IOR/L/PS/12/1482

The file contains papers regarding plans for the transfer of the civil administration of Aden to the Colonial Office.

The material dated 1933 comprises correspondence between the Aden Chief Commissioner (Bernard Reilly) and the India Office (John Gilbert Laithwaite) regarding points to be addressed if Aden should be separated from India. These include: income tax rates and arrangements; the Post Office and Telephone service; the printing and sale of stamps; the mail contract; currency; treasury and finance arrangements; audit of the Aden budget; mechanisms for new laws and enactments; the future of local bodies (the Aden Port Trust and the Aden Settlement); lighthouses; ecclesiastical matters; retention of the right to appeal to the Bombay High Court; and provision for mental health patients. This is accompanied by notes on a meeting between Reilly, the India Office and the Colonial Office.

The material dated 1935-36 comprises further correspondence between the Chief Commissioner, the India Office, the Colonial Office, and the Government of India Foreign and Political Department, regarding issues to be addressed prior to the transfer. The possibility of extending Reilly's appointment at Aden is also discussed.

In addition to the correspondence, at the front of the file (ff 2-48) there are published copies of earlier Government correspondence and memoranda relating to Aden, including details of receipts and expenditure, administrative arrangements, and staffing. This includes a copy of Aden. Question of Transfer. Papers, 1933 (Middle East, No. 50).

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folio 1).