Commonwealth Nations
Posts in The Copybook tagged ‘Commonwealth Nations’
A French sea-captain let his tongue wag over dinner, and New Zealand’s destiny took a different turn.
When Britain finally decided to make a colony of New Zealand, she sent Captain William Hobson (1792-1842) of the Royal Navy to North Island, as Lieutenant to the Governor of New South Wales in Australia. He landed at Kororareka (now Russell) in the Bay of Islands on January 29th, 1840.
American historian David Montgomery credited King Edward VII with bringing peace to Europe, the Empire and the world.
American historian D. H. Montgomery gave this assessment of the reign of King Edward VII in 1912, two years after the king died and two years before war broke out across the world. Whereas some historians like to focus on Edward’s scandals and family quarrels, Montgomery saw quite a different side to the King.
American historian David Montgomery explains why Britain’s Empire Day really was a cause for celebration.
American historian D. H. Montgomery lays out the background to the establishment of Empire Day in 1904. He describes a global Empire which had discovered ever closer union not by more centralisation but by less, a Britain that was no longer a colonial power but the mother of a federation of independent states.
In 1890, Sir Henry Parkes reminded Australians that they had a natural kinship and declared them ready to manage their own affairs.
At a banquet in Melbourne on February 6th, 1890, a decade before the founding of the Commonwealth of Australia, Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales, rose to reply to the toast ‘A United Australia!’, and spoke warmly of Australia’s ties of kinship and purpose.
In 1852 the Council of New South Wales sent a strongly-worded petition to London, demanding the right of self-government.
On June 18th, 1852, the Duke of Argyll informed the House of Lords of a petition from the Council of New South Wales, prompted by unrest in the goldfields over taxes and regulations. The petition demanded self-government for the Colony, accepting all the responsibilities which that implied.
Lord Durham warned Westminster that colonial Canada must be run by elected MPs, not career bureaucrats.
In 1839, Lord Durham, Governor General of Canada, reported to Westminster on mounting civil unrest in Canada. He was expected to blame Anglo-French antagonism, but chose to highlight a system in which elected Parliaments were mere window-dressing, while real power lay with bureaucrats appointed by the Crown.