Published by Primary Source Microfilm

Before the formation of the Cabinet Secretariat in December 1916, no systematic attempt was made to keep a complete set of the printed memoranda that Cabinet Ministers thought it worth while to circulate to their colleagues for the purpose of giving them information or for securing their assent to some course of action. Public Record Office class CAB 1 (Cabinet Office, Miscellaneous Records) consists of only 800 papers which had been returned to the Cabinet Office by former ministers or their executors. A far greater number survived only in private collections.

In November 1962 the Public Record Office approached the owners and custodians of such collections and traced, including those in the PRO and the Foreign Office, nearly 5,000 papers. Photocopies of these papers were then made and brought together in CAB 37. These documents are being offered on microfilm.

This unique collection has been taken from the following sources: The Royal Archives at Windsor, Lloyd George Papers, Chamberlain Papers, Asquith Papers, Bryce Papers, Dodson Papers, Goschen Papers, Beveridge Papers, Braithwaite Papers, Courtenay Papers, Markham Papers, Balfour Papers, Campbell-Bannerman Papers, Dilke Papers, Arnold-Foster Papers, H.G. Gladstone Papers, W.E. Gladstone Papers, Churchill Papers, Hardinge Papers, Haldane Papers, Childers Papers, Papers of the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, Curzon Papers, Lothian Papers, and the Crewe Papers.

Almost every subject of domestic and foreign concern is covered, and these Cabinet Papers are vital to an understanding of the state affairs of the period and reflect in rich detail the wide range of Cabinet concerns. They are a unique and indispensable source of immeasurable benefit for research and teaching.

Part 1: CAB 37, Volumes 1-81, 1880-1905
23 reels

Part 2: CAB 37, Volumes 82-162, 1906-1916
26 reels