Archive Overview
This archive catalogs Colonial Office (CO) records held at the UK National Archives relating to North Borneo, Sarawak, Brunei, and the wider Borneo region. The source document is a 224-page Contents for E-Archive Listing covering 30+ CO series.
Records span approximately 1840s - 1960s — from the era of the American Trading Company’s early land grants through the formation of Malaysia in 1963.
How to navigate
The sidebar lists the major series individually. Each series page describes what the volumes cover, how they are organised, and what kinds of material researchers are likely to find there.
Start here depending on your research interest:
- Chartered company administration, land grants, treaties, Residents’ diaries — CO 874 (British North Borneo Company Papers, 1128 volumes; the largest and most comprehensive series)
- Post-war Crown Colony period, constitutional development, Cession — CO 531 (British North Borneo Original Correspondence, 416 volumes)
- Confidential policy: Japanese occupation, military handover, Sarawak political reports — CO 537 (Confidential Original Correspondence, Borneo sub-series)
- Malaysia formation and the Cobbold Commission — CO 947 (61 volumes of evidence, submissions, and proceedings, 1962)
- Sarawak — CO 938 (122 volumes of original correspondence)
- Brunei — CO 943 (35 volumes)
- Labuan — CO 144 (correspondence, entry books, and registers, 1840s onwards)
- Regional context: Straits Settlements, FMS, Singapore, maps, photographs — Related series
All physical records are held at the UK National Archives, Kew. This site provides catalogue-level descriptions only — digitization of the original documents is an ongoing NBHRC objective.
Series at a glance
| Series | Description | Volumes |
|---|---|---|
| CO 874 | British North Borneo Company Papers | 1128 |
| CO 531 | British North Borneo Original Correspondence | 416 |
| CO 273 | Straits Settlements Original Correspondence | 2383 |
| CO 717 | Federated Malay States Original Correspondence | 1964 |
| CO 1030 | Far Eastern Department Original Correspondence | 1206 |
| CO 1022 | South East Asia Department Original Correspondence | 453 |
| CO 953 | Singapore Original Correspondence | 139 |
| CO 938 | Sarawak Original Correspondence | 122 |
| CO 537 | Confidential Original Correspondence | 177 |
| CO 947 | Cobbold Commission 1962 | 61 |
| CO 943 | Brunei Original Correspondence | 35 |
| CO 954 | Borneo Territories Original Correspondence | 43 |
| CO 144 | Labuan, Original Correspondence | 81 |
| CO 1047 | Maps and Plans Series II | 42 |
| CO 426 | Straits Settlements Register of Correspondence | 42 |
| CO 352 | Labuan Register of Correspondence | 7 |
| CO 404 | Labuan Entry Books | 5 |
| CO 487 | Labuan Register of Out-Letters | 4 |
| CO 777 | British North Borneo Register of Correspondence | 4 |
| CO 778 | British North Borneo Register of Out-Letters | 1 |
| CO 992 | North Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak Registers | 5 |
| CO 486 | Straits Settlements Register of Out-letters | 17 |
| CO 425 | Straits Settlements Entry Books | 8 |
| CO 700 | Maps and Plans Series I | 27 |
| CO 1054 | Maps and Plans Post-1940 | 7 |
| CO 1069 | Photographic Collection | 77 |
| CO 786 | Federated Malay States Register of Correspondence | 19 |
| CO 889 | Reid Commission Minutes and Papers | 3 |
| CO 1040 | Rajah of Sarawak Fund Papers | 9 |
| CO 991 | Malayan Union and Singapore Registers | 7 |
| CO 1010 | Singapore Registers of Correspondence | 5 |
- CO 144, 352, 404, 487 — Labuan Records
- CO 531 — British North Borneo Original Correspondence
- CO 537 — Confidential Original Correspondence
- CO 874 — British North Borneo Company Papers
- CO 938 — Sarawak Original Correspondence
- CO 943 — Brunei Original Correspondence
- CO 947 — Cobbold Commission 1962
- Related & Contextual Series