADM records

8. Useful contacts and links

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TIMELINE OF SINGAPORE HISTORY

IMPORTANT!: TIMELINE OF SINGAPORE HISTORY

• Need to be aware of the different phases in Singapore’s History

• Different administration archive things differently

• Key years and dates!

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SOME KEY YEARS TO REMEMBER! 1819 – Establishment of a factory in Singapore

1867 – Straits Settlement becomes a Crown Colony

1942 – Singapore becomes Syonan

1945 – Start of the British Military Administration

1946 – Colony of Singapore

1963 – Merger with Malaysia

1965 – Separation from Malaysia

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IMPORTANT GUIDES FOR COLONIAL RECORDS

A SENSE OF HISTORY

• A Sense of History

• Compiled by the Library in 1998

• Contains bibliographic information for both Primary and Secondary sources for Singapore

• New version coming out soon

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KRATOSKA INDEX

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Index to Colonial Office files pertaining to British Malaya. 12 vols.

Covers CO 273, CO 717, CO953, CO 1022, CO 1030…

Compiler, Paul H. Kratoska.

Call no. Z3261 Kra.

Kratoska’s Index

Located near the Central Library RBR

Can also be found online

WHERE IS THE KRATOKSA INDEX LOCATED?

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NUS LIBRARIES’ LIBGUIDE

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http://libguides.nus.edu.sg/sgprimarysources

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NUS Library Digital Gems

NUS LIBRARY DIGITAL GEMS- New digitized collection of interesting primary source materials we have in

NUS Library

- Some of the things we have digitized includes:

1. Biodiversity Library of SEA

2. Chinese Newspapers

3. Chinese in SEA

4. Edwin Thumboo Private Papers

Link: https://digitalgems.nus.edu.sg/collection

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COLONIAL DOCUMENTS BEFORE 1867

COLONIAL DOCUMENTS BEFORE 1867

For records before 1867, you will be looking at the:

1. Straits Settlement Records (1800-1867)2. Records of the Government of India

3. East India Company and India Office Records (1819-1867)

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COLONIAL DOCUMENTS BEFORE 1867

These documents are only in Microfilm and you will need a microfilm reader or scanner to use it

The National Archives of Singapore also has copies that you can use

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WHAT ARE COLONIAL OFFICE RECORDS AND WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES?

COLONIAL OFFICE RECORDS• Starts from 1867 to 1965 when the Straits Settlement became a British Crown Colony

• Prior to that it was governed from India

• 6 main series, but other CO series available

• Documents from Straits Settlement were sent from here to Whitehall (London) and archived there

• We have some in Microfilm, some in Electronic format

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Series Type 1. Original Correspondences (CO273/CO1022)

2. Sessional Papers & Departmental Reports (CO275/CO940)

3. Government Gazettes (CO276/CO932)4. Acts/Ordinances (CO274/CO975)5. Miscellanea (Statistics) (CO277/CO939)6. Annual Colonial Report

Catalogues, Finding Aids, &

Indexes

UK National Archives Discovery Catalogue(Post 1926. File title search mainly.)

None onlineUse year, contents/index page, or browse to

navigate full-textKratoska’s Index to Colonial Office Files for British Malaya

Comprehensive index for selected CO Original Correspondence series covering British Malaya

Full-Text in NUS Libraries

• Check FindMore/LINC using Series no. (e.g. CO273)• NUSL holdings of Original Correspondence series

(British Malaya)• Selected DO & FO files covering South Asia, China,

& Japan

• Check FindMore/LINC using Seriesno.

• NUSL holdings of Govt Gazettes, Sessional Papers, Dept Reports, Acts, Statistics, Annual Reportsseries for Malaya

Full-Text in National Archives

of Singapore

Check also Archives Online for series not in NUS Libraries

Some duplicates available at NASArchives Online

Documents from the British Colonial, Dominion, & Foreign Offices

CO 273/CO 1022: ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCES• CO 273 – 1838 to 1946

• CO 1022 – 1950 to 1960

• Original Correspondence from Straits Settlement/Singapore/Southeast Asia back to Whitehall

• Contains letters/memos/telegrams

• Often haphazardly archived!

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CO 275/ CO 940 : SESSIONAL PAPERS AND DEPARTMENT REPORTS• CO 275 – 1850ish to 1946

• CO 940 – 1946 to 1965

• Contains Legislative Assembly Sessional papers

• Contains annual reports by the various government departments

• Organized by year – not as haphazard

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OTHER CO RECORDS• CO 276/ CO 932: Government Gazettes – Government ‘newsletter”

• CO 274/ CO 975: Acts and Ordinances – Laws enacted

• CO 277/ CO 939: Blue Book of Statistics – Statistics

• CO 953 – Original Singapore Correspondence but only from 1936 to 1951 (moved to CO 1022)

• FO 1091 - File of the Office of the Commissioner General for the United Kingdom of Southeast Asia, 1955-1962 (NAS)

• Others – See the Guides

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WHAT ARE CO RECORDS?

Link to the Video: https://youtu.be/4T111sKGb_I27

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HOW DO I SEARCH FOR CO RECORDS?

HOW DO I SEARCH FOR THEM?

• Use the Library Guide

• Use the LINC or Library Portal to search for the CO records by the Series Name

• However for the Original Correspondences series (CO 273/ CO 1022) things are not that simple…

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HOW ARE ARCHIVAL MATERIALS IN UK NATIONAL ARCHIVES FILES?

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HOW ARE CO 273/ CO 1022 – ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCES ARRANGED?EG:

CO 273/547/2 – Children Ordinance 1927

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CO – Colonial OfficeRepresents which Org the file comes from

Series Number Volume/File

Number

Item number Item title

IMPORTANCE OF KRATOSKA INDEX FOR CERTAIN CO FILES• CO 273/ CO 1022 has a lot of files. No real way of knowing what is there unless you access it file by file

• Kratoska Index attempts to fix this by indexing these Original Correspondence file

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KRATOSKA INDEXComprises of 2 sections:

File List: It list sequentially the different items in a volumeUseful for finding out where the item is at in volume as not everything is sequentially archived

Index:Basically it is like a book indexUses keyword to searchUseful if you want to know if you can find the things you want in them

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FINDING AID: KRATOSKA INDEX

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FINDING AID: KRATOSKA INDEX

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Take note of title and ref. codeGo to Library portal : www.lib.nus.edu.sg Search for series no. (e.g. CO 273 )

FINDING AID: KRATOSKA INDEX

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FINDING AID: KRATOSKA INDEX

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FINDING AID: KRATOSKA INDEX

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USING THE KRATOSKA INDEX

Link to the Video: https://youtu.be/TnVAQPUWRCg39

FIND THESE DOCUMENTS AND DOCUMENT NUMBER…

• Volume 2 – Alleged Abuse of Madras Coolies

• Volume 3 – Opening of New Library and Musuem

• Volume 4 – Rubber Cultivation

• Volume 6 - Amended Chandu Farm Rules 1906

• Volume 7 – Opium and Liquor Monopoly

• Volume 8 – Repatriation of Chinese Prisoners at Singapore

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TRY USING IT ON YOUR OWN!Think about how you would use the Kratoska Index while searching, when would you use the file list when would you use the index

ANSWERS

• Volume 2: CO273/53/11451

• Volume 3: CO273/148/2321

• Volume 4: CO273/235/5591

• Volume 6: CO273/331/45161

• Volume 7: CO273/350/22509

• Volume 8: CO273/377/25491

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USING THE CO RECORDS

SOME POINTERS TO NOTE

- Written by Colonial Civil Servants for other Colonial Civil Servants. Some possible implications:

- Certain racial biases could be found in their writings- Office politics- Generally concerned about money and security- Need to read the files in context of the period

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SOME POINTERS TO NOTE

- File cover has scribblings and names of people who read the files

- May be important if you have the time and resources to do a deeper dive

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WO/ADM RECORDS

WO/DO/ADM RECORDS

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WO/DO/ADM RECORDS

• We do not have much in our collection

• Most of them are in microfilm and have not been digitized

• The records that we have mostly deals with the construction of bases before the war

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OTHER COLONIAL DOCUMENTS

There are other smaller collections of Colonial Documents that NUS Libraries & NAS have in their collection

Speak to us if you are interested to find out more

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OTHER COLONIAL DOCUMENTS

There are other smaller collections of Colonial Documents that NUS Libraries & NAS have in their collection

Speak to us if you are interested to find out more

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Some useful tips when searching for archival

materials

TIPS ON NAVIGATING THE ARCHIVAL MATERIALSMake friends with the archivist or librarians!

Find out if there are searching/finding aids for your source

Use other primary sources to pinpoint dates

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TIPS ON NAVIGATING THE ARCHIVAL MATERIALSIf you need dates for a particular event/ordinances passed try searching Newspaper SG to get hold of primary sources:

EG: If you are trying to look for articles in a microfilm only newspaper, try searching for the event in Newspaper SG and try to match the dates with the microfilm

EG: If you need to look for a particular ordinances/bill, try searching again in Newspaper SG so that you know which seating the bill was discussed

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USEFUL CONTACTS AND LINKS

USEFUL CONTACTS

Han Ming Guang – hanmingguang@nus.edu.sg

Winnifred – winnifred@nus.edu.sg

Diyana – clbndak@nus.edu.sg

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USEFUL LINKS• A Sense of History - http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg/bib/sh/

• History Library Guide – http://libguides.nus.edu.sg/history

• Singapore Primary Sources Guide –http://libguides.nus.edu.sg/sgprimarysources

• Borrowing Microfilms - http://libfaq.nus.edu.sg/faq/71544

• Scanning Microfilms - http://libfaq.nus.edu.sg/faq/71573

• Printing Microfilms - http://libfaq.nus.edu.sg/faq/71545

• UK National Archives - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

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Programme Title: Primary Resources for Singapore Studies: Colonial Office Records

25th September 2020, 10am