Crown colony

Crown colony, dependent territory or royal colony were dependent territories under the administration of United Kingdom overseas territories that were controlled by the British Government. As such they are examples of dependencies that are under colonial rule. Crown colonies were renamed "British Dependent Territories" in 1981 with the exception of Hong Kong, which remained a Crown colony. Since 2002, Crown colonies have been known officially as British Overseas Territories.

In such territories, residents did not elect members of the British parliament. A Crown colony was usually administered by a governor who directly controlled the executive and was appointed by "the Crown" — a term that in practice usually means the UK government, acting on behalf of the monarch. However, the term "Crown colony" has sometimes been used of entities that have elected governments and partial autonomy; these are also known as self-governing colonies.

History

The first "royal colony" was the Colony of Virginia, after 1624, when the Crown of the Kingdom of England revoked the royal charter it had granted to the Virginia Company and assumed control of the administration.

Executive governors are sometimes complemented by a locally-appointed and/or elected legislature with limited powers — that is, such territories lack responsible government. For example, while the House of Assembly of Bermuda has existed continuously since its first session in 1620, Bermuda has only had responsible government since 1968. (Bermuda became a Crown colony in 1684, when the government revoked a Royal Charter given to the Somers Isles Company, successor to the Virginia Company, which had previously controlled administration, including the appointment of governors. Afterwards the British government appointed the Governor of Bermuda.)

Despite its later usage, the term "Crown colony" was used primarily, until the mid-19th century, to refer to colonies that had been acquired through wars, such as Trinidad and Tobago. After that time it was more broadly applied to every British territory other than British India, and self-governing colonies, such as the Province of Canada, Newfoundland, British Columbia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and New Zealand.

By the mid-19th century, the monarch was appointing colonial governors only on the advice of the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

The term Crown colony continued to be used until 1981, when the British Nationality Act 1981 reclassified the remaining British colonies as "British Dependent Territories". By this time, the term "Crown colony" referred specifically to colonies lacking substantial autonomy, which were administered by an executive governor, appointed by the British Government — such as Hong Kong, before its transfer in 1997 to the People's Republic of China.

Types

There were three types of Crown colonies as of 1918, with differing degrees of autonomy:

Crown colonies with representative councils such as Bermuda, Jamaica, Ceylon, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Fiji contained two legislative chambers, consisting of Crown-appointed and locally elected members.

Crown colonies with nominated councils such as British Honduras, Sierra Leone, Grenada and Hong Kong were staffed entirely by Crown-appointed members, with some appointed representation from the local population. Hong Kong had a representative council following the introduction of election for the Hong Kong Legislative Council in 1995.

Crown colonies ruled directly by a governor such as Basutoland, Gibraltar, Saint Helena and Singapore were fewest in number and had the least autonomy.

List

The following list includes territories that belonged by settlement, conquest or annexation to the British Crown or to an independent Commonwealth nation.Template:Ref

Name of colony	from	to	Reason for change of status
Template:Flagicon Aden	1937	1967	Became part of the Federation of South Arabia.
Template:Flagicon Bahamas	1718	1973	Became an independent Commonwealth Realm.
Template:Flagicon Basutoland	1884	1964	Became British protectorate in 1964; then became independent as Lesotho in 1966.
Template:Flag	1684	1981	Became British Dependent Territory in 1981.
Template:Flagicon British Bechuanaland	1885	1895	Became part of British Cape Colony in 1895.
Template:Flagicon British Guiana	1831	1966	Became independent as Guyana in 1966.
Template:Flagicon British Honduras (renamed Belize in 1964)	1884	1981	Became independent (as Belize) in 1981.
Template:Flagicon Burma	1937	1948	Separated from British India in 1937 and became a Crown colony.
Template:Flagicon United Province of Canada	1841	1867	Became part of Canada in 1867.
File:Flag of the Cape Colony 1876-1910.svg Cape Colony	1806	1910	Became part of the Union of South Africa in 1910.
Template:Flag	1962	1981	Became British Dependent Territory in 1981.
Template:Flagicon Ceylon	1815	1948	Became independent as Dominion of Ceylon in 1948.
Template:Flag icon British Columbia	1866	1871	Became part of Canada in 1871.
Template:Flagicon Cyprus	1914	1960	Became independent as Cyprus in 1960.
Template:Flag icon East Florida	1763	1783	Ceded to Spain. Later became part of the United States.
Template:Flag	1841	1981	Became a British Dependent Territory in 1981.
Template:Flagicon image Gambia Colony and Protectorate	1888	1965	Became independent as The Gambia in 1965.
Template:Flag icon Georgia	1755	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
Template:Flag	1713	1981	Became British Dependent Territory in 1981.
Template:Flag icon Gold Coast	1821	1957	Became independent in 1957 as Ghana.
Template:Flagicon Hong Kong	1842	1997	Was the last crown colony, handed over to China in 1997 marking the end of the British Empire.
Template:Flagicon Jamaica	1655	1962	Became independent in 1962 as Jamaica.
Template:Flagicon Kenya	1920	1963	United with the Kenya Protectorate in 1963 to form the independent country of Kenya.
Template:Flagicon image Labuan	1846	1890	Administered by British North Borneo Company from 1890–1904.
	1906	1946	Incorporated in the Straits Settlements on 30 October 1906.
	1946	1963	Incorporated in North Borneo on 15 July 1946. Became part of Malaysia in 1963.
Template:Flagicon Lower Canada	1791	1841	Became part of Province of Canada in 1841.
Template:Flagicon image Malacca	1946	1957	Became part of Malaya in 1957.
Template:Flagicon Malta	1813	1964	Became independent in 1964 as the State of Malta.
Template:Flag icon Massachusetts Bay	1692	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776 as the state of Massachusetts.
Template:Flagicon Mauritius	1903	1968	Became independent as Mauritius in 1968.
File:Flag of the Natal Colony 1875-1910.svg Natal	1843	1910	Became part of the Union of South Africa in 1910.
File:Dominion of Newfoundland Blue Ensign, 1870–1904.svg Newfoundland	1825	1907	Became the Dominion of Newfoundland in 1907, and later joined Canada in 1949.
Template:Flag icon New Hampshire	1692	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
Template:Flag icon New Jersey	1702	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
Template:Flagicon New South Wales	1788	1901	Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
Template:Flag icon New York	1691	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
Template:Flagicon New Zealand	1841	1907	Became the Dominion of New Zealand in 1907.
Template:Flagicon Nigeria	1914	1960	Became independent as Nigeria in 1960.
Template:Flagicon Norfolk Island	1788	1914	Placed under administration of Australia in 1914 as a non-self governing territory. The island was self-governing between 1979 and 2015.
Template:Flagicon image North Borneo	1946	1963	Became part of Malaysia in 1963 as Sabah. Labuan separated from Sabah in 1984 to become a Federal Territory.
Template:Flag icon North Carolina	1729	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
Template:Flagicon image Penang	1946	1957	Became part of Malaya in 1957.
Template:Flag icon Quebec	1763	1791	Divided between Upper and Lower Canada and the Northwest Territory.
Template:Flagicon Queensland	1859	1901	Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
Template:Flagicon Saint Christopher and Nevis	1882	1981	Became British Dependent Territory in 1981. Independent in 1983.
Template:Flagicon image Sarawak	1946	1963	Became part of Malaysia in 1963.
File:Flag of Seychelles 1961-1976.gif Seychelles	1903	1976	Separated from British Mauritius in 1903 and became a Crown Colony and became independent in 1976.
File:Flag of Sierra Leone 1916-1961.gif Sierra Leone	1808	1961	Became independent as Sierra Leone in 1961.
Template:Flagicon South Australia	1834	1901	Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
Template:Flag icon South Carolina	1729	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
Template:Flagicon Southern Rhodesia	1923	1965/1980	Declared independence in 1965 as Rhodesia, which became Zimbabwe Rhodesia, independence recognized by Britain in 1980 as Zimbabwe.
Template:Flagicon Singapore	1946	1963	Singapore became part of Malaysia in 1963; then became independent as the Republic of Singapore in 1965.
	1946	1946	Labuan was incorporated into North Borneo on 15 July 1946, which became part of Malaysia in 1963.
	1946	1955	Cocos (Keeling) Islands was transferred to Australia in 1955.
	1946	1957	Christmas Island was transferred to Australia in 1957.
Template:Flagicon Straits Settlements	1786	1946	Penang became a separate Crown colony within the Malayan Union in 1946, which was re-organised as the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and became independent in 1957; later became part of Malaysia in 1963.
	1826	1946	Singapore became a separate Crown colony in 1946, after the Straits Settlements was dissolved.
	1826	1946	Malacca became a separate Crown colony within the Malayan Union in 1946, which re-organised as the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and became independent in 1957; later became part of Malaysia in 1963.
	1857	1946	Cocos (Keeling) Islands became part of the Colony of Singapore in 1946.
	1874	1937	Dinding (now Manjung) became part of the Federated Malay States in 1937, which later became part of the Malayan Union in 1946; the Malayan Union became the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and became independent in 1957; later became part of Malaysia in 1963.
	1888	1946	Christmas Island became part of the Colony of Singapore in 1946.
	1906	1946	Labuan became part of the Colony of Singapore in 1946.
Template:Flagicon Tasmania	1803	1901	Van Diemen's Land from 1803 to 1856; Formerly part of New South Wales from 1803 to 1825, when made an independent colony. Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
Template:Flagicon Upper Canada	1791	1841	Became part of Province of Canada in 1841.
File:Flag of Vancouver Island.svg Vancouver Island	1848	1866	Merged with the Colony of British Columbia in 1866 which joined Canada.
Template:Flagicon Victoria	1851	1901	Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
Template:Flag icon Virginia	1624	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
Template:Flagicon Western Australia	1829	1901	Swan River Colony from 1829 to 1832. Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
Template:Flag icon West Florida	1763	1783	Ceded to Spain. Later became part of the United States.

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See also

• Direct rule
• Crown dependency
• Self-governing colony
• Colonial Office
• British overseas territories
• British Empire
• Legislative council

References

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