The Project arose as a result of two informal conferences at Nuffield College, Oxford, arranged by Dr. Margery Perham and Dr. Frederick Madden. Those who accepted invitations to the conferences included members of British universities interested in Colonial (and particularly African) studies, members of appropriate Government departments, representatives of the Royal Commonwealth Society and former officers of the Colonial Service. Dr. Conrad Reining of the African section of the Library of Congress attended the second conference.

The second conference, in April 1963, heard a report from Mr. John Tawney, a former Administrative Officer in Tanganyika and Editor of Corona, on his search for papers in private possession which were likely to be of value to British Colonial history. This work had been financed by the University's Beit Fund for an experimental period of six months, from the beginning of 1963, but after three months Mr. Tawney's report was sufficiently encouraging to arouse general support for the setting up of a special project at Oxford. Lack of funds, however, was an obstacle to the establishment of a formal organization until two generous grants breathed life into the proposal, one from Lord Boyd and the other from the African Studies Association of America. The grant from Lord Boyd was subsequently supported by the Goldsmiths Company and the Drapers Company.