Sources and references
(incomplete)
| Roles |
| ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offices | |||||||||||||||||
| Types | |||||||||||||||||
| Topics | |||||||||||||||||
| Documents | |||||||||||||||||
| Other topics | |||||||||||||||||
Resident commissioner was or is an official title of several different types of commissioners, who were or are representatives of any level of government. Historically, they were appointed by the British Crown in overseas protectorates (such as Bechuanaland), or colonies (such as South Australia), and some still exist in this capacity. The United States of America once had a resident commissioner in the Philippines and the Puerto Rico resident commissioner resides in Washington DC. State governments of today's Republic of India have a resident commissioner to represent them in New Delhi.
Resident commissioners appointed by the British Crown typically reside in the territorial unit of which they are in charge. This also the case with most otherwise styled commissioners.
In certain complex colonial units within the British Empire, the high commissioner to whom was given the highest "regional" supervision (either residing in one of the constitutive territories, e.g. in the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT), first by the governor on Fiji, then from 1952 onward on the Solomon Islands; or even in a neighbouring colony, e.g. the Governor of the Straits Settlements as High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States) would commonly be represented in territories not comprising his residence by a resident commissioner, though in some places (including some of the Federated Malay States) similar officials were formally styled as residents, a more diplomatic title; otherwise another type of official was also possible (e.g. the British Consul in the protected state of Tonga, a Polynesian kingdom; an administrator on Nauru; a mere chief magistrate on tiny Pitcairn). In some cases his task was comparable to the lieutenant-governor of a minor colony, especially as the high commissioner could be a British colonial governor doubling as such.[ citation needed ]
South Australia was the only Colony in Australia authorised by an Act of Parliament, the South Australia Act 1834 , which set out the requirement for a Governor, representing the Crown, and a Resident Commissioner, reporting to Colonisation Commissioners. The survey and sale of land, as well as migration arrangements and funding, were responsibilities of the Resident Commissioner. [1] The first Resident Commissioner to be appointed was James Hurtle Fisher on 14 July 1836, but when George Gawler was appointed Governor in 1838 to replace John Hindmarsh, he was given the role of Resident Commissioner as well, effective in October 1838. [2]
The following territories had resident commissioners:[ citation needed ]
While the post of High Commissioner for Southern Africa (HCSA) was held 27 January 1847 - 31 May 1910 by the governors of the Cape Colony, then until 6 April 1931 by the governors-general of the Union of South Africa, after that date filled separately until 1963, there have been resident representatives in the constituent territories:[ citation needed ]
In India, a resident commissioner is the representative of the state government with an office in New Delhi, who is also supposed to manage the reception of state government functionaries who visit New Delhi. She/he coordinates with various ministries of the central government, central PSUs, multi-lateral and bilateral agencies and various other organisations on behalf of the state government. she/he is an IAS officer. [3]
(incomplete)
| Roles |
| ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offices | |||||||||||||||||
| Types | |||||||||||||||||
| Topics | |||||||||||||||||
| Documents | |||||||||||||||||
| Other topics | |||||||||||||||||
The islands which now form the Republic of Kiribati have been inhabited for at least seven hundred years, and possibly much longer. The initial Austronesian peoples’ population, which remains the overwhelming majority today, was visited by Polynesian and Melanesian invaders before the first European sailors visited the islands in the 17th century. For much of the subsequent period, the main island chain, the Gilbert Islands, was ruled as part of the British Empire. The country gained its independence in 1979 and has since been known as Kiribati.
High commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.
The Gilbert and Ellice Islands in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976, and were administered as part of the British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT) until they became independent. The history of GEIC was mainly characterized by phosphate mining on Ocean Island. In October 1975, these islands were divided by force of law into two separate colonies, and they became independent nations shortly thereafter: the Ellice Islands became Tuvalu in 1978, and the Gilbert Islands with Banaba became part of Kiribati in 1979.
The Bechuanaland Protectorate was a protectorate established on 31 March 1885 in Southern Africa by the United Kingdom. It became the Republic of Botswana on 30 September 1966.
A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indirect rule.
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local council. In some cases, this council was split into two: an executive council and a legislative council, and the executive council was similar to the Privy Council that advises the monarch. Members of executive councils were appointed by the governors, and British citizens resident in Crown colonies either had no representation in local government, or limited representation in a lower house. In several Crown colonies, this limited representation grew over time. As the House of Commons of the British Parliament has never included seats for any of the colonies, there was no direct representation in the sovereign government for British subjects or citizens residing in Crown colonies.
The Jones–Shafroth Act – also known as the Jones Act of Puerto Rico, Jones Law of Puerto Rico, or as the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act of 1917 – was an Act of the United States Congress, signed by President Woodrow Wilson on March 2, 1917. The act superseded the Foraker Act and granted U.S. citizenship to anyone born in Puerto Rico on or after April 11, 1899. It also created the Senate of Puerto Rico, established a bill of rights, and authorized the election of a Resident Commissioner to a four-year term. The act also exempted Puerto Rican bonds from federal, state, and local taxes regardless of where the bondholder resides.
The Realm of New Zealand is the area over which the monarch of New Zealand is head of state. The realm is not a federation but is a collection of states and territories united under its monarch. New Zealand is an independent and sovereign state that has one territorial claim in Antarctica, one dependent territory (Tokelau), and two associated states. The Realm of New Zealand encompasses the three autonomous jurisdictions of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, and Niue.
The British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT) was a colonial entity created in 1877 for the administration of a series of Pacific islands in Oceania under a single representative of the British Crown, styled the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific. Except for Fiji and the Solomon Islands, most of these colonial possessions were relatively minor.
A Government House is any residence used by governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the British Empire. Government Houses serve as the venue for governors' official business, as well as the many receptions and functions hosted by the occupant. Sometimes, the term Government House is used as a metonym for the governor or his office.
The Parliament of Tuvalu is the unicameral national legislature of Tuvalu. The place at which the parliament sits is called the Vaiaku maneapa. The maneapa on each island is an open meeting place where the chiefs and elders deliberate and make decisions.
A federacy is a form of government where one or several substate units enjoy considerably more independence than the majority of the substate units. To some extent, such an arrangement can be considered to be similar to asymmetric federalism.
The British office of high commissioner for Southern Africa was responsible for governing British possessions in Southern Africa, latterly the protectorates of Basutoland, the Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland, as well as for relations with autonomous governments in the area.
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.
There are six monarchies in Oceania with an individual hereditary monarch, who is recognised as the head of state. Each is a constitutional monarchy: the sovereign inherits his or her office, usually keeps it until death or abdication, but is bound by laws and customs in the exercise of their powers. Five of these independent states share King Charles III as their head of state, making them part of a global grouping known as the Commonwealth realms; in addition, all monarchies of Oceania are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. The only sovereign monarchy in Oceania that does not share a monarch with another state is Tonga. Australia and New Zealand have dependencies within the region and outside it, although five non-sovereign constituent monarchs are recognized by New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and France.
British protectorates were protectorates—or client states—under protection of the British Empire's armed forces and represented by British diplomats in international arenas, such as the Great Game, in which the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Tibetan Kingdom became protected states for short periods of time. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status whilst simultaneously offering protection, e.g. British Paramountcy. British protectorates were therefore governed by indirect rule. In most cases, the local ruler, as well as the subjects of the indigenous ruler were not British subjects. British protected states represented a more loose form of British suzerainty, where the local rulers retained absolute control over the states' internal affairs and the British exercised control over defence and foreign affairs.
The Governor of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands was the colonial head of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands civil service from 1892 until 1979.
Arthur William Mahaffy O.B.E. was a colonial administrator who served in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Protectorate, the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, the Colony of Fiji, the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides, with his final post being the Administrator of Dominica.
