Collection search - CO 5. America and West Indies, Original Correspondence, etc. [textual record (chiefly microform)]

Initially, the National Archives acquired transcripts of selected documents relating to Canada in various volumes of CO 5. The transcribers copied only those documents which were unavailable in published format until the introduction of microfilm technology in the 1950s. The specific volumes or selections of volumes acquired as transcripts do not necessarily correspond with the specific volumes of microfilmed originals. Microfilm was acquired from the 1950s to 1997.

As a result of the reorganization of these records between the years 1908 and 1910, the search process has been simplified but the rearrangement has obscured the origins of the documents and the process of administrative evolution. Unfortunately, the Public Record Office has not published a table of equivalents for the various records which were rearranged or transferred but C.M. Andrews ameliorated this situation somewhat by the painstaking assembly of keys printed in Guide to the Materials for American History, to 1783, in the Public Record Office of Great Britain, I (Washington: Carnegie Institution, 1912), pp. 279-307. This guide is useful for translating old references to the new system.

Most documents in CO 5 are written in English. A small percentage of them are in the French language.

The transcripts are available on 16 mm microfilm.

No further accruals are expected.