Colonial Office 880 was one of a series of prints begun in the 1860s consisting of various papers printed confidentially for the exclusive use of the officials of the Colonial Office. Acquired in its entirety, this class is available on microfilm reels B-3940 to B-3959. (Acquired also at an earlier period on microfilm, it is also available on microfilm reels B-1561 to B-1565, B-3196, B-3211 to B-3214 and B-3940 to B-3959.)
The practice probably began not much earlier than 1826 when the prints consisted mainly of Cabinet memoranda. Later, the advantages of having important documents on a particular subject collected or printed became apparent to inexperienced or overworked officials. As a consequence, the production of prints began to increase, becoming in effect the modern "file" system of records keeping. In 1832, responsibility for supervising the preparation of the prints was entrusted to the Librarian. However, prior to 1867 as the volume of material increased, it was deemed necessary to create the office of Clerk for Parliamentary Papers responsible for the supervision of the publication of parliamentary prints. Parliamentary papers were of two kinds: Command Papers presented to Parliament by command of His Majesty and therefore placed before both Houses, and Sessional Papers, which were presented pursuant to an act of Parliament or in compliance with an address or order from either House. In both cases, the documents usually were printed first as confidential prints and then reprinted as Parliamentary papers.
The series consists of despatches and other correspondence, reports of various Royal Commissions and other investigative bodies, minutes and memoranda by officials and consultants, maps, sketches, various statistics, copies of treaties and conventions, and other documents. The series includes prints relating to all British colonies in what constitutes modern Canada and covers such subjects as Clergy Reserves in Upper and Lower Canada, the introduction of responsible government, the surrender of Crown revenues in various colonies, the political situation prior to rebellion in both Upper and Lower Canada, extensive papers on fisheries in the Maritime Provinces, reciprocity negotiations with the United States, Canada and Newfoundland, French Shore adjustments in Newfoundland, the surrender of Hudson's Bay Company territories in the Canadian northwest, the Intercolonial Railway, Confederation, the Red River and North West disturbances, the finances and politics of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, land tenure in Prince Edward Island, the Treaty of Washington, the establishment of a Supreme Court and Court of Exchequer in Canada, the Canadian Pacific Railway, copyright laws in Canada, Alaskan boundary, and the North Atlantic coast fisheries arbitration at The Hague 1909-1910.
