1887 Colonial Conference

Meeting of leaders of the British Empire and its colonies in London April 2022 1887 Colonial Conference First Colonial Conference.jpg Attending representatives United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom 4 April–6 May 1887 London Heads of Government Sir Henry Thurston Holland(Secretary of State for the Colonies) 1894 Imperial co-operation, Naval defence, Pacific telegraph cable, Royal title The 1887 Colonial Conference met in London in 1887 on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. It was organised at the behest of the Imperial Federation League in hopes of creating closer ties between the colonies, the Dominion of Canada and the United Kingdom. It was attended by more than 100 delegates, mostly unofficial observers, from both self-governing and dependent colonies. India, however, was not represented.Olson James S. Historical Dictionary of European Imperialism 1991 Greenwood Press 135–136 uyqepNdgUWkC 137 yes 0-3132-6257-8Kendle J.E. John Kendle 1967 The Colonial and Imperial Conferences, 1887-1911: A Study in Imperial Organization https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/74/3/999/91500 Imperial Studies XXVIII London Longmans for the Royal Commonwealth Society B0000CO3QA 10.1086/ahr/74.3.999 Among other things discussed, the colonies in Australia and New Zealand agreed to pay £126,000 (UK 126000 1887 eq -3 £) per annum towards the Royal Navy to help pay for the United Kingdom's naval deployments in the Pacific. In exchange, the British government agreed not to reduce its Pacific Station without colonial consent.The Cambridge History of the British Empire, Volume 4 1929 Cambridge University Press 409 Mu48AAAAIAAJ 411 yes A proposal to lay a telegraph cable between Vancouver and Australia was approved. A Resolution to extend the Queen's title to "Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Ireland, and the Colonies, and all Dependencies thereof, and Empress of India" was also adopted.Gladstone's Motion Lost https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1887/05/07/100910297.pdf New York Times May 7, 1887 second last paragraph The conference was only a deliberative body and resolutions passed were not binding. While this was the case and the conference itself was not established by law, it was seen as a formal step in the process of consultation concerning imperial policy and legislation.Constitutionalism, Legitimacy, and Power: Nineteenth-Century Experiences Grotke Kelly L. Prutsch Markus J. 2014 Oxford University Press 9780198723059 Oxford Participants The conference was hosted by Queen Victoria, Empress of India, and her prime minister, Lord Salisbury, with Sir Henry Thurston Holland (Secretary of State for the Colonies) acting as chair and the premiers and other representatives of various colonies as delegates. The colonies and dominions invited to send delegates were Newfoundland Colony, Canada, Colony of New South Wales, Colony of Tasmania, Cape of Good Hope, South Australia, the Colony of New Zealand, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, and Natal Colony. Various other colonies were invited to send representatives to the opening ceremonies but not participate as delegates. William A. Baillie-Hamilton, the private secretary to the secretary of state for the Colonies, acted as secretary to the conference.https://books.google.com/books?id=MDpOAAAAYAAJ&q=thorburn&pg=PA5 Proceedings of the Colonial Conference at London, in 1887: In Relation to Imperial Postal and Telegraphic Communications Through Canada 1888 The delegates were only able to agree on the most general programs towards closer cooperation. In his opening address, Lord Salisbury cited the importance of mutual defense but also maintained his opposition to the creation of a federation, deeming it impractical. He explained that attempts at constitution-making is not feasible because such imperial federation could not conduct its affairs from one center. Some colonies also threatened to boycott debates about such measure.Settler Self-government, 1840-1900: The Development of Representative and Responsible Government Madden A. F. Fieldhouse David Kenneth 1985 Greenwood Publishing Group 031327326X Westport, CT 31 Nation Name PortfolioUnited Kingdom United Kingdom Sir Henry Thurston Holland Secretary of State for the Colonies (President) Lord Salisbury Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The Earl Cadogan Lord Privy Seal W. H. SmithFirst Lord of the Treasury Edward StanhopeSecretary of State for WarLord George HamiltonFirst Lord of the AdmiraltyThe Viscount CrossSecretary of State for IndiaThe Lord Stanley of PrestonPresident of the Board of TradeHenry Cecil RaikesPostmaster-GeneralThe Earl of OnslowUnder-Secretary of State for the ColoniesSir James FegussonUnder-Secretary of State for Foreign AffairsCanada 1868 Sir Alexander Campbell former Canadian senator for Ontario Sanford FlemingengineerNewfoundland Newfoundland Colony Sir Robert Thorburn Premier Sir Ambrose Shea Leader of the OppositionNew South Wales Colony of New South Wales Sir Patrick Jennings former premierSir Robert Wisdomformer Attorney-GeneralSir Saul SamuelAgent-GeneralTasmania Colony of Tasmania John Stokell Doddsformer Attorney-General Adye DouglasAgent-GeneralBritish Cape Colony Cape Colony Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr Member of the Cape House of Assembly South Australia Colony of South Australia Sir John Downer PremierSir Arthur BlythAgent-General New Zealand Colony of New Zealand Sir Dillon Bell Agent-GeneralSir William FitzherbertSpeaker of the New Zealand Legislative Council Victoria Colony of Victoria Alfred Deakin Chief SecretarySir James LorimerMinister of DefenceSir Graham BerryAgent-GeneralJames Serviceformer premier of Victoria Queensland Colony of Queensland Sir Samuel Griffith PremierSir James Francis GarrickAgent-GeneralWestern Australia Colony of Western Australia John Forrest Surveyor General and Commissioner of Crown LandsSeptimus Burtformer Attorney-General25px Colony of Natal John RobinsonMember of the Natal Legislative Council References Sources Proceedings of the Colonial Conference 1887 July 1887 Command papers C.5091 Harrison & Sons for HMSO London https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofcol00colo_1/page/n6/mode/2up 13 March 2020 Citations Hansard 25 March 1887 See also Imperial Conference All Red Line - the eventual network of telegraph cables connecting the British Empire. Category:Imperial Conference Category:1887 in international relations Category:1887 in the United Kingdom Category:1887 conferences Category:1887 in London Category:1887 in the British Empire Category:Organised events in London Category:April 1887 in the United Kingdom Category:May 1887 in the United Kingdom Category:Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria Category:Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury