Catalogue description Office Papers

Details of Division within PREM
Reference: Division within PREM
Title: Office Papers
Description:

These series consist of general correspondence and papers created and received by the staff of the Prime Minister's Office.

The main correspondence series are arranged as follows:

  • correspondence from 1916-1940 is in PREM 1;
  • correspondence from 1940-1945 is in PREM 3 and PREM 4;
  • correspondence from 1945-1951 is in PREM 8;
  • correspondence from 1951-1964 is in PREM 11;
  • correspondence from 1964-1970 is in PREM 13;
  • correspondence and papers from 1970-1974 are in PREM 15;
  • correspondence and papers from 1974-1978 are in PREM 16;
  • correspondence and papers from 1979-1997 are in PREM 19;
  • correspondence and papers from 1997-2010 are in PREM 49.

The records dating from 1940 to 1945 fall into two series known originally as the 'operational' papers ( PREM 3) and the 'confidential' papers (PREM 4). The 'operational' papers relate to the conduct of the Second World War, reflecting the activities of the Prime Minister in his role also as Minister of Defence between 1940 and 1946.

Series containing more specific correspondence include files on the Prime Minister's recommendations for honours and awards (PREM 2), and for ministerial, civil and ecclesiastical appointments (PREM 5). There are also diaries recording the Prime Minister's wartime visits abroad, compiled by his Private Secretaries (PREM 10), files on the administration of Chequers, the Prime Minister's country house, PREM 14, and Prime Minister's appointment diaries PREM 32.

First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister: Appointments: Pensions and Bounties are in PREM 17.

A 'snap shot' of the 10 Downing Street website is in PREM 18 and PREM 21.
Date: 1844-2001
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Physical description: 17 series
Administrative / biographical background:

Before December 1916 the Prime Minister's official staff consisted of three private secretaries and an unpaid parliamentary private secretary. They were supplemented under Lloyd George by a bureau of expert advisers drawn from outside the Civil Service. This personal secretariat was abolished in October 1922 and was never replaced. Subsequent Prime Ministers requiring personal advisers have made more modest, unofficial arrangements.

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