Self - governing colony A self - governing colony is a colony with an elected government in which elected rulers are able to make most decisions without referring to the colonial power with nominal control of the colony . Most self - governing colonies have responsible government . General description . While the legislatures of British self - governing colonies — for the most part — control their internal affairs , the British government retains control of foreign affairs , defence and various international trade matters . The British government is represented in self - governing colonies by a Governor , who exercises some degree of control over affairs of state . The Governor appoints a cabinet with executive power from the majority party in the legislature , which usually has responsible government , and is led by a Chief Minister or Premier . Self - governing colonies for the most part have no formal authority over constitutional matters such the monarchy and the constitutional relationship with Britain . They utilise appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council , in London , as the ultimate avenue of appeal in matters of law and justice . Colonies have sometimes been referred to as " self - governing " in situations where the executive has been under the control of neither the imperial government nor a local legislature elected by universal suffrage , but by a local oligarchy . In most cases such control has been exercised by an elite class from a settler community . History . The term " self - governing colony " has sometimes been used in relation to the direct rule of a Crown colony by an executive governor , elected under a limited franchise , such as in Massachusetts between 1630 and 1684 . The first local legislatures raised in England ' s colonies were the House of Burgesses of Virginia ( 1619 ) and the House of Assembly of Bermuda ( 1620 ) , originally part of Virginia . The Parliament of Bermuda , which now also includes a Senate , is the third - oldest in the Commonwealth of Nations , after the Tynwald and Westminster ( currently the Parliament of the United Kingdom ) . Of the three , only Bermuda ' s has legislated continuously , with the Royalist camp maintaining control of the archipelago during the Commonwealth of England and The Protectorate . However , in the modern sense of the term , the first self - governing colony is generally considered to have been the Province of Canada , in 1841 ; the colony gained responsible government in 1849 . All the colonies of British North America became self - governing between 1848 and 1855 , except the Colony of Vancouver Island . Nova Scotia was the first colony to achieve responsible government in January – February 1848 through the efforts of Joseph Howe , followed by the Province of Canada later that year . They were followed by Prince Edward Island in 1851 , New Brunswick , and Newfoundland in 1855 under Philip Francis Little . The Canadian colonies were federated as a Dominion in 1867 , except for Newfoundland , which remained a separate self - governing colony , was a separate Dominion in 1907 - 1934 , reverted to being a crown colony in 1934 , and joined Canada in 1949 . However , the term " self - governing colony " is not widely used by Canadian constitutional experts . In Australasia , the term self - governing colony is widely - used by historians and constitutional lawyers in relation to the political arrangements in the seven British settler colonies of Australasia — New South Wales , New Zealand , Queensland , South Australia , Tasmania , Victoria and Western Australia — between 1852 and 1901 , when the six Australian colonies agreed to Federation and became a Dominion . New Zealand remained a separate colony until 1907 , when it too became a Dominion . In southern Africa , the Cape Colony was granted representative government in 1852 , followed by responsible government in 1872 . Natal became self - governing in 1893 , Transvaal in 1906 and Orange Free State in 1908 . These four colonies were united as a unitary Dominion , the Union of South Africa , in 1910 ) . Southern Rhodesia ( later Zimbabwe ) , became a self - governing colony in 1923 . Malta was also a self - governing colony between 1921 and 1933 , 1947 and 1958 , and 1962 until independence two years later . The best - known examples of self - governing colonies are the Dominions , during the mid - to - late - 19th century and early 20th century . In the Dominions , prior to the Statute of Westminster in 1931 , a Governor General , officially the monarch ' s representative , was a " de facto " arm of the British government . After the passing of the Statute of Westminster , the Dominions ceased to be considered colonies , although many colonies which did not have Dominion status were self - governing . However , after that time , the Dominions were largely free to act in matters of defence and foreign affairs , if they so chose and " Dominion " gradually acquired a new meaning : a state which was independent of Britain , but which shared the British monarch as the official head of state . The term Dominion has since largely fallen out of use and been replaced with the term Realm . In 1981 , under the British Nationality Act 1981 , Crown colonies were renamed ' British Dependent Territories ' . As of 2002 , by the means of the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 , are to be known as ' British Overseas Territories ' . As of 2007 , the self - governing colonies under the above definition are : Anguilla , Bermuda , British Virgin Islands , Cayman Islands , Gibraltar , Montserrat , and the Turks and Caicos Islands . All other British overseas territories experience greater degrees of British government intervention in their affairs .