British Empire/Addendum

Changes of constitutional status

Many of the early colonies were first claimed by privately-financed explorers and "merchant venturers" but their claims were always made in the name of the British Crown, and some were granted royal charters, awarding exclusive rights of exploitation. Some, such as the East India Company created their own systems of governance and maintained their own armies, but responsibility for their governance was always eventually taken over by the Crown. The relinquishment of that responsibility in favour of local interests began in the late 19th century with the establishment of the concept of a self-governing "Dominion status" and its application to Canada and subsequently to Australia , New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland. In 1926, the 6th Imperial Conference established the Dominions as equal communities within the British Commonwealth, with a common allegiance to the Crown. That definition was incorporated into British law in 1931 as the Statute of Westminster; and in 1949, the London Declaration , established the concept of the Commonwealth of Nations that would also include independent countries that did not owe allegiance to the Crown. Membership of the Commonwealth of the Commonwealth of Nations was adopted by most of the remaining colonies when they were granted independence.

Countries of the Empire

Australia

Australia was claimed for the British crown by Captain James Cook in 1770. One penal colony was established at what was then Port Jackson (and is now Sydney) in 1788, and another was established in what as then Van Diemen's Land (and is now Tasmania) in 1803. Free settlers began to arrive in the colony from the 1790s, and wheat and merino sheep were also introduced in the late 18th century. Self-government was largely granted in 1850 by the passage of the Australian Colonies Government Act, which enabled the Australian colonies to amend their constitutions, determine electoral franchise and fix tariffs. The six British colonies on the continent federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.

South Africa

For most of the 17th and 18th centuries, South Africa's settlements were a Dutch possession, but Britain seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1797 and the Cape Colony in 1805. In 1826, some thousands of Dutch ("Afrikaner"} settlers undertook a mass migration ("Great Trek") from the Cape Colony to the coastal strip of land to its East, where they established the "Natalia Republic". Britain annexed it as the Colony of Natal, however, and the Afrikaners moved on into the Cape's interior hinterland where they established the South African Republic (also known as the Transvaal), and the Orange Free State. After the defeat of the Afrikaners in frontier conflicts that came to be known as the "Boer War", sovereignty over all of the South African republics was ceded to Britain by the provisions of the Treaty of Vereeniging.