British Solomon Islands Protectorate (1893–1975) Solomon Islands (1975–1978) |
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Protectorate of the United Kingdom | ||||||||||
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Anthem God Save the Queen |
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Capital |
Tulagi (1893–1952) Honiara (1952–1978) |
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Languages | English | |||||||||
Government | Constitutional monarchy | |||||||||
Monarch | ||||||||||
• | 1893–1901 | Victoria | ||||||||
• | 1952–1978 | Elizabeth II | ||||||||
Resident Commissioner | ||||||||||
• | 1896–1915 | Charles Morris Woodford | ||||||||
• | 1950–1953 | Henry Graham Gregory-Smith | ||||||||
Governor | ||||||||||
• | 1953–1955 | Robert Christopher Stafford Stanley | ||||||||
• | 1976–1978 | Colin Allan | ||||||||
History | ||||||||||
• | Established | 15 March 1893 | ||||||||
• | Tripartite Convention | 14 November 1899 | ||||||||
• | Renamed | 22 June 1975 | ||||||||
• | Self-governing colony | 2 January 1976 | ||||||||
• | Independence | 7 July 1978 | ||||||||
Area | ||||||||||
• | 1931 | 28,400 km² (10,965 sq mi) | ||||||||
Population | ||||||||||
• | 1931 est. | 94,066 | ||||||||
Density | 3.3 /km² (8.6 /sq mi) | |||||||||
• | 1970 est. | 160,998 | ||||||||
Density | 5.7 /km² (14.7 /sq mi) | |||||||||
• | 1976 est. | 196,823 | ||||||||
Density | 6.9 /km² (17.9 /sq mi) | |||||||||
Currency |
Solomon Islands pound (1916–1966) Pound sterling (1893–1920) Australian pound (1920–1966) Australian dollar (1966–1977) Solomon Islands dollar (1977–1978) |
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Today part of | Solomon Islands |
Coordinates: 9°26′6.33″S 159°57′4.46″E / 9.4350917°S 159.9512389°E
British Solomon Islands Protectorate was first declared over the southern Solomons in 1893, when Captain Gibson R.N., of HMS Curacoa, declared the southern islands a British Protectorate. Other islands were subsequently declared to form part of the Protectorate over a period ending in 1900.
The Protectorate was first declared over the southern Solomons in 1893. The formalities in its establishment were carried out by officers of the Royal Navy, who hoisted the British flag and read Proclamations on twenty-one islands. By similar means, Bellona and Rennell Islands and the Stewart Islands were added in 1897, and the Santa Cruz group, the Reef Islands, Anuda (Cherry), Fataka (Mitre) and Trevannion Islands and Duff (Wilson) group in 1898. On 18 August 1898 and 1 October 1898, the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific issued Proclamations which declared (apparently superfluously) that all those islands should "henceforth" form part of the Protectorate. The two Proclamations of 1898 were superseded by one dated 28 January 1899, which was apparently intended not to consolidate them but also to correct geographical errors: it lists "the Reef Islands, Swallow Group" and a different group of islands referred to collectively as "the Swallow Group" and a different group of islands referred to as "the Swallow Group," and it includes Trevannion in the Santa Cruz group.
By a Convention signed in 1899 and ratified in 1900, Germany renounced her rights in the islands to the east and south-east of Bougainville, and in October 1900, the High Commissioner issued a Proclamation extending the Protectorate to the islands in question, i.e. Choiseul, Yasabel, Shortland and Faroe Islands (each with its dependencies), the Tasman group, Lord Howe's group and Gower Island.