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Holdings of the Public Record Office (PRO) Location, Directions, Times etc. Colonial Office Records Newspapers Back to Government Archives According to Guy Grannum, author of Tracing Your West Indian Ancestors, Sources in the Public Record Office, the Colonial Office Records housed at the UK Public Record Office (PRO) are "the most important series of records for the study of West Indian genealogy". The only problem is you have to be in London to use them. The PRO does offer a reproduction service, and there are professional researchers available to perform lookups for a fee. Nevertheless, they can be a rich source of information for genealogists. This section will give a brief outline of the records available, and provide links to the online Catalogue for the PRO. For a much better guide, we highly recommend you get Grannum's book, as well as the other books and leaflets that the PRO publishes regarding genealogy. You can purchase the book, along with many other PRO publications, at their online Bookshop. Colonial Office Records First, a word about the organization of the records. The Colonial Office Records are classifed under letter code CO, and are broken down into record classes. Not all classes are available for each colony. The type of documents available for Trinidad and Tobago are: Original Correspondence  Correspondence from any government body to the Colonial Office. Contains petitions, tax lists, inhabitants lists, civil service applications and pension papers, land grants, newspapers, lists of prisoners, and records of local courts. Entry Books Correspondence from the Colonial Office to any government body. Contains instructions, petitions, letters, reports, commissions, and land patents. Acts Copies of local acts and ordinances. Sessional Papers Proceedings of executive and legislative councils. Government Gazettes Official newpapers produced in the colony. Miscellanea Contain Blue Books of Statistics, and sometimes also contain customs returns and local newpapers. Each of these classes are further broken down into sub-classes that refer to specific time periods or records. For example, reference code CO285/2 is for the Original Correspondence for Tobago, Secretary of State's Office, 1700 -1808. A list of the records available for both Trinidad and Tobago are provided below. Clicking on the link will get a futher breakdown of each class, from where you can get details of each sub-class. Note that after the Union of the two colonies, records can be found under Trinidad. Record Class Record Description # of Records CO 285 Colonial Office and Predecessors: Tobago Original Correspondence 114 CO 286 Colonial Office and Predecessors: Tobago Entry Books 11 CO 287 Colonial Office and Predecessors: Tobago Acts 15 CO 288 Colonial Office and Predecessor: Tobago Sessional Papers 32 CO 289 Colonial Office: Tobago Government Gazettes 7 CO 290 Colonial Office and Predecessors: Tobago Miscellanea 73 CO 295 Colonial Office and Predecessors: Trinidad Original Correspondence 902 CO 296 Colonial Office and Predecessors: Trinidad Entry Books 31 CO 297 War and Colonial Department and Colonial Office: Trinidad: Acts 42 CO 298 War and Colonial Department and Colonial Office: Trinidad and Tobago: Sessional Papers 223 CO 299 War and Colonial Department and Successors: Trinidad and Tobago: Government Gazettes 193 CO 300 War and Colonial Department and Colonial Office: Trinidad Miscellanea 162 BACK TO TOP The Trinidad (Royal) Gazette - "A Genealogical Goldmine" The Trinidad Royal Gazette may sometimes provide important genealogical information not always found in newspapers. There are differences in the amount of information provided by the Trinidad Royal Gazette during different time periods. Unfortunately, for much of the 19th Century, the Gazettes have no contents page and are not indexed in any way. Be prepared to spend hours looking through the Gazettes, for example, of 1860. The good news is that it is possible, at various times, to find the names of individuals in the following: List of Unclaimed Packet and Ship Letters in the General Post Office, Port of Spain and San Fernando Post Office. There is also a section on Inland Post.  Lists of Teachers and members of Fire Brigade.  Application for Liquor, Blacksmith Licences, etc.  Notice to Defaulters in Respect of the Taxes in Lands and Buildings and Arrears of Quit Rent. These also provide details of the locality of the property and details of acreage, etc.  Purchase of Crown Land by Immigrants and others.  Indian Immigrants : Cancelled Contracts.  Cases tried at various Magistrates Courts: These also give details of the offence committed and the sentence passed, etc.  Absconded Immigrants.  Trinidad Supreme Civil Court: Grants of Letters of Administration and Probate.  Jury Lists. Burgess Lists  The Trinidad Royal Gazette / The Trinidad Gazette is held under reference CO 299 (Colonial/Commonwealth Office)- 1833 to 1975 (193 volumes). There is a complete run with the exception of 1918. For a detailed list of the record numbers for each year, go HERE. BACK TO TOP Local Newspapers As part of the CO 300 series, the PRO has a limited collection of newpapers from Trinidad & Tobago, some of which are not available anywhere else. Their holdings, as extracted from their online catalogue, include: Record Class Newspaper Dates CO 300/1 The Trinidad Guardian. 1826-1827 CO 300/2 The Trinidad Guardian. 1828-1829 CO 300/3 The Trinidad Guardian. 1830-1831 CO 300/3 Port of Spain Gazette. 1832-1836 CO 300/4 Port of Spain Gazette. 1828-1844 CO 300/5 Port of Spain Gazette. 1845-1847 CO 300/6 Port of Spain Gazette. 1848-1849 CO 300/7 Port of Spain Gazette. 1850-1851 CO 300/8 Port of Spain Gazette. 1852-1853 CO 300/9 Port of Spain Gazette. 1854-1855 CO 300/10 The Trinidad Standard and West India Journal. 1837-1840 CO 300/11 The Trinidad Standard and West India Journal. 1841-1842 CO 300/12 The Trinidad Spectator. 1845-1847 CO 300/13 The Trinidad Spectator. 1848 CO 300/13 The Trinidadian. 1848-1849 CO 300/14 The Trinidadian. 1850-1851 CO 300/15 The Trinidadian. 1851-1853 BACK TO TOP