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High Commissioner for the Western Pacific

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High Commissioner for the Western Pacific
High Commissioner for the Western Pacific
StyleHis Excellency The Right Honourable
ResidenceSuva, Fiji (1877–1952)
Honiara, British Solomon Islands (1953–1976)
AppointerKing/Queen of the United Kingdom
Formation13 August 1877
First holderSir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon
Final holderSir Donald Luddington
Abolished2 January 1976

The high commissioner for the Western Pacific was a colonial office of the British Empire in the western Pacific Ocean. The High Commissioner was the head of the Western Pacific High Commission, which was based in Fiji from 1877 to 1952 and in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1952 to 1976.

The High Commission filled various roles during its existence. It was created by an order-in-council in 1877 and initially exercised extraterritorial jurisdiction over British subjects within a defined portion of the western Pacific Ocean, largely for the purpose of controlling the illegal blackbirding trade in Pacific Islander labourers. A High Commissioner's Court was also established, presided over by the Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific.

In 1893, the role of the High Commission expanded to include a supervisory role over the British protectorates proclaimed over individual islands, including the Ellice Islands (Tuvalu), Gilbert Islands and southern Solomon Islands. Authority in protectorates was typically delegated to deputy commissioners or resident commissioners, who exercised varying administrative powers or filled quasi-diplomatic roles (in the case of the Kingdom of Tonga and the New Hebrides condominium).

The role of High Commissioner was filled ex officio by the Governor of Fiji until 1952, when the High Commissioner was moved to Honiara in the Solomon Islands. After that point, the High Commission directly administered the British Solomon Islands Protectorate until it was granted self-government in 1976, with resident commissioners also exercising powers in the New Hebrides and the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony until 1972.

History

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The Pacific Islanders Protection Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 51), then later, the Foreign Jurisdiction Act 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c. 37), provided for jurisdiction over British subjects in the Pacific.[1] In 1877 the position of High Commissioner for the Western Pacific was formalised by the Western Pacific Order in Council 1877 by the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.[2][1] Article 12 established the Chief Justice of Fiji as the Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific.[1][3] The Order in Council granted the High Commissioner authority to manage the engagement of indentured labourers and to otherwise give the colonial entity authority over British subjects in the Western Pacific beyond the jurisdiction of British and colonial Australian laws.[1]

The Governor of Fiji was given authority over persons and acts in the islands south of the equator. The Governor, as High Commissioner and Consul-General, was given the authority: to conduct diplomatic relations with local representatives of the foreign powers, to regulate the labour trade where it was conducted by British subjects only, and to maintain law and order among British subjects in the Pacific islands where there were no recognised governments.[1] The regulation of the coercive labour trade in Melanesia, which was known as Blackbirding, was significant problem for the Western Pacific High Commission. Ships of the Royal Navy Australian Station were responsible for limiting blackbirding.[4] The High Commissioner appointed resident commissioners to manage specific island territories. Following a commission of inquiry, a revised Order in Council was issued in 1893, which gave the resident commissioners wider autonomy over the islands under their control.[1]

In 2002 the archived records of the High Commission were transferred to New Zealand, and are now held in the Special Collections of the University of Auckland Library.[5]

List of high commissioners for the Western Pacific (1877–1976)

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# Incumbent Portrait Tenure Monarch Concurrent office
Took office Left office
High Commissioner for the Western Pacific
1. Sir Arthur Hamilton-Gordon 13 August 1877 1880 Victoria Governor of Fiji
2. Sir William Des Vœux 20 December 1880 21 January 1885 Victoria Governor of Fiji
John Bates Thurston
Acting		 21 January 1885 1 January 1887 Victoria Governor of Fiji
(acting)
3. Sir Charles Mitchell 1 January 1887 February 1888 Victoria Governor of Fiji
4. Sir John Bates Thurston February 1888 7 February 1897 Victoria Governor of Fiji
5. Sir George T. M. O'Brien March 1897 1901 Victoria Governor of Fiji
Sir William Allardyce
Acting		 1901 10 September 1902 Edward VII Governor of Fiji
(acting)
6. Sir Henry Jackson 10 September 1902 11 October 1904 Edward VII Governor of Fiji
7. Sir Everard im Thurn 11 October 1904 1910 Edward VII Governor of Fiji
Sir Charles Major
Acting		 1910 21 February 1911 Edward VII
George V		 Governor of Fiji
(acting)
8. Sir Francis May 21 February 1911 25 July 1912 George V Governor of Fiji
9. Sir Ernest Sweet-Escott 25 July 1912 10 October 1918 George V Governor of Fiji
Sir Eyre Hutson
Acting for Sweet-Escott		 1915 1916 George V Governor of Fiji
(acting)
10. Cecil Hunter-Rodwell 10 October 1918 25 April 1925 George V Governor of Fiji
Sir Eyre Hutson
Acting for Hunter-Rodwell		 1919 1919 George V Governor of Fiji
(acting)
11. Sir Eyre Hutson 25 April 1925 22 November 1929 George V Governor of Fiji
12. Sir Arthur Fletcher 22 November 1929 May 1936 George V
Edward VIII		 Governor of Fiji
Sir Cecil Barton
Acting		 May 1936 November 1936 Edward VIII Governor of Fiji
(acting)
13. Sir Arthur Richards 28 November 1936 August 1938 Edward VIII
George VI		 Governor of Fiji
Sir Cecil Barton
Acting		 August 1938 September 1938 George VI Governor of Fiji
(acting)
14. Sir Harry Luke 16 September 1938 1942 George VI Governor of Fiji
Office suspended 1942 1945
15. Sir Alexander Grantham 1945 21 March 1947 George VI Governor of Fiji
Sir John Nicoll
Acting		 21 March 1947 8 October 1947 George VI Governor of Fiji
(acting)
16. Sir Brian Freeston 8 October 1947 3 July 1952 George VI
Elizabeth II		 Governor of Fiji
17. Sir Robert Stanley 3 July 1952 July 1955 Elizabeth II Governor of the Solomon Islands
(From 1 January 1953)
18. Sir John Gutch 1955 4 March 1961 Elizabeth II Governor of the Solomon Islands
19. Sir David Trench 4 March 1961 16 June 1964 Elizabeth II Governor of the Solomon Islands
20. Sir Robert Sidney Foster 16 June 1964 6 March 1969 Elizabeth II Governor of the Solomon Islands
21. Sir Michael Gass 6 March 1969 1973 Elizabeth II Governor of the Solomon Islands
22. Sir Donald Luddington 10 October 1973 2 January 1976 Elizabeth II Governor of the Solomon Islands

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lawrence, David Russell (October 2014). "Chapter 5 Liberalism, Imperialism and colonial expansion" (PDF). The Naturalist and his "Beautiful Islands": Charles Morris Woodford in the Western Pacific. ANU Press. ISBN 9781925022032.
  2. ↑ Lawrence, David Russell (October 2014). The Naturalist and his "Beautiful Islands": Charles Morris Woodford in the Western Pacific. ANU Press. ISBN 9781925022032.
  3. ↑ "Judicial System". Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia 1893–1978. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Docker, Edward W. (1970). The Blackbirders. Angus and Robertson. ISBN 9780207120381.
  5. ↑ "Western Pacific Archives". University of Auckland. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
[edit]
  • WorldStatesmen
  • Deryck Scarr, Fragments of Empire. A History of the Western Pacific High Commission. 1877–1914, Canberra: Australian National University Press & London: C. Hurst & Co., 1967.
  • Scarr, Deryck (2000). "Western Pacific High Commission". In Lal, Brij V.; Fortune, Kate (eds.). The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 240–241. ISBN 9780824822651.
  • McIntyre, William David. "Disraeli's colonial policy: The creation of the Western Pacific High Commission, 1874–1877." Historical Studies: Australia and New Zealand Volume 9, Issue 35 (1960): 279–294.

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