Catalogue description Foreign and Commonwealth Office: British Commission on Rhodesian Opinion (Pearce Commission): Records

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Details of FCO 92
Reference: FCO 92
Title: Foreign and Commonwealth Office: British Commission on Rhodesian Opinion (Pearce Commission): Records
Description:

This series contains records produced by the British Commission on Rhodesian Opinion (Pearce Commission) in the course of its work, including representative samples of records made of interviews with members of the public in Rhodesia and with representatives of various organisations, and policy and administrative files of the commission.
Date: 1972-1973
Related material:

Related FCO files for this period are in FCO 36
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

British Commission on Rhodesian Opinion, 1971-1972
Physical description: 52 file(s)
Access conditions: Open
Immediate source of acquisition:

In 2004 Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Accumulation dates: 1971-1972
Selection and destruction information: Selected under Acquisition Policy criterion 2.2.1.3, documenting the work of the Pearce Commission to discover the consensus of public opinion in Rhodesia on matters relating to UDI. Policy files and representative and major interview and public opinion files selected; routine administrative records and other interview and public opinion files destroyed.
Accruals: One accrual only expected.
Administrative / biographical background:

The British Commission on Rhodesian Opinion was set up in 1971 following the agreement signed in November of that year by the UK Foreign Secretary, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, and the Prime Minister of Rhodesia, Ian Smith, on proposals to end the constitutional dispute between Britain and Rhodesia. The commission, chaired by Lord Pearce, worked in Rhodesia from January to March 1972 to assess the opinions held by the population of the proposals.

The commission reported, in May 1972, that it was satisfied that the proposals were rejected by the majority of the African population in Rhodesia, following which the Rhodesian government withdrew from the agreement.

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