Crown colony

Early English colonies were usually established and administered by companies under charters granted by the monarch. The first "royal colony" was the Colony of Virginia, after 1624, when the Crown of the Kingdom of England revoked the royal charter it had granted to the Virginia Company and assumed control of the administration.[2]

Executive governors are sometimes complemented by a locally appointed and/or elected legislature with limited powers — that is, such territories lack responsible government. For example, while the House of Assembly of Bermuda has existed continuously since its first session in 1620, Bermuda has only had responsible government since 1968. (Bermuda became a Crown colony in 1684, when the government revoked a Royal Charter given to the Somers Isles Company, successor to the Virginia Company, which had previously controlled administration, including the appointment of governors. Afterwards the British government appointed the Governor of Bermuda.)

Despite its later usage, the term "Crown colony" was used primarily, until the mid-19th century, to refer to colonies that had been acquired through wars, such as Trinidad and Tobago.[3] After that time it was more broadly applied to every British territory other than British India,[4] and self-governing colonies, such as the Province of Canada, Newfoundland, British Columbia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and New Zealand.[5]

By the mid-19th century, the monarch was appointing colonial governors only on the advice of the Secretary of State for the Colonies.[6]

The term Crown colony continued to be used until 1981, when the British Nationality Act 1981 reclassified the remaining British colonies as "British Dependent Territories". By this time, the term "Crown colony" referred specifically to colonies lacking substantial autonomy, which were administered by an executive governor, appointed by the British Government — such as Hong Kong, before its transfer in 1997 to the People's Republic of China.

There were three types of Crown colony as of 1918, with differing degrees of autonomy:

Crown colonies with representative councils, such as Bermuda, Jamaica, Ceylon and Fiji, contained two legislative chambers, consisting of Crown-appointed and locally elected members.

Crown colonies with nominated councils, such as British Honduras, Sierra Leone, British Windward Islands and Hong Kong, were staffed entirely by Crown-appointed members, with some appointed representation from the local population. Hong Kong had a representative council following the introduction of election for the Hong Kong Legislative Council in 1995.

Crown colonies ruled directly by a governor, such as Basutoland,[7] Gibraltar, Saint Helena and Singapore, were fewest in number and had the least autonomy.

The following list includes territories that belonged by settlement, conquest or annexation to the British Crown or to an independent Commonwealth nation.^a

Name of colony	from	to	Reason for change of status
Aden	1937	1967	Became part of the Federation of South Arabia.
Ashanti	1901	1957	Became part of the dominion named Ghana upon its establishment in 1957.
Bahamas	1718	1973	Became an independent Commonwealth realm.
Basutoland	1884	1964	Became British protectorate in 1964; then became independent as Lesotho in 1966.
Bermuda	1684	1981	Became British Dependent Territory in 1981.
British Bechuanaland	1885	1895	Became part of British Cape Colony in 1895.
British Columbia	1866	1871	Became part of Canada in 1871.
British Guiana	1831	1966	Became independent as Guyana in 1966.
British Honduras (renamed Belize in 1973)	1884	1981	Became independent (as Belize) in 1981.
Burma	1937	1948	Separated from British India in 1937 and became a Crown colony. Became independent in 1948 as Burma (later Myanmar).
United Province of Canada	1841	1867	Became part of Canada in 1867.
Cape Colony	1806	1910	Became part of the Union of South Africa in 1910.
Cayman Islands	1962	1981	Became British Dependent Territory in 1981.
Ceylon	1815	1948	Became independent in 1948 as Dominion of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka).
Cyprus	1914	1960	Became independent as Cyprus in 1960.
East Florida	1763	1783	Ceded to Spain. Later became part of the United States.
Falkland Islands	1841	1981	Became a British Dependent Territory in 1981.
Gambia Colony and Protectorate	1888	1965	Became independent as The Gambia in 1965.
Georgia	1755	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
Gibraltar	1713	1981	Became British Dependent Territory in 1981.
Gilbert and Ellice Islands	1916	1976	Became Gilbert Islands colony and Tuvalu colony before independence
Gold Coast	1821	1957	Became independent in 1957 as Ghana.
Hong Kong	1842	1981	Reclassified as a British Dependent Territory in 1981. Transfered to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
Jamaica	1655	1962	Became independent in 1962 as Jamaica.
Kenya	1920	1963	United with the Kenya Protectorate in 1963 to form the independent country of Kenya.
Labuan	1846	1890	Administered by British North Borneo Company from 1890–1904.
	1906	1946	Incorporated in the Straits Settlements on 30 October 1906.
	1946	1963	Incorporated in North Borneo on 15 July 1946. Became part of Malaysia in 1963.[8]
Lower Canada	1791	1841	Became part of Province of Canada in 1841.
Malacca	1946	1957	Became part of Malaya in 1957.
Malta	1813	1964	Became independent in 1964 as the State of Malta.
Massachusetts Bay	1692	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776 as the state of Massachusetts.
Mauritius	1903	1968	Became independent as Mauritius in 1968.
Natal	1843	1910	Became part of the Union of South Africa in 1910.
Newfoundland	1825	1907	Became the Dominion of Newfoundland in 1907, and later joined Canada in 1949.
New Hampshire	1692	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
New Ireland	1779	1783	Ceded to the United States of America after Revolutionary War and again after War of 1812 (1814-1815).
New Jersey	1702	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
New South Wales	1788	1901	Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
New York	1691	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
New Zealand	1841	1907	Became the Dominion of New Zealand in 1907.
Nigeria	1914	1960	Became independent as Nigeria in 1960.
Norfolk Island	1788	1914	Placed under administration of Australia in 1914 as a non-self governing territory. The island was self-governing between 1979 and 2015.
North Borneo	1946	1963	Became part of Malaysia in 1963 as Sabah. Labuan separated from Sabah in 1984 to become a Federal Territory.[8]
North Carolina	1729	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
Nova Scotia	1710	1867	Became part of Canada in 1867.
Penang	1946	1957	Became part of Malaya in 1957.
Quebec	1763	1791	Divided between Upper and Lower Canada and the Northwest Territory.
Queensland	1859	1901	Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla	1882	1981	Became British Dependent Territory in 1981. Independent in 1983.
Sarawak	1946	1963	Became part of Malaysia in 1963.[8]
Seychelles	1903	1976	Separated from British Mauritius in 1903 and became a Crown Colony and became independent in 1976.
Sierra Leone	1808	1961	Became independent as Sierra Leone in 1961.
South Australia	1834	1901	Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
South Carolina	1729	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
Southern Rhodesia	1923	1965/1980	Declared independence in 1965 as Rhodesia, which became Zimbabwe Rhodesia, independence recognized by Britain in 1980 as Zimbabwe.
Singapore	1946	1963	Singapore became part of Malaysia in 1963;[8] then became independent as the Republic of Singapore in 1965.[9]
	1946	1946	Labuan was incorporated into North Borneo on 15 July 1946, which became part of Malaysia in 1963.[8]
	1946	1955	Cocos (Keeling) Islands was transferred to Australia in 1955.[10]
	1946	1957	Christmas Island was transferred to Australia in 1957.[11]
Straits Settlements	1786	1946	Penang became a separate Crown colony within the Malayan Union in 1946, which was re-organised as the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and became independent in 1957;[12] later became part of Malaysia in 1963.[8]
	1826	1946	Singapore became a separate Crown colony in 1946, after the Straits Settlements was dissolved.[13]
	1826	1946	Malacca became a separate Crown colony within the Malayan Union in 1946, which re-organised as the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and became independent in 1957;[12] later became part of Malaysia in 1963.[8]
	1857	1946	Cocos (Keeling) Islands became part of the Colony of Singapore in 1946.[13]
	1874	1937	Dinding (now Manjung) became part of the Federated Malay States in 1937, which later became part of the Malayan Union in 1946; the Malayan Union became the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and became independent in 1957;[12] later became part of Malaysia in 1963.[8]
	1888	1946	Christmas Island became part of the Colony of Singapore in 1946.[13]
	1906	1946	Labuan became part of the Colony of Singapore in 1946.[13]
Tasmania	1803	1901	Van Diemen's Land from 1803 to 1856; Formerly part of New South Wales from 1803 to 1825, when made an independent colony. Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
Upper Canada	1791	1841	Became part of Province of Canada in 1841.
Vancouver Island	1848	1866	Merged with the Colony of British Columbia in 1866 which joined Canada.
Victoria	1851	1901	Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
Virginia	1624	1776	Became part of the United States of America in 1776.
Western Australia	1829	1901	Swan River Colony from 1829 to 1832. Became part of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.
West Florida	1763	1783	Ceded to Spain. Later became part of the United States.

^a Source: This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Great Britain Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Chronological table of the statutes. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London part of the Office of Public Sector Information.

• Direct rule
• Crown dependency
• Self-governing colony
• Colonial Office
• British overseas territories
• British Empire
• Legislative council
• Proprietary colony