In common with much of this collection of papers, these files do not originate from a single, uniformly maintained filing system. A small number has its origin in Welensky's term of office as Director of Manpower in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia). Half of the remainder may be described as 'Liaison Office files'. The Liaison Office was established in Lusaka at the end of 1950 to provide liaison between departments of the Northern Rhodesian (Zambian) Government and the leader of the 'Unofficial' members of the Northern Rhodesia Legislative Council, Welensky, and vice versa. This cumbersome arrangement was, in part, a consequence of Welensky's decision not to take a portfolio in the mixed official/unofficial government of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) under its 1948 constitution, while nonetheless remaining a member of the Executive Council and serving as Chairman of the Unofficial Members' Association, even though some unofficials were 'members', that is, took portfolios. The Liaison Officer, a civil servant, was, in practice, Welensky's private secretary and soon became such in both theory and title. Most of the files were carried off to Salisbury (Harare) when both Welensky and his private secretary went federal, there to continue in use during the interim period, when Welensky retained his seat on the Legislative Council in Lusaka whilst also serving as member of the Federal Executive Council, the Federation's proto-cabinet.

Once the Federal Public Service was fully operational and Welensky had cut his links with the process of government in the north, the use of many of the files was abandoned and placing the files in the current catalogue has presented some problems. It is impossible to fully reconstruct the Liaison Office filing system, or earlier or later systems. Other ex-Liaison files continued in use and were incorporated, either in whole or in part, into various later filing systems. Thus, the Liaison files in this section are, generally, those not carried forward.

Most of the remaining files in this section predate the Liaison Office, were less methodically kept, and survive in a more patchy form. Some are files kept by Welensky's own secretary in his adopted hometown of Broken Hill (Kabwe). Others may have been kept in Lusaka. A further group, relating to Welensky's activities as a Northern Rhodesian (Zambian) Government nominee on various boards and public bodies, comprised files of diverse origins.