The Imperial Frontier in the Tropics, 1865–75: A Study of British Colonial Policy in West Africa, Malaya and the South Pacific in the Age of Gladstone and Disraeli

425 Pages·1967·36.5 MB·English

by  W. David McIntyre (auth.)

The Imperial Frontier in the Tropics, 186 5-7 5
By the same author
COLONIES INTO COMMONWEALTH
(Blandford Press)
The Imperial Frontier
in the Tropics, 1865-75
A STUDY OF BRITISH COLONIAL POLICY
IN WEST AFRICA, MALAYA AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC
IN THE AGE OF GLADSTONE AND DISRAELI
W. DAVID MciNTYRE
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY,
UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY, NEW ZEALAND
Palgrave Macmillan
9 6 7
I
ISBN 978-1-349-00351-8 ISBN 978-1-349-00349-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-00349-5
© W. David Mcintyre 1967
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1967 978-0-333-05152-8
MACMILLAN AND CO LTD
Little Essex Street London w c z
also at Bombay Calcutta Madras Melbourne
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA LIMITED
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ST MARTIN'S PRESS INC
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Library of Congress catalog card no. 67-19403
Contents
PAGJ:
List of Maps VI
Preface Vll
Abbreviations lX
Introduction The Imperial Frontier in the Tropics I
PART ONE THE FORMULATION OF COLONIAL POLICY I3
I Influences at Home IJ
2 The Mid-Victorian Colonial Office 46
PART TWO THE DILEMMA 75
Contradictory Aims in West Africa: the Cardwell
3
Policy, I864-5 8o
Contradictory Aims in West Africa: the Failure of
4
the Cardwell Policy, I865-73 I04
5 Relations with the Malay States, I 867-7 I I 52
6 Intervention in the Malay States, I 87 I-3 185
7 Evolving a Policy in the South Pacific, I 8 55 -7 I 211
8 Decisions about the South Pacific, 1872-3 240
PART THREE THE NEW EXPERIMENTS 267
9 West Africa after the Ashanti War, I874-6 273
IO The BeginningsofBritish Political Control in Malaya,
I874-6 291
II The Annexation of Fiji, I 874 3I7
I2 Informal Empire in the South Pacific, I874-7 337
PART FOUR THE FRONTIER IN PERSPECTIVE 357
I 3 Techniques of Informal Empire 359
Conclusion Mid-Victorian Imperialism: a Pragmatic
Approach to Empire
Bibliography
Index
v
of
List Maps
PAGE
The Gold Coast 8 5
Lagos and Commander Glover's routes into Yorubaland 91
Sierra Leone and the northern rivers 95
The West coast of Africa in 1873 141
The Malay States and the Straits Settlements 153
Perak 177
The rivers of Selangor 1 8o
The Pacific Islands 213
The Fiji Islands 214
The Samoan Islands 260
The Linggi river 302
Australia, New Guinea and the islands 343
Moresby's discoveries, based on his 1874 chart 343
vi
Preface
THIS book attempts to bridge a gap which exists between general
and theoretical works about imperialism and those area studies and
national histories which are now making it possible to see western
expansion in perspective. I have, it is true, written 'from within
the blinkers of imperial history' (as one distinguished Africanist would
say), but I have tried, so far as I can, to measure up to the requirements
of the regional experts. The result is a series of 'case-studies' con
cerning British expansion in West Africa, Malaya and the South
Pacific which attempts to fit certain remote and widely scattered
experiments into the wider story of mid-Victorian imperialism.
I wish to acknowledge most gratefully the generous help given by
many people. Her Majesty the Queen granted permission for me to
consult the Royal Archives at Windsor. Lord and Lady Brabourne
lent me the Brabourne Diaries and Miss Cecilia Goodenough lent
Commodore Goodenough's Journal. The Earl of Kimberley allowed
me to consult the Kimberley Papers, then at W ymondham Hall,
Norfolk, and Lieut.-Col. R. P. F. White of the National Registry of
Archives not only arranged the visit but provided transport. The
National Trust allowed me to consult the Disraeli papers at Hughen
den Manor. The Cabinet Office (Historical Section) gave permission
to quote from the Gladstone Cabinet Minutes in the British Museum.
I also received most valuable help, over many months, from the
staffs of the Public Record Office, the British Museum, the Institute
of Historical Research, the Methodist Missionary Society archives,
the British Transport Commission archives, the Royal Geographical
Society and the libraries of the Colonial Office, the War Office, the
Royal Commonwealth Society, Rhodes House, the School of Oriental
and African Studies and the University of Nottingham.
A number of scholars read earlier drafts or gave me the benefit of
their expert knowledge. I wish to thank Dr I. M. Cumpston, Mr
G. B. Milner and Mr D. H. Jones of the University of London,
Dr D. Cooms of the University of Ghana, Mr Robert I. Conhaim
of the University of California, Los Angeles, the late Dr C. F.
Goodfellow of Rhodes University, Dr Wong Lin Ken of the Uni
versity of Singapore, Dr W. P. N. Tyler of Massey University, the
VII
Vlll Preface
late Mr Kingsley Roth of Cambridge and Dr C. C. Eldridge of
Edinburgh University.
I owe special debts of gratitude to Professor D. G. E. Hall and
Professor C. D. Cowan of the London School of Oriental and African
Studies, who supervised most carefully my work for the Ph.D. thesis
out of which this book has grown. Finally, I wish to pay particular
tribute to Professor J. A. S. Grenville, of the University of Leeds,
who, during several delightful years when I was his assistant lecturer
at the University of Nottingham, read and revised my work, and
criticized and encouraged, with such insistence, good humour and
insight, that I learnt to forge a book from the raw material of a thesis.
To all these, and to my wife (who read the proofs and put up with
much else besides), I would like to record my grateful thanks. The
shortcomings of the present work are mine, not theirs.
W. DAVID MciNTYRE
Christchurch, N.Z.
March I967
Abbreviations
GENERAL
Ad. Admiralty L.O. Law Officers
A.D.C. Aide-de-Camp Maj. Major
Adj. Adjutant min(s). minute(s)
Brig. Maj. Brigade Major N.S.W. New South Wales
Brig. Brigadier N.Z. New Zealand
Brig.-Gen. Brigadier-General P.R.O. Public Record Office
c.o.
Colonial Office R.A. Royal Artillery
Comm. Commodore Rear-Ad. Rear-Admiral
encl. enclosed S.S.Assoc. Straits Settlements
F.O. Foreign Office Association
gov. governor St. Street
Govt. Government Treas. Treasury
l.O. India Office W.O. War Office
Is. Isles, Islands
PERIODICALS
.A.H.R. American Historical Review
C.H.B.E. Cambridge History of the British Empire
C.H.R. Canadian Historical Review
C.M. Camden Miscellany
c.s.
Camden Society
C.S.S.H. Comparative Studies in Sociology and History
Econ.Hist.Rev. Economic History Review
H.J. The Historical Journal
H.S.A.N.Z. Historical Studies .Australia and New Zealand
J .. A.H. Journal of .African History
J .. A.L. Journal of .African Law
J.B.S. Journal of British Studies
J.C.P.S. Journal of Commonwealth Political Studies
J.E.H. Journal of Economic History
J.M.B.R .. A.S. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal .Asiatic Society
J.S.E .. A.H. Journal of South East .Asian History
N.C.M.H. New Cambridge Modern History
P.H.R. Pacific Historical Review
P.M.H. Papers on Malayan History
P.M.S. Papers on Malay Subjects
A2 ix