Catalogue description Colonial Research Committee and Colonial Research Council: Minutes and Papers

A Colonial Research Committee was appointed in June 1942 to advise the secretary of state on the expenditure of the sums provided for research under the Colonial Development and Welfare Act 1940 and on the co-ordination of the whole range of research in colonial studies irrespective of the source of funds. In February 1948 it was replaced by a Colonial Research Council with similar terms of reference, co-ordinating the work of various committees advising on special aspects of research and itself covering any matters not falling within the province of those committees.

In 1959 the council was dissolved and replaced by an Overseas Research Council, working under and advising a Committee of the Privy Council on Overseas Research. The Overseas Research Council was dissolved in 1964, its work having become duplicated by the Department of Technical Cooperation and its advisory bodies.