1897 Colonial Conference

1897 Colonial Conference
Dates 24 June 1897–
8 July 1897
Venue(s) Colonial Office, Whitehall
Cities United Kingdom London, United Kingdom
Heads of Government 11
Chair Joseph Chamberlain
(Secretary of State for the Colonies)
Follows 1894 Colonial Conference
Precedes 1902 Colonial Conference
Key points
Imperial council, imperial defence

The Colonial Conference of 1897 was a conference between the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the 11 self-governing colonies of the British Empire. The conference was convened in London by Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain in 1897 on the occasion of Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Chamberlain's intention was to draw the self-governing colonies into closer co-operation with the United Kingdom.[1]

Delegates were sent to the conference by Canada, Newfoundland Colony, New Zealand the Australian self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, and the South African colonies of Cape Colony and the Colony of Natal.[1]

Chamberlain proposed the creation of a permanent Imperial Council made up of delegates from the colonies to act as an Empire-wide parliament with the power to bind the colonies on imperial matters but this was rejected by the colonies due to fears of loss of autonomy. Chamberlain also propose that colonies increase their contributions to the Royal Navy but only some colonies agreed to increase their contributions and no permanent arrangement was agreed to.[1]

Chamberlain also proposed a customs union between the colonies and Britain while Canada proposed preferential trade but no decision was made by the delegates.[2][3]

Participants

The conference was hosted by Queen Victoria, with her Colonial Secretary and the Premiers of various colonies:

Nation Name Portfolio
United Kingdom United Kingdom Joseph Chamberlain Secretary of State for the Colonies (Chairman)
The Earl of Selborne Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
Sir John Bramston Assistant Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
Canada Canada Sir Wilfrid Laurier Prime Minister
British Cape Colony Cape Colony Sir John Gordon Sprigg Prime Minister
Natal Sir Harry Escombe Prime Minister
Dominion of Newfoundland Newfoundland Sir William Whiteway Premier
New South Wales New South Wales Sir George Reid Premier
New Zealand New Zealand Richard Seddon Prime Minister
Queensland Queensland Sir Hugh Nelson Premier
South Australia South Australia Charles Kingston Premier
Tasmania Tasmania Sir Edward Braddon Premier
Victoria (Australia) Victoria Sir George Turner Prime Minister
Western Australia Western Australia Sir John Forrest Premier

[4][5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Historical dictionary of European imperialism. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1991. pp. 136–137. ISBN 0313262578.
  2. ↑ "Colonial Conference". Sydney Mail (news.google.com). 10 July 1897. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  3. ↑ Historical dictionary of European imperialism. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1991. p. 138. ISBN 0313262578. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Crowley, F.K. (2000). Big John Forrest, 1847-1918: A Founding Father of the Commonwealth of Australia. University of Western Australia Press. p. 187. ISBN 9781876268442. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "Proceedings of a conference between the secretary of state for the colonies and the premiers of the self-governing colonies at the Colonial Office, London, June and July 1897 [microform]". archive.org. Retrieved 27 December 2014.

External links