The department was headed until 1947 by the Secretary of State for India and Burma, a member of the British cabinet, and then for a few months until January 1948 by the Secretary of State for Burma.
In 1937, as provided for in the 1935 act, these reforms led to the separation of Burma from India and the creation in London of the Burma Office, constitutionally separate from the India Office, although the two shared the same Secretary of State and were housed in the same building.
In September 1947, a constitution to create the Union of Burma, an independent republic outside the Commonwealth, was approved, and in October the Nu-Attlee agreement was signed, granting Burma independence.
In the words of the Commonwealth Office Year Book, On 4th January 1948 Burma ceased to be part of His Majesty's dominions and became a foreign country.
[1]Unlike other British Government records, the Burma Office records, like those of the India Office, are not in The National Archives at Kew but are deposited with the India Office Records in the British Library, London, where they form part of the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections.