Draft:British High Commission Territories

The British High Commission Territories were three protectorates in Southern Africa administered by the United Kingdom through a British High Commissioner. The territories were Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana), Basutoland (now Lesotho) and Swaziland (now Eswatini).

British High Commission Territories
Protectorates under the jurisdiction of the British High Commissioner
1906–1968
• Type	Colonial administration
History
• Administration transferred to the British High Commissioner	1906
• Independence of Swaziland	6 September 1968
Preceded by Succeeded by Bechuanaland Protectorate Basutoland Swaziland (1894–1903) Botswana Lesotho Eswatini
Today part of	Botswana Eswatini Lesotho

The arrangement began in the early 20th century following the Second Boer War and lasted until the territories achieved independence in the 1960s.

Background

Following the Second Boer War (1899–1902), Britain consolidated its control over the region. By 1906, the three countries Swaziland, Bechuanaland and Basutoland, were placed under the jurisdiction of a British High Commissioner. These three territories were distinct from the Union of South Africa, which was created in 1910 as a self-governing Dominion within the British Empire, bringing together the Cape Colony, Natal Province, the Orange River Colony and the Transvaal under a unitary constitution called the Union of South Africa.

All three territories were administered by a British High Commissioner who, until 1931, was simultaneously the Governor-General of South Africa. The High Commissioner was responsible for:

The British government retained direct responsibility for the three protectorates, which were closely tied to the Union. Basutoland was a mountain enclave within South Africa, while Bechuanaland and Swaziland shared borders with the Union.

Swaziland

In 1903, the rights of the South African Republic (Transvaal) over Swaziland passed to Britain, and provision was made by the Swaziland Order in Council of 1903 for the administration of Swaziland by Her Majesty's Government. King Sobhuza II was a child at the time, and his grandmother, Labotsibeni, served as Chief Regent until he was installed as Ngwenyama (Paramount Chief) in 1921.

By 1960, the King and the Swazi National Council had reached the view that representatives of Swazi and European interests should meet together in a legislative council, marking the beginning of constitutional progress toward independence.

The constitutional status of Swaziland was not formally defined in statutory law. A judgment of the UK Privy Council on 15 April 1926 referred to it as a protectorate "which approximated in constitutional status to a Crown Colony." It was governed under the provisions of the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890, in the name of the King (and then Queen) of the United Kingdom.

In 1966, the British government decided that Swaziland should be granted internal self-government and that the iNgwenyama would be recognised as King. They also decided that independence should be achieved by the end of 1969.

In April 1967, a general election was held in which the Mbokodvo nationalist movement won all 24 elective seats in the House of Assembly, polling 80 per cent of the votes.

On 25 April 1967, Swaziland was constituted as a protected state under an agreement signed the previous day. This status lasted until 6 September 1968, when the Swaziland Independence Act 1968 (Royal Assent 26 July 1968) granted full independence.

The request for independence was made by the Government of Swaziland following unanimous approval of resolutions in the House of Assembly and the Senate. The independence constitution was provided for by Order in Council.

As one British minister noted at the time:

The entire period of the British responsibility for Swaziland from the time we undertook it at the beginning of this century to the time that we handed over on 6th September is encompassed in the life of the present king of the Protected State of Swaziland—King Sobhuza II.

List of High Commissioners Southern Africa

The following is a complete list of individuals who held the office of British High Commissioner from its creation in 1847 until its abolition in 1964. The office was combined with that of Governor of Cape Colony (1847–1901), Governor of Transvaal Colony (1901–1910), and Governor-General of South Africa (1910–1931). Persons serving in an acting capacity are indicated.

Name	Began	Ended	Notes
Sir Henry Pottinger	27 January 1847	1 December 1847	First High Commissioner
Sir Harry Smith	1 December 1847	31 March 1852
George Cathcart	31 March 1852	26 May 1854
Charles Henry Darling	26 May 1854	5 December 1854	Acting
Sir George Grey	5 December 1854	15 August 1861
Robert Henry Wynyard	15 August 1861	15 January 1862	Acting
Sir Philip Wodehouse	15 January 1862	20 May 1870
Charles Craufurd Hay	20 May 1870	31 December 1870	Acting
Sir Henry Barkly	31 December 1870	31 March 1877
Sir Bartle Frere	31 March 1877	15 September 1880
Henry Hugh Clifford	15 September 1880	27 September 1880	Acting
Sir George Strahan	27 September 1880	22 January 1881	Acting
Sir Hercules Robinson	22 January 1881	1 May 1889
Henry Augustus Smyth	1 May 1889	13 December 1889	Acting
Sir Henry Brougham Loch	13 December 1889	30 May 1895
Sir Hercules Robinson (from 1896, Lord Rosmead)	30 May 1895	21 April 1897	Second term
William Goodenough	21 April 1897	5 May 1897	Acting
Sir Alfred Milner	5 May 1897	May 1905
William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne	May 1905	31 May 1910
Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson	1909	1909	Acting (in absence of Lord Selborne)
Herbert Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone	31 May 1910	8 September 1914	Also Governor-General of South Africa
Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton	8 September 1914	17 July 1920	Also Governor-General of South Africa
Beresford Cecil Molyneux Carter	3 September 1920	20 November 1920	Acting (with Sir James Rose Innes acting Governor-General)
Prince Arthur of Connaught	20 November 1920	5 December 1923	Also Governor-General of South Africa
Rudolph Bentinck	10 December 1923	21 January 1924	Acting (with Sir James Rose Innes acting Governor-General)
Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone	21 January 1924	26 January 1931	Also Governor-General of South Africa
George Villiers, 6th Earl of Clarendon	26 January 1931	6 April 1931
Sir Herbert Stanley	6 April 1931	6 January 1935
Sir William Henry Clark	7 January 1935	3 January 1940
Sir Edward John Harding	3 January 1940	3 January 1941
Sir Walter Huggard	3 January 1941	24 May 1941	Acting
William Ormsby-Gore, 4th Baron Harlech	24 May 1941	13 May 1944
Harold Eddey Priestman	13 May 1944	23 June 1944	Acting
Sir Walter Huggard	23 June 1944	27 October 1944	Acting (second term)
Sir Evelyn Baring	27 October 1944	1 October 1951
Sir John Le Rougetel	2 October 1951	2 February 1955
Sir Percivale Liesching	4 March 1955	December 1958
Sir John Maud	15 January 1959	1963
Sir Hugh Stephenson	1963	31 July 1964	Final High Commissioner

Further reading

• The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 6 (Cambridge University Press, 2008)
• Hansard Parliamentary Debates: Swaziland Independence Bill, 5 July 1968
• Sobhuza II v. Miller [1926] AC 518 PC (Privy Council judgment on the constitutional status of Swaziland)