ominion

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This article is about the Dominions of the British Empire. For other uses, see
Dominion (disambiguation).
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v t e
Dominions were semi-independent polities under the British Crown, constituting the
British Empire, beginning with Canadian Confederation in 1867.[1][2] They included
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free
State, and then from the late 1940s also India, Pakistan, and Ceylon (now Sri
Lanka). The Balfour Declaration of 1926 recognised the Dominions as autonomous
Communities within the British Empire, and the 1931 Statute of Westminster granted
them full legislative independence.

Earlier usage of dominion to refer to a particular territory dates to the 16th

century and was used to describe Wales from 1535 to 1801 and New England between
1686 and 1689.

Contents [hide]
1 Definition
1.1 HisHer Majesty's dominions
2 Historical development
2.1 Overseas dominions
2.2 Responsible government precursor to Dominion status
2.3 Canadian Confederation and evolution of the term Dominion
2.4 Colonial Conference of 1907
2.5 First World War and Treaty of Versailles
2.6 Irish Free State
2.7 Balfour Declaration of 1926 and Statute of Westminster
3 Dominions
3.1 List of Dominions
3.2 Australia
3.3 Canada
3.4 Ceylon
3.5 India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
3.6 Irish Free State Ireland
3.7 Newfoundland
3.8 New Zealand
3.9 South Africa
3.10 Southern Rhodesia
4 Foreign relations
5 From Dominions to Commonwealth realms
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
Definition[edit]

Map of the British Empire under Queen Victoria at the end of the nineteenth
century. Dominions refers to all territories belonging to the Crown.
At the outset, a distinction must be made between a British dominion and British
Dominions. The use of a capital D when referring to the 'British Dominions' was
required by the United Kingdom government in order to avoid confusion with the
wider term His Majesty's dominions which referred to the British Empire as a whole.
[3]

All territories forming part of the British Empire were British dominions but only
some were British Dominions. At the time of the adoption of the Statute of
Westminster, there were six British Dominions Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South
Africa, Newfoundland, and the Irish Free State. At the same time there were many
other jurisdictions that were British dominions, for example Cyprus. The Order in
Council annexing the island of Cyprus in 1914 declared that, from 5 November, the
island shall be annexed to and form part of His Majesty's dominions.[4][5]

Use of dominion to refer to a particular territory dates back to the 16th century
and was sometimes used to describe Wales from 1535 to around 1800 for instance, the
Laws in Wales Act 1535 applies to the Dominion, Principality and Country of Wales.
[6] Dominion, as an official title, was conferred on the Colony of Virginia about
1660 and on the Dominion of New England in 1686. These dominions never had full
self-governing status. The creation of the short-lived Dominion of New England was
designedcontrary to the purpose of later dominionsto increase royal control and
to reduce the colony's self-government.

Under the British North America Act 1867, what is now eastern Canada received the
status of Dominion upon the Confederation of several British possessions in North
America. However, it was at the Colonial Conference of 1907 when the self-governing
colonies of Canada and the Commonwealth of Australia were referred to collectively
as Dominions for the first time.[7] Two other self-governing coloniesNew Zealand
and Newfoundlandwere granted the status of Dominion in the same year. These were
followed by the Union of South Africa in 1910 and the Irish Free State in 1922. At
the time of the founding of the League of Nations in 1924, the League Covenant made
provision for the admission of any fully self-governing state, Dominion, or Colony,
[8] the implication being that Dominion status was something between that of a
colony and a state.[9]

Dominion status was formally defined in the Balfour Declaration of 1926, which
recognised these countries as autonomous Communities within the British Empire,
thus acknowledging them as political equals of the United Kingdom. The Statute of
Westminster 1931 converted this status into legal reality, making them essentially
independent members of what was then called the British Commonwealth.

Following the Second World War, the decline of British colonialism led to Dominions
generally being referred to as Commonwealth realms and the use of the word dominion
gradually diminished. Nonetheless, though disused, it remains Canada's legal
title[10] and the phrase Her Majesty's Dominions is still used occasionally in
legal documents in the United Kingdom.[11]

HisHer Majesty's dominions[edit]

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The phrase HisHer Majesty's dominions is a legal and constitutional phrase that
refers to all the realms and territories of the Sovereign, whether independent or
not. Thus, for example, the British Ireland Act, 1949, recognised that the Republic
of Ireland had ceased to be part of His Majesty's dominions. When dependent
territories that had never been annexed (that is, were not colonies of the Crown,
but were League of Nations mandates, protectorates or United Nations Trust
Territories) were granted independence, the United Kingdom act granting
independence always declared that such and such a territory shall form part of Her
Majesty's dominions, and so become part of the territory in which the Queen
exercises sovereignty, not merely suzerainty. The later sense of Dominion was
capitalised to distinguish it from the more general sense of dominion.[3]

Historical development[edit]
Overseas dominions[edit]
The word dominions originally referred to the possessions of the Kingdom of
England. Oliver Cromwell's full title in the 1650s was Lord Protector of the
Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging.
In 1660, King Charles II gave the Colony of Virginia the title of dominion in
gratitude for Virginia's loyalty to the Crown during the English Civil War.
[citation needed] The Commonwealth of Virginia, a State of the United States, still
has the Old Dominion as one of its nicknames. Dominion also occurred in the name of
the short-lived Dominion of New England (16861689). In all of these cases, the
word dominion implied no more than being subject to the English Crown.[citation
needed]

Responsible government precursor to Dominion status[edit]

Main articles Responsible government and Self-governing colony
The foundation of Dominion status followed the achievement of internal self-rule in
British Colonies, in the specific form of full responsible government (as distinct
from representative government). Colonial responsible government began to emerge
during the mid-19th century. The legislatures of Colonies with responsible
government were able to make laws in all matters other than foreign affairs,
defence and international trade, these being powers which remained with the
Parliament of the United Kingdom. Bermuda, notably, was never defined as a
Dominion, despite meeting this criteria, but as a self-governing colony that
remains part of the British Realm.
Nova Scotia soon followed by the Province of Canada (which included modern southern
Ontario and southern Quebec) were the first Colonies to achieve responsible
governmen