The High Commissioner of Newfoundland to the United Kingdom was the Dominion of Newfoundland's foremost diplomatic representative in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (after 1922, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), and was in charge of Newfoundland's diplomatic mission in the United Kingdom. Though Newfoundland was granted dominion status in 1907, it was not until November 22, 1918, that its High Commission was established in London with the appointment of Sir Edgar Rennie Bowring who took the position at his own expense. [1] The High Commission was abolished in 1934 when Newfoundland's dominion status was suspended, along with self-government, and direct rule by London was established with the commission of government.
Britain did not begin to send High Commissioners to Dominions until after the Balfour Declaration of 1926 in which it was agreed that Governors-General would no longer represent the British government. While Britain began appointing high commissioners to Canada in 1928, South Africa in 1930, Australia in 1936, and New Zealand in 1939, no High Commissioner was sent to Newfoundland due to the establishment of the Commission of Government in 1934, which made such an appointment redundant. [2]
High commissioner | Start of term | End of term |
---|---|---|
Sir Edgar Rennie Bowring | 1918 | 1922 |
Lt.-Col. Thomas Nangle | 1923 | 1924 |
Capt. Victor Gordon | 1924 | 1928 |
W. Hutchings (Acting) | 1928 | 1930 |
Daniel James Davies | 1930 | 1932 |
Sir Edgar Rennie Bowring (2nd time) | 1933 | 1934 |
The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets the basis for the relationship between the Dominions and the Crown.
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth that has Charles III as its monarch and ceremonial head of state. All the realms are independent of each other, although one person, resident in the United Kingdom, acts as monarch of each. Except for the UK, in each of the realms the monarch is represented by a governor-general. The phrase Commonwealth realm is an informal description not used in any law.
The Commission of Government was a non-elected body that governed the Dominion of Newfoundland from 1934 to 1949. Established following the collapse of Newfoundland's economy during the Great Depression, it was dissolved when the dominion became the tenth province of Canada on March 31, 1949. It was composed of civil servants who were directly subordinate to the British Government in London.
Frederick Charles Alderdice was a Newfoundland businessman, politician and the last Prime Minister of Newfoundland. Alderdice was born in Belfast, Ireland and was educated at Methodist College Belfast. He moved to Newfoundland in 1886. A prominent St. John's businessman, Alderdice was appointed to the Legislative Council of Newfoundland in 1924 and became leader of the Liberal-Conservative Progressive Party and the dominion's Prime Minister when his cousin Walter Stanley Monroe retired from the post on August 15, 1928. Alderdice's first term as prime minister was short-lived, however, as his government lost that year's general election to the Liberals led by Sir Richard Squires.
Newfoundland was a British dominion in eastern North America, today the modern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It included the island of Newfoundland, and Labrador on the continental mainland. Newfoundland was one of the original dominions under the Balfour Declaration of 1926, and accordingly enjoyed a constitutional status equivalent to the other dominions of the time. Its dominion status was confirmed by the Statute of Westminster, 1931, although the statute was not otherwise applicable to Newfoundland.
The Responsible Government League was a political movement in the Dominion of Newfoundland.
The state known today as Ireland is the successor state to the Irish Free State, which existed from December 1922 to December 1937. At its foundation, the Irish Free State was, in accordance with its constitution and the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, governed as a constitutional monarchy, in personal union with the monarchy of the United Kingdom and other members of what was then called the British Commonwealth. The monarch as head of state was represented in the Irish Free State by his Governor-General, who performed most of the monarch's duties based on the advice of elected Irish officials.
The High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom is the diplomatic mission of Canada to the United Kingdom. It is housed at Canada House on Trafalgar Square in central London.
Prosperity returned to Canada during the Second World War. With continued Liberal governments, national policies increasingly turned to social welfare, including universal health care, old-age pensions, and veterans' pensions.
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat, generally ranking as an ambassador, in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the diplomatic mission is generally called a high commission.
The High Commission of India in London is the diplomatic mission of India in the United Kingdom. It is located in India House on Aldwych, between Bush House, what was Marconi House and Australia House. It faces both the London School of Economics and King's College London. Since 1981, India House is a Grade II listed building.
Canadian High Commissions are Canadian diplomatic missions in the capitals of Commonwealth states. High Commissions are the equivalent of embassies in non-Commonwealth states.
A dominion was any of several largely self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the British Commonwealth of Nations. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of colonial self-governance increased unevenly over the late 19th century through the 1930s. Vestiges of empire lasted in some dominions well into the late 20th century. With the evolution of the British Empire following the 1945 conclusion of the Second World War into the modern Commonwealth of Nations, finalised in 1949, the dominions became independent states, either as Commonwealth republics or Commonwealth realms.
The British High Commission Canberra is the diplomatic mission of the Government of the United Kingdom to Australia, representing the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom's interests. It is located on Commonwealth Avenue along with the High Commissions of New Zealand and Canada in the Canberra suburb of Yarralumla. The current British High Commissioner is Vicki Treadell who was appointed in 2019.