British Western Pacific Territories
British Western Pacific Territories | |
---|---|
1877–1976 | |
God Save the Queen | |
Status | Colonial entity |
Capital | Suva 1877–1952 Honiara 1952–1976 |
Common languages | English (official), Fijian, Tongan, Gilbertese and various Austronesian languages regionally |
Government | Constitutional monarchy, colony |
High Commissioner | |
• 1877–1880 | Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon (1st) |
• 1973–1976 | Sir Donald Luddington (23rd and final) |
Chief Judicial Commissioner | |
• 1877–1882 | Sir John Gorrie (1st) |
• 1938–1942 | Sir Harry Luke |
• 1965–1975 | Sir Jocelyn Bodilly (14th and final) |
Historical era | 19th and 20th centuries |
13 August 1877 | |
• Dissolution | 2 January 1976 |
Currency | British pound sterling |
The British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT) was a colonial entity created in 1877 for the administration of a series of Pacific islands in Oceania under a single representative of the
History
The
The Governor of Fiji was given authority over persons and acts in the islands south of the equator. The Governor, as High Commissioner and Consul-General, was given the authority: to conduct diplomatic relations with local representatives of the foreign powers, to regulate the labour trade where it was conducted by British subjects only, and to maintain law and order among British subjects in the Pacific islands where there were no recognised governments.[1] The High Commissioner appointed resident commissioners to manage specific island territories. Following a commission of inquiry, a revised Order in Council was issued in 1893, which gave the resident commissioners wider autonomy over the islands under their control.[1]
Composition of the British Western Pacific Territories
The composition of the territories of the BWPT varied over time.[1][3][4] As the islands were spread over the South Pacific, administration of the territories was problematic.[5] The most durable members were Fiji (from 1877 to 1952) and the Solomon Islands (from 1893 to 1976). Between 1942 and 1945, the high commission was suspended. While most islands were under British military administration, the Solomon Islands and Gilbert Islands came under Japanese occupation.
In 1952, Fiji was separated from the High Commission. Following this, the High Commissioner's post moved to
Most of the island groups had gained either independence or internal self-government by 1971. On 1 January 1972, the Gilbert and Ellice Islands were taken off with their own governor. On 2 January 1976 after nearly all had been given separate statehood, the office of High Commissioner and the entity of the Pacific Territories were abolished. A remnant of the High Commission, however, was the right of appeal from the courts of many island nations to the Fijian Court of Appeal, which persisted into the late 1970s.[6] With the independence of Kiribati in 1979, all islands formerly a part of the territories (except the Pitcairn Islands) had either gained independence or been attached to other entities.
In 2002 the archived records of this High Commission were transferred to New Zealand, and are now held in the Special Collections of the University of Auckland Library.[7]
Administration of the British Western Pacific Territories
At first, the BWPT were administered by a
In 1908, the headquarters of the BWPT was moved to Ocean Island (today known as Banaba). Ocean Island had been hastily added to the protectorate in 1900 to take advantage of the improved shipping connections resulting from the Pacific Phosphate Company's increased activities.[9][10] The British colonial authorities emphasised that their role was to procure labour for phosphate mining on Ocean Island, and to maintain law and order among the workers.[9]
The Western Pacific High Commission imposed the King’s Tax, payable in copra, with order maintained through the elders of each island and local magistrates.[8][11][12]
The regulation of the coercive labour trade in
Island groups
- Gilbert and Ellice Islands (1892 to 1916) – now independent separately, as Kiribati (in Micronesia) and Tuvalu (in Polynesia) respectively.
In Polynesia
- Canton and Enderbury Islands (1939 to 1976) – now a part of Kiribati.
- Cook Islands (1893 to 1901) – 15 small islands, now a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with New Zealand.
- Niue (Savage Island), also known as "Rock of Polynesia" (1900 to 1901); presently a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand.
- Phoenix Islands (to 1939) – eight nearly uninhabited atolls, presently part of Kiribati.
- Pitcairn Islands (1898 to 1952) – a current British overseas territory.
- Tonga (1900 to 1952) – a native kingdom and protected state, independent since 1970.
- Union Islands (1877 to 1926, officially to 1948) – now Tokelau, a dependent territory of New Zealand.
In Micronesia
- UN Trusteeshipwas approved by the United Nations; it achieved independence in 1968.
- Banaba (Ocean Island) (1900 to 1976) - now a part of Kiribati.[14][15]
In Melanesia
- Fiji (1877 to 1952) – now independent.
- British Solomon Islands (1893 to 1976) – now independent as the nation of Solomon Islands.
- New Hebrides (1906 to 1976), an Anglo-French condominium – now independent as Vanuatu.
See also
Sources, references and external links
- ^ ISBN 9781925022032.
- ^ a b "Judicial System". Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia 1893–1978. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
- ISBN 9781925022032.
- ^ Commonwealth and Colonial Law by Kenneth Roberts-Wray, London, Stevens, 1966. P. 897
- ^ "G. and E. Colony – A Headache In Administration". XX(12) Pacific Islands Monthly. 1 July 1950. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
- ^ Justice Gordon Ward (2005) Achieving effective legal representation in small Pacific island Commonwealth States Archived 31 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Commonwealth Law Conference, London, September 2005
- ^ "Western Pacific Archives". University of Auckland. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ^ ISBN 982-02-0335-X.
- ^ ISBN 9780522843026.
- ^ "G. and E. Colony's Headquarters". XX(8) Pacific Islands Monthly. March 1950. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
- ^ Teo, Noatia P. (1983). "Chapter 17, Colonial Rule". In Larcy, Hugh (ed.). Tuvalu: A History. University of the South Pacific/Government of Tuvalu. pp. 127–139.
- ^ Doug Munro, The Lives and Times of Resident Traders in Tuvalu: An Exercise in History from Below, (1987) 10(2) Pacific Studies 73
- ISBN 9780207120381.
- ^ ISBN 0-522-84302-6.
- ^ OCLC 3444055.
- WorldStatesmen
- Deryck Scarr, Fragments of Empire. A History of the Western Pacific High Commission. 1877–1914, Canberra: Australian National University Press & London: C. Hurst & Co., 1967.