Territories of the British Empire
J-Z
Jamaica
Jamaica was seized from Spain in 1655. Its
status was confirmed by the Treaty of Madrid in 1670 and the island quickly
became a sugar producing island as well as being used by pirates and
buccaneers. Sit Thomas Modyford was the island's first governor in 1661 being
sent from Barbados and taking with him a thousand settlers. As early as
1670 there were 57 plantations and by 1780 more than a thousand
sugar plantations. Later coffee and rum became important exports. Slow
progress towards emancipation of the slaves led to the Baptist War revolt in
1831, but when slavery was abolished in 1833 there was economic chaos and
a slump in sugar production. In October 1865, following years of exploitation
of the ex-slave community, the Morant Bay rising occurred followed by the
brutal repression of Governor Eyre during which 439 black people were executed
and 1000 homes burned. The Governor was subsequently exonerated of any charge
of wrongdoing.
Kenya
The coast of Kenya has a history of association with traders going back to the 10th century . Vasco da Gama visited in 1498 and Portuguese traders established posts from 1505. Trading communities were also established in Zanzibar by Arabs from Oman. The inland was left undisturbed until the coming of missionaries in 1848 and the opening up of farmland by the British East Africa Company from 1888. In 1895 a protectorate was established which led to a steady flow of settlers and the construction of the Uganda railway from Mombasa to Lake Victoria. The protectorate did not become a Crown Colony until 1920.Nairobi was founded as a railway terminus attracting Asian traders as well as a social elite from Europe.
A legislative council set up in 1907 provoked opposition form Africans seeing the institution as a way of extending white rule and a means of forcing Africans to leave their traditional hunting grounds. During World War One a successful invasion of German East Africa was led by General Smuts. After the war a number of set backs hit agriculture such as locusts between 1924 and 1934. The white population though continue to grow as the rights of Africans continued to be ignored. In 1928 a political movement was launched by Jomo Kenyatta and Harry Thuku to safeguard African rights but the failure to grant any political rights led to the growth of secret societies such as Mau Mau. Limited reforms were introduced in 1954 but they came too late. At the 1960 Lancaster House Conference in London, the British government made it clear that majority rule based on universal suffrage must be introduced along with the redistribution of a million acres of land to African farmers. Independence was achieved on 12 December 1963 following the introduction of full self- government.
Kuwait
Kuwait is an emirate at the north-western head
of the Persian Gulf. It had developed trade links with India during the late 18th
century. In 1899 the emirate became a British Protectorate which gave the Amir
increased protection against encroachment from the Turks. British forces
protected Kuwait during World War One after which its strategic importance led
to the continued involvement of the British until 1961 when the protectorate
was replaced with a ten year defensive pact. In the 1970s Kuwait began to
follow a more neutral policy although British troops did play a part in the
liberation of Kuwait following the Iraqi invasion.
Malaya
Malaya was a former federation of British colonies on the Malay peninsula. A British foothold was established by the British East India Company on the Malayan peninsula during the late 19th century. The various political entities were referred to by the British as the Straits Settlements (Singapore, Penang and Malacca) with whom various treaties were signed. In 1896 a British Protectorate was established over Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Pahang, and in 1915 Britain signed a defensive treaty with the Sultan of Johore. All these states together formed the Unfederated Malay States. In 1948 the Federation of Malaya was created but it was considered to be dominated by Malays despite the half million Chinese living in the region. This led to the Malayan emergency which was a communist uprising which began in June 1948 and continued throughout the 1950s.
Maldives
The Maldives is an archipelago of 2,000 coral
islands which were taken under British Protection in 1887 and administered from
Ceylon. The islands were declared to be independent in 1965.
Malta
Malta is a small group of islands in the mid-Mediterranean
which have been of strategic importance to Britain. In 1798 the French occupied
the islands which belonged to the Knights of St John. In 1802 during the Napoleonic
Wars when Malta was occupied by Napoleonic forces, the Maltese people asked for
British protection and for their civil and religious rights to be acknowledged.
The islands (of Malta and Gozo) were formally annexed in 1814 and Grand
Harbour, Valetta, became an important base for the Mediterranean fleet until
1979. During WW1, the island became a hospital base for the invasion of
Gallipoli.
Mauritius
A volcanic island in the Indian Ocean, Mauritius
was explored by the Portuguese in the 1511 and settled by the Dutch in the 17th
century. The French took possession of the island in 1715 and held it until the
Royal Navy seized the island in 1810. British possession was formalised in 1814
by the terms of the Treaty of Paris. During the 19th century
Mauritius was a crown colony and naval base. The economy of the island was
based on sugar and the French plantations had brought slave labour from East
Africa. After the abolition of slavery, indentured labour was brought from India.
Mauritius became independent in 1968.
Manitoba
Manitoba is the easternmost of Canada's
prairie provinces. It became British following the Treaty of Paris in 1763,
being run by the Hudson Bay Company, until in 1870 a small area around Winnipeg
was transferred to the new Dominion in response to the uprising by the Metis in
the Red River colony. Garnet Wolseley was sent to quell the uprising.
Mashonaland
Mashonaland, now in north eastern Zimbabwe,
was occupied by the Shona people but forced by the British South Africa Company
to grant mineral and settler rights after the allocation by the British
Government in 1889 of a charter to the
British South Africa Company. The area remained in the hands of the BSAC until 1924
when it became a Crown Colony. With Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the
territory became part of the Central African Federation in 1953 before gaining
independence as Zambia in 1964.
Matabeleland
Now in southern Zimbabwe, Matabeleland was in the late 19th
century the home of the Ndebele people during the Scramble for Africa. Their
king, Lobengula, granted to Cecil Rhodes the right to develop the area's
minerals. The Ndebele rose up against the British in 1893, but the uprising was
put down by Rhodes.
Montserrat
A volcanic island in
the Caribbean 27 miles south-west of Antigua, Montserrat was visited by
Columbus in 1493 and settled by Europeans in 1632, when the British brought in
Irish indentured workers from St Kitts. The island was brought under Crown rule
in 1663. The French captured the island on three occasions (1664, 1667 and
1782) although it was quickly retaken. In 1783 British possession of the island
was confirmed by treaty. From 1871 to 1956 Montserrat was linked to the
Leewards Islands Colony. In 1960 the island received a degree of self-government
with partially elected legislative and executive councils.
Natal
Natal
is now a province on the south coast of South Africa. A coastal settlement was
established in 1824, mainly for hunters. In 1835 the town of Durban was founded
(named after D'Urban, Governor of the Cape Province). Meanwhile forty miles
inland the Boers established a capital for their settlers who had come from the
Cape Province during the Great Trek. The Boers called their settlement Natalia
but in 1843 this was annexed by the British and joined to Cape Province. In
1856 the separate colony of Natal was established. There was an important sugar
industry which led to the importation of indentured labour from India. Bartle
Frere was sent to South Africa in 1877 to attempt to create a federation of the
various white settler colonies but only succeeded in creating an uprising of
the Zulu nation and the debacle of Isandhlwana. Boer troops entered Natal
during the First Boer War, defeating British forces at Majuba Hill in 1881 and
then again during the Second Boer War in 1899 when they laid siege to Ladysmith
and held up Buller's relief force at Colenso defeating them in a number of
engagements including at Spion Kop.
See Isandhlwana, The Boer War
Nepal
A Himalayan kingdom which fought a war with
the British from 1814 to 1816 during which large numbers of Nepalese Gurkha
soldiers were recruited in to the British Indian army. A British resident was
appointed to the Nepalese court from 1816. Nepal has had full independence
since British rule in India ended in 1947.
Nevis
The Caribbean island was settled from St
Christopher in 1628 and came under Crown rule in 1663. In 182 it was united
with St Christopher into a single government.
New Hebrides
A group of 80 islands in the Pacific 500 miles
west of Fiji, now known as Vanuatu. The islands were discovered by the Portuguese
in 1606 and remained a source of tension between Britain and France throughout
the 19th century, until a joint Anglo-British administration (known
as a condominium) was set up in 1906,
which included an agreement on land-holding and the employment of native
labour. These arrangements ended on 30 July 1980 when the republic of Vanuatu
was established.
New Brunswick
a
Canadian maritime province that was granted to Britain by the French at the
Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Responsible government came in 1848 and in 1868 the
area became part of the dominion of Canada.
Newfoundland
British claims to the territory went back to
the reign of Henry VIII. A governor was appointed in 1729 and settlement
increased throughout the 18th century. Self-government was granted in 1855 but
it was decided not to join the Canadian federation.
New South Wales
Cook discovered Botany Bay in 1770 and the
botanist Joseph Banks urged the government to use one of its harbours as
a penal colony. With the independence of the American colonies it became urgent
to find another penal colony so Banks' suggestion was a timely one
for the government. The first penal colony was established in 1788 in
Botany Bay when the first fleet of eleven ships arrived. Officials hoped
that penal servitude would be not only be a check on crime but would
in time lead to the reform of criminals by making them the basis of
a new colony. The first governor of the colony was Captain Arthur Philip - he
had with him male and female convicts, soldiers, free settlers and officials -
and having anchored off Botany Bay decided on a better location for his ships,
a nearby bay which became Sydney Harbour. Within twenty years the population of
the colony had risen to 38,000 and the economy was sound, although free
settlers continued to be scarce. Sheep, introduced in 1797, had
become the most important part of the economy with over 300,000 sheep
producing 10 million pounds in exports by 1830. Penal transportation continued
until 1840 by which time 80,000 inhabitants had come as convicts compared to
70,000 free settlers. A nominated legislature was set up in
1823 followed by a partially elected one in 1843. Federation of the
Australian colonies came in 1901.
See The First Fleet, The Aborigine Wars, The Doctrine of Terra Nullius
New Zealand
The islands were visited by whalers, sealers
and timber traders from the 1790s. The first Christian mission was established
in the Bay of Plenty in 1814 before Wakefield and the New Zealand Company
brought large scale emigration to the islands in the 1830s. To head off a
possible French interest in the islands, in 1840 Captain William Hobson was
sent to establish British sovereignty and sign a treaty with the local Maoris
(1840 Treaty of Waitangi). A separate colony was established in 1841 and much
of the early development of towns was through the New Zealand Company. In 1852
a quasi -ederal structure was created by Governor Grey, with self-government
following in 1856. The economy of the islands became to be based on wool and
with the coming of refrigeration in the 1880s, exports of meat began and became
a major industry.
Nigeria
The earliest
British involvement began with the taking of Lagos in 1851 for use as a
naval base for the squadron involved in stopping the slave trade. The
territory was administered from Sierra Leone initially until a separate
colony was established in 1886. The government reluctantly established
the crown colony only after French and German interest in the palm oil trade.
At the same time the Royal Niger Company negotiated treaties with many inland
tribal leaders until in 1900 all of the Company's land was passed over to
the British government which established the protectorate of Southern
Nigeria and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria. The name was suggested by
Flora Shaw, colonial editor of the Times.
See Frederick Lugard
North Borneo
The Territory was ceded by the Sultan of
Brunei to a group which became the North Borneo Company in 1881. North Borneo
was brought under Crown rule in 1906. It was occupied by the Japanese from 1942
to 1945 and as Sabah became part of Malaysia in 1963.
North Rhodesia
The territory known as Northern Rhodesia was allocated as a
sphere of influence to the British South Africa Company in 1889, and settled by
the company after 1890. Crown rule replaced company rule in 1924. Northern
Rhodesia became part of the Central African Federation in 1953 and gained
independence in 1964 as Zambia.
Nyasaland
Missionaries reached the shores of Lake Malawi in
1859 but it wasn’t until the 1890s when the
slave trade had been eradicated that the
area was settled by Europeans. The Church of Scotland founded a mission in the
highlands in 1876 naming the centre, Blantyre, after Livingstone’s birthplace. Nyasaland became
a British protectorate in 1891 to prevent any German and Boer involvement in
the area. Harry Johnstone became the consul-general but in 1907 following the
naming of the area as Nyasaland it was
given a colonial governor. An uprising in 1915 urged the British to introduce
political reform. In 1953 Nyasaland joined North and South Rhodesia in a short
lived federation. In 1958 the exiled Hastings Banda returned to develop the
nationalist movement and a state of emergency was declared. Independence was
granted in 1964.
Pitcairn Islands
The Pitcairn Islands were discovered by
European explorers in 1767 but were not settled by Europeans. In 1790, nine
mutineers from HMS Bounty landed on Pitcairn and together with 12 Tahitians established
a settlement. Nothing was known of the settlement until 1806, and their descendants
remained on the island until 1856, when they were removed to Norfolk Island.
Within eight years a quarter of the families had returned and in 1898 given legal protection under the
British High Commissioner in Fiji.
St Christopher (St Kitts)
St Kitts was discovered by Columbus in 1493 and in 1624 chosen
by Sir Thomas Warner as the first island of English settlement in the
Caribbean. Warner also colonized neighbouring St Nevis in 1628. It came under
Crown rule in 1663. Possession of the island continued to be disputed between
the Spanish and the French until 1783 although British possession had been
accepted at the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. It was occupied by the French from
1782 to 1783. The island was dependent on sugar plantations, and when
emancipation of slaves came in the 1830s the plantations continued to prosper
economically as they were smaller than those in Jamaica, and there was
sufficient labour on the island. The governments of St Kitts and Nevis were
combined in 1882 and the islands were part of the Leeward Islands from 1871 to
1956, and of he British West Indies Federation
from 1958 to 1962. The islands became independent in 1983.
See the Development of the Slave Trade
St Helena
St Helena is an island in the middle of the
South Atlantic. It was initially claimed by the Dutch but then annexed by the
East India Company in 1651, as a supply base for their ships. The British government assumed full
responsibility in 1834 and it was to St Helena that Napoleon was sent in
1815, and where he died in 1821. St Helena became a Crown Colony in 1834,
and although its use diminished after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, it
retained an important cable station.
St Lucia
An island in the Lesser Antilles, the British tried to take possession of the island in 1605 but were repulsed by the Carib inhabitants. A second attempt was made from Bermuda in 1638 but this was followed by their massacre in 1641. The French were able to establish a settlement but conflict between the French ad the British led to the island frequently changing hands. Eventually at the Treaty of Paris in 1814, the French ceded possession to the British. In 1869 the reformist Govrnor, William Des Voeux arrived on the island. He found the island in a shambles and he began to imprve facilities and bring justice to the island. His attempts to imprive the plight of the black population id not endear him to the plantation owners though however the laws he introduced became hte model for other such small communities. The island received representative government in 1924, internal self-government in 1967 and full independence in 1979.
St Vincent
An island in the Grenadines, St Vincent was discovered by
Colombus in 1498. Attempts by the British and French to settle on the island
were resisted by the Carib inhabitants but in 1773 a treaty was signed by which the Caribs
surrendered sovereignty in return for land rights. There were rebellions by the
Caribs, supported by the French, in 1795-96, which resulted in the deportation
of the Carib community. The development of agriculture was hampered by volcanic
eruptions in 1812 and 1902. In 1855 St Vincent became part of the Windward
Islands colony, and received self-government in 1969, before independence in 1979.
Sarawak
Sarawak is an area of north-western Borneo, now within
Malaysia. In 1841, the Sultan of Brunei appointed James Brooke as Rajah of
Sarawak. He and his heirs ruled the territory as ‘white rajahs’ for more than a
hundred years. It became a British Protectorate in 1888. Executive and
legislative councils were established in 1941 just weeks before the Japanese
occupied the territory. Civilian government was restored in 1946 and soon after
the ruling council voted to become a British Crown Colony. In 1963 Sarawak
joined Malaysia.
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the land of the Matabele
and Mashona people north of the Transvaal. Following the movement up the
Zambezi by missionaries and traders, Cecil Rhodes believed there was the
possibility of gold being mined, and in 1890 settlers under administration of the
British South Africa Company moved north from Bechuanaland into the lands of
the Mashona, Matabele and Ndebele. There followed constant fighting until the
lands of the local people were confiscated after 1896. In 1911 the lands of the
British South Africa Company were divided administratively into Northern
Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia with the Zambezi as the border.
Northern Rhodesia
The British South Africa Company acquired
rights in this when they signed an agreement with the leader of the Barotse
people in 1891. Various territories were amalgamated by the Company into
Northern Rhodesia in 1911 but the territory was dependant to a large degree on
the policies decided in Salisbury, capital of Southern Rhodesia.
Seychelles
This group of more than 180 islands in the Indian Ocean was established by
the French as a spice colony but taken by Britain in 1794 and administered from
Mauritius from 1811 until they became a separate colony in 1888. Independence
was achieved in 1976.
Sierra Leone
The territory in West Africa was associated
with the slave trade from 1562 and later used by the Royal African Company. The
spread of ideas on the emancipation of slaves led to the creation of the Sierra
Leone Company in 1790 which bought land and founded Freetown as a
settlement for 60 Europeans and 400 freed slaves, mainly from Bristol and
other British ports. The Church Missionary Society became involved with
the territory which was taken over by the government in 1807 after which it
became a crown colony. Inland territory was incorporated in 1896 and
independence came in 1961.
South Africa
Attempts by Lord Carnarvon and Cecil Rhodes to bring about a
federation of British colonies, protectorates and Boer republics failed but
following the Second Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, Lord Milner, the British High
Commissioner, revived proposals for federation which were enacted in September
1909, becoming reality on 31 May 1910 with the creation of the Union of South
Africa. The Union had dominion status until it left the Commonwealth on 31 May 1961.
See the Africa section
Straits Settlements
The East India Company acquired Penang in 1786, Singapore in
1819-24, and Malacca in 1824, and these territories were unified as the Straits
Settlements in 1826 with a joint government. Following the Indian Rebellion,
the Settlements were administered by the government of India from 1859 and as a
separate Crown Colony from 1867. After the occupation by the Japanese during
the Second World War, Malacca and Penang became a part of the Malayan
Federation in 1948 whilst Singapore remained a separate colony.
Sudan
Northern Sudan was occupied by Egyptian troops in 1820 and the
city of Khartoum established. An Egyptian governor was appointed in 1830,
although effective control lapsed in mid-century. In 1881 the Dongola slave-trader
Mohamed Ahmed bin Abdullah led an Islamic uprising and established himself as
the Messiah. An Egyptian army was destroyed
in 1883, and 1885 he laid siege to Khartoum, killing General Gordon,
despite a relieving expedition under General Garnet Wolseley being sent to
relieve the town. In 1898, fearing possible French moves, the British, acting
nominally for Egypt, reconquered Sudan following the Battle of Omdurman. A joint
condominium with Egypt was established until Sudan became independent in 1956,
with the area being treated as a British Protectorate.
Trinidad
An island in the Caribbean captured from the Spanish in 1797 and ceded to Britain in 1802 along with
Tobago. The two islands became a joint colony in 1888.
Uganda
he accession
of a weak ruler to the area of Buganda brought a breakdown in law and order and
threatened the safety of existing missionaries. To stabalise the area and
prevent German interest the Imperial East Africa Company sent Frederick
Lugard to negotiate a treaty with the Kabaka (ruler). Lugard was eventually
successful in negotiating a treaty with the Kabaka and then when he returned to
the UK persuaded the authorities to make Uganda a protectorate. The
Protectorate was declared in June 1894.
See Frederick Lugard
Zanzibar
A large island off the coast of east Africa,
separated from the mainland by a 22 mile channel. The island and its neighbour
Pemba were used for slave trading by Arabs from Oman. In 1832 Sultan Seyyid Said,
the Omani ruler of Muscat, decided to move his capital to Zanzibar to
consolidate Musca’s commercial links
with east Africa. Treaties with Britain in 1839 and 1845, and the appointment
of a British consul failed to stop the slave trade in the region. A further treaty
in 1873 was followed by regular naval patrols around Zanzibar. A subsequent
treaty with the British East Africa Company in 1887 settled the question of the
future of the territories on the mainland and as ports were established on the
mainland at Mombasa and Dar-es-Salaam, Zanzibar declined in importance. Zanzibar
became a British protectorate in 1890, and became an independent Sultanate on 6
December 1963. The Sultan was forced out of power just weeks later, but the government
could not hold on to power and in April 1964, Zanzibar and Pemba formed a united
republic with Tanganyika which became Tanzania.