Colonial Office: Intelligence and Security Departments: Registered Files (ISD Series)

Colonial intelligence and security matters were handled by a number of Colonial Office departments in this period, which dealt with liaison with the military and intelligence services, local colonial intelligence organisations, police and security matters, civil defence and emergency regulations for particular colonies and for the colonies generally. From 1959 to 1961, the Intelligence, Police and Security Department had responsibility for these matters. As the number of remaining colonial territories decreased, there were frequent reorganisations of the remaining work: responsibility passed to the Defence, Intelligence and Security Department in 1961; to the Defence, Intelligence and Hong Kong Department in 1963, and finally to the Defence and Intelligence Department in 1965. In 1966 the Colonial Office and the Commonwealth Relations Office merged, and colonial intelligence and security matters in the Commonwealth Office passed to the Defence Department.