Paper short abstract:

The kinds of maps found among records created or used by British central government reflect official business, but include a wide range of less-expected material. Legacy data work aims to widen access and provide intellectual linkage to maps arranged by original provenance.

Paper long abstract:

Maps and plans made or collected by departments of state responsible for foreign relations include the map libraries of the Colonial Office, Foreign Office and War Office, and maps in correspondence and reports, as well as those chosen for Confidential Print. This remit means that historical maps of other European powers' colonies and dominions are held, as well as those of the former British empire.

Maps range in date from one of Roanoke, the first English colony in the New World c.1585, to the post-war era of Aden and Cyprus. They accompanied the different phases of colonial enterprise such as exploration, boundary definition, administration, and decolonisation.

These maps are an integral part of the archives, generally following their original provenance and arrangement. They are embedded in context that can provide rich information about their provenance, purpose, use, and how they were seen by contemporaries. Related records such as letters and reports can help us to understand the maps and the stories behind them.

For instance, what is believed to be the oldest known Maori map of New Zealand was sent to London by the governor of Norfolk Island in 1793, with a Maori vocabulary and gazetteer, and a report with a very tall tale about kidnap and flax-spinning. Text and map together tell a broader story than either alone, and give insight into specific colonial maps and more widely into their social and political role in the colonial arena.