VPRS 3841 Registered and Unregistered Inward and Outward 'Secret' Correspondence

This series was previously registered with the title Copies of Secret Inward Correspondence. In 1999 the series title was changed to Registered and Unregistered Inward and Outward Secret Correspondence. The new series title more accurately reflects the contents of this series. They consist of various items of correspondence, including telegrams, letters and memoranda, related to subject matter identified as secret by the agency, including war-time correspondence from the Prime Minister and the 1949 Royal Commission into the Communist Party.The recordkeeping system which resulted in the accumulation of unregistered, registered, inward and outward secret correspondence items is not known, nor is the date range of this series. For this reason, the date range of the contents of this series has been used.It would seem from the documentation for this series that it was previously thought that this series contained duplicates of registered inward correspondence which could also be found in VPRS 4652 Registered Inward Secret Correspondence. However, VPRS 3841 was found to contain original items of inward registered correspondence not to be found in VPRS 4652.The registered inward correspondence in this series is controlled by VPRS 4653 Register of Secret Inward Correspondence. Researchers should consult both VPRS 4652 and VPRS 3841 if searching for a particular item of registered inward secret correspondence.Other records in this series are unregistered inward and outward correspondence items, related to secret subject matter.

本系列最初以《秘密收文副本》（Copies of Secret Inward Correspondence）为名完成登记。1999年，该系列更名为《登记与未登记秘密收发文函》（Registered and Unregistered Inward and Outward Secret Correspondence）。新的系列名称更精准地匹配本系列的馆藏内容。
本系列涵盖各类与机构认定为机密的主题相关的函件，包括电报、信件及备忘录，其中包含首相的战时函件，以及1949年针对共产党的皇家调查委员会相关档案。
目前尚不明确本系列形成的档案管理机制，即为何会积累未登记、已登记的秘密收发文函件，也无法确定本系列的原始时间跨度。因此，本次标注采用本系列馆藏内容的实际时间范围。
从本系列的档案文档来看，此前曾认为该系列包含可在VPRS 4652《登记秘密收文》（Registered Inward Secret Correspondence）中检索到的已登记收文副本。但经核实，VPRS 3841中实则包含VPRS 4652未收录的已登记收文原件。
本系列中的已登记收文由VPRS 4653《秘密收文登记簿》（Register of Secret Inward Correspondence）进行管理。若研究者需查找特定的已登记秘密收文，应同时查阅VPRS 4652与VPRS 3841。
本系列其余档案均为与机密主题相关的未登记秘密收发文函件。