Colonial Office

The Colonial Office was a

Despite its name, the Colonial Office was responsible for much, but not all, of Britain's Imperial territories; the protectorates fell under the purview of the

It was headed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, known informally as the Colonial Secretary.

First Colonial Office (1768–1782)

Prior to 1768, responsibility for the affairs of the British colonies was part of the duties of the

In 1768 the separate American or Colonial Department was established, in order to deal with colonial affairs in British America. With the loss of thirteen of its colonies, however, the department was abolished in 1782. Responsibility for the remaining colonies was given to the Home Office, and subsequently in 1801 transferred to the War Department.

War and Colonial Office (1801–1854)

The War Office was renamed the

From 1824, the British Empire (excepting India, which was administered separately by the East India Company and then the British Raj) was divided by the War and Colonial Office into the following administrative departments:^[3]

North America

• Bermuda
• British North America
• Canada
• Newfoundland

West Indies

• Jamaica
• British Windward Islands
• British Honduras
• British West Indies
• British Guiana
• British Leeward Islands

Mediterranean and Africa

• Malta
• Gibraltar
• Ionian Islands
• Sierra Leone and the West African Forts, Consulates to the Barbary States
• Cape Colony (South Africa)

Australian colonies

• South Australia
• New South Wales

• Swan River Colony (Western Australia)
• Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)

Eastern colonies

• Ceylon
• Mauritius

Second Colonial Office (1854–1966)

In 1854, the War and Colonial Office was divided in two, the War Office and a new Colonial Office, created to deal specifically with affairs in the colonies and assigned to the

After 1878, when the

The increasing independence of the Dominions – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland and South Africa – following the 1907 Imperial Conference, led to the formation of a separate Dominion Division within the Colonial Office. From 1925 onwards the UK ministry included a separate Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.

After the

On 16 April 1947, the Irgun placed a bomb at the Colonial Office which failed to detonate.^[6][7] The plot was linked to the 1946 Embassy bombing.^[8]

After the

In 1966, the Commonwealth Relations Office was re-merged with the Colonial Office, forming the

The Colonial Office had its offices in the

From 1862, the Colonial Office published historical and statistical information concerning the United Kingdom's colonial dependencies in The Colonial Office List,^[9] though between 1926 and 1940 it was known as The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List.^[10] It later became known as the Commonwealth Relations Office Year Book and Commonwealth Office Year Book. In addition to the official List published by the Colonial Office, an edited version was also produced by Waterlow and Sons.^[11] It can be difficult to distinguish between the two versions in library catalogue descriptions. For example, The Sydney Stock and Station Journal of 3 December 1915 commented:^[12]

This used to be the "Colonial Office Journal," but it looked – or sounded – too official, so they changed it to "The Colonial Journal." But it is still edited by Sir W. H. Mercer, K.C.M.G., one of the Crown Agents for the Colonies, but it is printed by Waterlow and Sons, London Wall. It comes as near to being an "Official publication" as possible, but we'll assume that it isn't.

Timeline

See also

• Colonial Land and Emigration Commission
• Colonial Service
• List of British Empire-related topics

References