ECHOES OF EMPIRE

AFRICA

The Gambia

1661-1965

Part of British West Africa

Fort James

1661-95, 1765-1965

The Gambia

Gold Coast

1662-1957

Ghana, part of British West Africa

Senegal

1765

Sierra Leone

1787-1961

Part of British West Africa

South Africa

1795-????

Founded as the Cape Colony

Seychelles

1810-1975

Basutoland

1868-1966

Lesotho

Egypt

1882-1922

British Somaliland

1884-1960

United with Italian Somaliland to form Somalia, now seeking independence

Bechuanaland

1885-1966

Botswana

Kenya

1887-1963

Part of British East Africa

Uganda

1888-1962

Part of British East Africa

Southern Rhodesia

1888-1980

Zimbabwe, part of Rhodesia-Nyasaland

Northern Rhodesia

1889-1964

Zambia, part of Rhodesia-Nyasaland

Nyasaland

1889-1964

Malawi, part of Rhodesia-Nyasaland

Zanzibar

1890-1963

Part of British East Africa, later part of Tanzania

Swaziland

1890-1968

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

1898-1956

Sudan, run jointly with Egypt

Nigeria

1906-60

Part of British West Africa

South-West Africa

1915-90

Namibia

Tanganyika

1917-1961

Part of British East Africa, later part of Tanzania

British Cameroons

1919-61

Part of British West Africa, later split between Cameroon and Nigeria

Eritrea

1941-52

To Ethiopia, later independent

CARIBBEAN AND CENTRAL AMERICA

Grenada

1609-49, 1762-79, 1783-1974

British Guiana

1620-1782, 1796-1965

Guyana

Saint Kitts and Nevis

1623-66, 1671-1983

Nevis was occupied in 1628

Barbados

1625-1966

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

1627

Not settled until 1760

Bahamas

1629-1782, 1783-

Montserrat

1632

Held by France in 1664, from 1666 to 1667, and in 1782

Antigua & Barbuda

1632-66, 1667-1981

British Honduras

1638-1981

Belize

Anguilla

1650

Mosquito Coast

1655-1855

To Nicaragua

Jamaica

1655-1962

Saint Lucia

1663-7, 1762-3, 1781-3, 1794, 1796-1979

Surinam

1665-8

Exchanged for New Holland (New York, New Jersey and Delaware)

Saint Eustatius

1665-8, 1672-82, 1690-6, 1781

Tiny island just north of St. Kitts

British Virgin Islands

1666

Caribbean island group

Cayman Islands

1670

Caribbean island group

Turks and Caicos Islands

1678

Caribbean island group

Guadeloupe

1759-63, 1794-5

Cuba

1762-3

Occupied during the Seven Years' War

Dominica

1763-78, 1784-1978

Santo Domingo

1795-8

Dominican Republic

Trinidad and Tobago

1797-1962

EAST ASIA

Bantam

1602-82

Part of Indonesia.

Amboina

1615-24, 1796-1814

Part of Indonesia. The entire British settlement was massacred by the Dutch in 1624.

Banda Islands

1616-22, 1654-64, 1796-1800

Part of Indonesia.

Bencoolen

1685-1824

Part of Indonesia

Philippines

1762-4

Malaya

1786

Part of Malaysia

Straits Settlements

1786-1963/5

Singapore (1819) independent in 1965, Penang (1786), Malacca (1824) and Labuan (1846) went to Malaysia

Sarawak

1841-1963

To Malaysia

Hong Kong

1841-1997

To China

British North Borneo

1877-1963

To Malaysia

Weihaiwei

1898-1930

To China

MEDITERRANEAN AND EUROPE

Tangier

1661-84

Part of the dowry of the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza when she married King Charles II. He surrendered it under pressure from his friend Louis XIV of France.

Gibraltar

1704

This annoys Spain so much!

Minorca

1708-82

Part of Spain

Malta

1800-1964

Heligoland

1807-90

Ionian Islands

1809-64

Corfu and selected other islands off Greece's west coast

Cyprus

1878-1960

Two British naval bases at Akrotiri and Dhekilia were retained after independence

NORTH AMERICA

Newfoundland

1497-1949

Joined Canada in 1949

Roanoke Island

1585-9

Settled by an expedition sent by Walter Raleigh; the settlers returned to England a year later. In 1587, the island was settled again, but the settlement disappeared before the end of the 1580s.

Virginia

1607-1776

Jamestown established 1607; Virginia became a formal crown colony in 1624.

Bermuda

1609

Massachusetts

1620-1776

Plymouth Colony (Pilgrim Fathers, 1620) and the Massachusetts Bay Colony became simply Massachusetts in 1629.

Carolina

1629-1776

In 1729, divided Carolina into North and South Carolina.

New Hampshire

1629-1776

Separated from Massachusetts in 1679

Cape Breton Island

1629-32, 1745-9, 1758-63

Became part of Canada in 1763

Kent Island

1631-8

In Chesapeake Bay, later part of Delaware

Maryland

1632-1776

Connecticut

1636-1776

Was Hartford and the River Towns until 1662

Rhode Island

1636-1776

Settled by exiles from the Massachusetts Bay Colony; made a formal colony by royal charter in 1663

Delaware

1664-1776

Technically part of Pennsylvania until 1704

New Jersey

1664-1776

New York

1664-1776

Pennsylvania

1664-1776

Rupert's Land and the Northwest Territories

1670-1867

Joined Canada in 1867

Maine

1677-1776

Was always part of Massachusetts during British rule

Saint Pierre and Miquelon

1702-63, 1778-83, 1796-1815

South of Newfoundland

Nova Scotia

1713-63

Joined Canada in 1763

Georgia

1733-1776

New Brunswick

1759-63

Joined Canada in 1763

Prince Edward Island

1759-63

Joined Canada in 1763

Canada

1763

Florida

1763-83

OCEANIA

New Caledonia

1698-1700

Pacific island group

Ellice Islands

1764-1978

Tuvalu

Gilbert Islands

1764-1979

Kiribati

New Zealand

1769

Australia

1770

Savage Island

1774-1974

Niue

Norfolk Island

1788

Discovered by James Cook in 1774 but not settled until 1788 (it began as a penal colony).

Pitcairn Island

1790

(In)Famously landed on by mutineers from HMS Bounty

Fiji

1874-1970

New Hebrides

1887-1980

Vanuatu, administered jointly with France

Cook Islands

1888-1900

Protectorate

Papua New Guinea

1888-1964

Solomon Islands

1893-1978

The Friendly Islands

1900-70

Tonga

Samoa

1914-62

Formerly Western Samoa

Pleasant Island

1918-68

Nauru, protectorate

Phoenix Islands

1939

Administered jointly with the United States

SOUTH ATLANTIC AND ANTARCTICA

Saint Helena

1658

Part of the St. Helena Dependency

South Georgia

1766

Separated from the Falkland Islands Dependencies in 1985

South Sandwich Islands

1766

Separated from the Falkland Islands Dependencies in 1985

Falkland Islands

1766-1770, 1774-1982, 1982-

British Antarctic Territories became separate in 1961; the South Sandwich Islands and South Georgia were both made separate territories in 1985

Prince Edward Islands

1776-1947

Between South Africa and Antarctica

Ascension

1815

Part of the St. Helena Dependency

Tristan da Cunha

1816

Part of the St. Helena Dependency

British Antarctic Territories

1961

Created to protect Great Britain's claims to part of Antarctica, a hotly-contested region

WEST ASIA

Madras

1640-1947

Part of India

Surat

1640-1947

Part of India

Bombay

1661-1947

Part of India

Bengal

1681-1947

Part of India

Andaman Islands

1789-96

Indian Ocean island group

Ceylon

1795-1948

Sri Lanka

Muscat and Oman

1798-1971

Oman

Mauritius

1810-1968

Trucial States

1820-1971

United Arab Emirates

Aden

1831-1967

Now part of Yemen

Afghanistan

1880-1921

Bahrain

1882-1971

Socotra Island

1886-1967

Part of Yemen

Maldives

1887-1965

Kuwait

1904-61

Bhutan

1910-49

Qatar

1916-71

Palestine

1917-48

Israel, League of Nations mandate 1921-48

Transjordan

1917-48

Jordan, League of Nations mandate 1921-48

Iraq

1918-32

League of Nations mandate 1921-32

British Indian Ocean Territories

1965-today

Created out of several sparsely-populated island groups