David McIntyre | |
---|---|
Born | William David McIntyre 4 September 1932 Hucknall, England |
Died | 11 September 2022 90) Lower Hutt, New Zealand | (aged
Academic background | |
Alma mater | University of London |
Thesis | British policy in west Africa, the Malay peninsula and the south Pacific during the secretaryships of Lord Kimberley and Lord Carnarvon 1870–1876 (1959) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | History |
Institutions | University of Nottingham University of Canterbury |
Main interests | British Empire / Commonwealth constitutional and military history |
William David McIntyre OBE (4 September 1932 –11 September 2022) was a British-born New Zealand historian,known for his expertise on the military and constitutional histories of the Commonwealth of Nations and British Empire.
Born in England on 4 September 1932,McIntyre was the son of Rev. J. McIntyre, [1] a congregationalist minister. He was educated at Caterham School and went on to study at Peterhouse,Cambridge,and Washington University,earning a Master of Arts degree,and the School of Oriental &African Studies at the University of London,where he completed a PhD. [1] His 1959 doctoral thesis was titled British policy in west Africa,the Malay peninsula and the south Pacific during the secretaryships of Lord Kimberley and Lord Carnarvon 1870–1876.
In 1957,McIntyre married Marion Jean Hillyard,an American he met while at Washington University,and they went on to have five children. [1]
McIntyre was a teaching fellow at Washington University from 1955 to 1956. After completing his PhD,in 1959 he became an assistant lecturer,and later lecturer,in Commonwealth and American history at the University of Nottingham. [1] [2] In 1966,he was appointed a professor in history at the University of Canterbury,in Christchurch,New Zealand, [1] where he remained for the rest of his career. He retired in 1997,and was awarded the title of professor emeritus. [3] [4] He continued to write and research. An expert on the constitutional and military histories of the Commonwealth of Nations and British Empire,McIntyre published and advised governments. He served as consultant to the Committee on Commonwealth Membership,and compiled its report which was accepted by Heads of Government at Kampala in 2007. [5]
In the 1992 Queen's Birthday Honours,McIntyre was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire,for services to historical research. [6]
McIntyre married his second wife in 1993. He died in Lower Hutt on 11 September 2022,aged 90 years [7]
The British Empire was composed of the dominions,colonies,protectorates,mandates,and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and,for over a century,was the foremost global power. By 1913,the British Empire held sway over 412 million people,23 per cent of the world population at the time,and by 1920,it covered 35.5 million km2 (13.7 million sq mi),24 per cent of the Earth's total land area. As a result,its constitutional,legal,linguistic,and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power,it was described as "the empire on which the sun never sets",as the Sun was always shining on at least one of its territories.
The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets the basis for the relationship between the Commonwealth realms and the Crown.
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state,equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealth. King Charles III succeeded his mother,Queen Elizabeth II,as monarch of each Commonwealth realm following her death on 8 September 2022. He simultaneously became Head of the Commonwealth.
The Dominion of New Zealand was the historical successor to the Colony of New Zealand. It was a constitutional monarchy with a high level of self-government within the British Empire.
The Imperial War Cabinet (IWC) was the British Empire's wartime coordinating body. It met over three sessions,the first from 20 March to 2 May 1917,the second from 11 June to late July 1918,and the third from 20 or 25 November 1918 to early January 1919. Consisting of representatives from Canada,Australia,India,the Dominion of Newfoundland,New Zealand,South Africa and the United Kingdom,the Cabinet considered many aspects of waging the First World War. It led to the United Kingdom's Dominions being considered more equal to Great Britain. Held concurrently with the cabinet were the Imperial War Conferences of 1917 and 1918.
The monarchy of New Zealand is the constitutional system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of New Zealand. The current monarch,King Charles III,ascended the throne following the death of his mother,Queen Elizabeth II,on 8 September 2022. The King's eldest son,William,Prince of Wales,is the heir apparent.
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.
Imperial Preference was a system of mutual tariff reduction enacted throughout the British Empire following the Ottawa Conference of 1932. As Commonwealth Preference,the proposal was later revived in regard to the members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Joseph Chamberlain,the powerful colonial secretary from 1895 until 1903,argued vigorously that Britain could compete with its growing industrial rivals and thus maintain Great Power status. The best way to do so would be to enhance internal trade inside the worldwide British Empire,with emphasis on the more developed areas —Australia,Canada,New Zealand,and South Africa —that had attracted large numbers of British settlers.
The Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 was a constitutional Act of the New Zealand Parliament that formally accepted the full external autonomy offered by the British Parliament. By passing the Act on 25 November 1947,New Zealand adopted the Statute of Westminster 1931,an Act of the British Parliament which granted full sovereign status and Commonwealth membership to the Dominions ratifying the statute. New Zealand was the last Dominion to do so,as the Dominion of Newfoundland voted to become a part of Canada in 1948.
The criteria for membership in the Commonwealth of Nations,which apply to current and prospective member states,have been altered by a series of documents issued over the past eighty-two years.
The independence of New Zealand is a matter of continued academic and social debate. New Zealand has no fixed date of independence from the United Kingdom;instead,political independence came about as a result of New Zealand's evolving constitutional status. The concept of a national "Independence Day" does not exist in New Zealand.
Arthur Berriedale Keith was a Scottish constitutional lawyer,scholar of Sanskrit and Indologist. He became Regius Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology and Lecturer on the Constitution of the British Empire in the University of Edinburgh. He served in this role from 1914 to 1944.
The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states. Most of them were British colonies or dependencies of those colonies.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy whose Sovereign also serves as Monarch of the United Kingdom,New Zealand,Canada and eleven other former dependencies of the United Kingdom including Papua New Guinea,which was formerly a dependency of Australia. These countries operate as independent nations,and are known as Commonwealth realms. The history of the Australian monarchy has involved a shifting relationship with both the monarch and also the British government.
New Zealand–United Kingdom relations are the bilateral relations between New Zealand and the United Kingdom. New Zealand has maintained a close relationship with Britain,since gaining independence from the United Kingdom.
When the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939 at the start of World War II,the UK controlled to varying degrees numerous crown colonies,protectorates and the India. It also maintained unique political ties to four of the five independent Dominions—Australia,Canada,South Africa,and New Zealand—as co-members of the then "British Commonwealth". In 1939 the British Empire and the Commonwealth together comprised a global power,with direct or de facto political and economic control of 25% of the world's population,and of 30% of its land mass.
The Commonwealth of Nations,simply referred to as the Commonwealth,is a political association of 56 member states,the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat,which focuses on intergovernmental aspects,and the Commonwealth Foundation,which focuses on non-governmental relations amongst member states. Numerous organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth.
The term Dominion is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire.
Ghana was the first African country colonised by European powers to achieve independence under majority rule. During the first three years after independence,from 1957 to 1960,a Westminster system of government was in place and the British monarch served as Queen of Ghana and head of state. Although the country was sometimes referred to as the Dominion of Ghana during this period,it never held the formal status of Dominion within the British Empire.
The Colony of New Zealand was a Crown colony of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that encompassed the islands of New Zealand from 1841 to 1907. The power of the British government was vested in the Governor of New Zealand,as the representative of their monarch. The colony had three capitals:Old Russell in 1841;Auckland from 1841 to 1865;and Wellington,which was the capital until the colony's reorganisation into a Dominion,and continues to be the capital of New Zealand till the present day.