Catalogue description Records of the Information, Cultural and Education Departments of the Commonwealth Relations Office

From the creation of the Commonwealth Relations Office in 1947 to 1954 cultural relations, education, information and related issues were dealt with by an Information Department within the Finance and General Division. In 1954, a separate Information Department was established (independent of the divisional structure of the rest of the Office) which dealt with liaison with the British Council and the Central Office of Information, publicity matters, the media generally (and especially the BBC), British and Commonwealth information services, sponsored visits, exhibitions and tours, staffing of overseas information posts and related matters.

The department became a division in its own right in 1958. This trend from department in a general division, to independent department, to division, reflected the growing importance to the Office of influencing the public perception of the Commonwealth as it developed.

The Information (later, Information and Cultural Relations) Department consisted at first of sections dealing with Information Overseas, Cultural Relations, Administration and Public Relations. When the Division was created in 1958, its internal structure was reorganised into a Press and Public Relations Department, an Information Policy and Cultural Relations Department and an Information Services Section. The Administration Section became part of the Establishments and Organization Division.

There was a further reorganisation in 1960. The division was renamed the Information Division. News Department replaced the Press and Publications Department, Information Services Section was upgraded to a Department, and the Information Policy and Cultural Relations Department was split into an Information Policy Department and an Education Department which dealt both with cultural relations and general educational policy matters within the Commonwealth (which had previously been handled by the relevant geographical departments). The name of this last department was changed to the Cultural Relations Department in 1961. Between 1962 and 1964, the Office's Legal Adviser and his staff were attached to the Division.

In September 1965, the first steps towards the creation of a united foreign department were taken with the creation of joint Commonwealth Relations Office/Foreign Office departments in the information services. While the Information Division continued, and within it the Cultural Relations and the News Department, two new joint departments, the Information Administration and the Information Guidance and Policy Departments were formed. The Information Services Department was similarly merged with its Foreign Office counterpart early in 1966, in the last organisational change to the Office's information and cultural departments before the merger with the Colonial Office.

The library of the Dominions Office was taken over by the Commonwealth Relations Office on its formation, and was run as part of the Information Department. With the abolition of the India Office, its library was also acquired, as was the India Office Record Section. These all formed part of the Finance and General Division until 1957, when they were transferred to the Establishments and Organization Division. In 1960, control of the libraries and the record department was handed to a new Administration Department in the same division.