Crown colony

A **Crown colony**, also known in the 17th century as  **royal colony**, was a type of colonial administration of the English and later British Empire. Crown, or royal colonies were ruled by a governor which is decided by the Monarch. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the Sovereign appointed royal governors on the advice of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Under the name of "royal colony", the first of what would later become known as Crown colonies was the English Colony of Virginia. This happened in 1624 after the Crown removed the Royal Charter it had given to the Virginia Company.

Until the mid-nineteenth century, the term "Crown Colony" was only used to refer to those colonies which had been obtain through wars. Examples were Trinidad and Tobago, British Guiana, and the colonies of settlement, such as The Canadas, Newfoundland, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and New Zealand, later to become the Dominions. The term continued to be used up until 1981, when the British Nationality Act 1981 reclassified the remaining British colonies as "British Dependent Territories". From 2002 they have been known as British Overseas Territories.

## List of Crown colonies

|Name of colony|from|to|class="unsortable"|Reason for change of status|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Aden|1937|1967|Became part of the Federation of South Arabia.||
|Bahamas|1718|1973|Became an independent Commonwealth Realm.||
|Basutoland|1884|1964|Became British protectorate in 1964; then became independent as Lesotho in 1966.||
||1684|1981|Became British Dependent Territory in 1981.||
|British Bechuanaland|1885|1895|Became part of British Cape Colony in 1895.||
|British Guiana|1831|1966|Became independent as Guyana in 1966.||
|British Honduras (renamed Belize in 1964)|1884|1981|Became independent (as Belize) in 1981.||
|Burma|1937|1948|Separated from British India in 1937 and became a Crown colony.||
|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.||
||1962|1981|Became British Dependent Territory in 1981.||
|Ceylon|1815|1948|Became independent as Dominion of Ceylon in 1948.||
|British Columbia|1866|1871|Became part of Canada in 1871.||
|Cyprus|1914|1960|Became independent as Cyprus in 1960.||
|East Florida|1763|1783|Ceded to Spain. Later became part of the United States.||
||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.||
||1713|1981|Became British Dependent Territory in 1981.||
|Gold Coast|1821|1957|Became independent in 1957 as Ghana.||
|Hong Kong|1842|1997|Reclassified as a British Dependent Territory in 1981. Handed over to China in 1997 marking the end of the British Empire.||
|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.||
|rowspan=3|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.|||
|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 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.||
|North Carolina|1729|1776|Became part of the United States of America in 1776.||
|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 and Nevis|1882|1981|Became British Dependent Territory in 1981. Independent in 1983.||
|Sarawak|1946|1963|Became part of Malaysia in 1963.||
|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.||
|rowspan=4|Singapore|1946|1963|Singapore became part of Malaysia in 1963; then became independent as the Republic of Singapore in 1965.|
|1946|1946|Labuan was incorporated into North Borneo on 15 July 1946, which became part of Malaysia in 1963.|||
|1946|1955|Cocos (Keeling) Islands was transferred to Australia in 1955.|||
|1946|1957|Christmas Island was transferred to Australia in 1957.|||
|rowspan=7|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; later became part of Malaysia in 1963.|
|1826|1946|Singapore became a separate Crown colony in 1946, after the Straits Settlements was dissolved.|||
|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; later became part of Malaysia in 1963.|||
|1857|1946|Cocos (Keeling) Islands became part of the Colony of Singapore in 1946.|||
|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; later became part of Malaysia in 1963.|||
|1888|1946|Christmas Island became part of the Colony of Singapore in 1946.|||
|1906|1946|Labuan became part of the Colony of Singapore in 1946.|||
|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.||

## Related pages

- Crown dependency
- British overseas territories
- British Empire