The British West Indies were the islands and mainland colonies in and around the Caribbean
that were part of the British Empire.
In 1912, the British West Indies were divided into eight colonies: The Bahamas, Barbados,
British Guiana, British Honduras, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Windward Islands,
and the Leeward Islands.
Between 1958 and 1962, all of the island territories except the British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas,
British Honduras and British Guiana were organised into the West Indies Federation.
It was hoped that the Federation would become independent as a single nation, but it had
limited powers, many practical problems, and a lack of popular support.
Consequently, the West Indies Federation was dissolved.
Most of the territories, including all the larger ones, are now independent as separate
countries, with membership to many international forums such as the Organization of American
States, the Association of Caribbean States, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations,
the Caribbean Community, the Commonwealth of Nations and the Caribbean Development Bank
among others.
The remainder are British overseas territories.
The term is still used for British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, such as the
Cayman Islands.
Territories The territories that were originally part
of the British West Indies are: The Bahamas
Belize Bermuda
British Leeward Islands Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda British Virgin Islands
Dominica Montserrat
Saint Kitts and Nevis
British Windward Islands Barbados
Grenada Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Cayman Islands Guyana
Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands History
Leeward Islands
Sir William Stapleton established the first federation in the British West Indies in 1674.
He set up a General Assembly of the Leeward Islands in St. Kitts.
Stapleton's Federation was active between 1674 and 1685, during his term as governor,
and the General Assembly met regularly until 1711.
By the 18th century, each island had kept its own Assembly and made its own laws.
The islands continued to share one Governor and one Attorney-General.
Although unpopular, Stapleton's Federation was never really dissolved but simply replaced
by other arrangements.
Between 1816 and 1833, the Leewards were divided into two groups: St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
and Antigua-Barbuda-Montserrat, each with its own Governor.
In 1833 all the Leeward Islands were brought together, and Dominica was added, remaining
as part of the group until 1940.
In 1869, Governor Benjamin Pine was assigned to organise a federation of Antigua-Barbuda,
Dominica, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands.
St. Kitts and Nevis opposed sharing their government funds with Antigua and Montserrat,
which were bankrupt.
Governor Pine told the Colonial Office that the scheme had failed due to "local prejudice
and self-interest".
His only achievement was to give the Leewards a single Governor.
All laws and ordinances, however, had to be approved by each island council.
In 1871 the British government passed the Leeward Islands Act, by which all the islands
were under one Governor and one set of laws.
The Federal Colony was composed of all islands organised under Governor Pine's previous attempt.
Each island was called "Presidency" under its own Administrator or Commissioner.
Like earlier groupings, this federation was unpopular but it continued until 1956.
That year the Federation of the West Indies was organised.
Windward Islands
In 1833 the Windward Islands became a formal union called the Windward Islands Colony.
In 1838, Trinidad and St. Lucia were brought into the Windward Islands Colony, but were
not given their own assemblies.
In 1840 Trinidad left the Colony.
The Windward Islands Colony was unpopular: Barbados wished to retain its separate identity
and ancient institutions, and the other colonies did not want to associate with it.
The individual islands resisted British attempts at closer union.
Barbados in particular fought to retain its own Assembly.
From 1885 to 1958, the Windward Islands Colony included Grenada and the Grenadines, St. Vincent
and St. Lucia during the entire period.
Tobago left in 1889, forming a union with Trinidad.
Dominica joined the Windward Islands Colony in 1940, after having been transferred from
the Leewards, and remained in the Colony until 1958.
After 1885 the Windward Islands Colony was under one Governor-General in Grenada, and
each island had its own Lieutenant-Governor and its own assembly.
Attempts to create a Federal Colony, as in the Leewards, were always resisted.
The Windward Islands Colony broke up in 1958 when each island chose to join the new Federation
of the West Indies as a separate unit.
Jamaica and dependencies The Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands
were grouped under Jamaica out of convenience and sometimes for historical and/or geographical
reasons.
British Honduras was surrounded by hostile Spanish colonies and needed the protection
afforded by the Jamaican Army and Navy.
In addition, British Honduras had been founded by loggers.
It increased in population partly by the settlement of Englishmen migrating from Jamaica in the
late 17th and early 18th centuries From 1742, British Honduras was a dependency directly
under the Governor of Jamaica.
In 1749 the Governors of Jamaica appointed Administrators for British Honduras.
In 1862 British Honduras became a Crown Colony; it was placed under the Governor of Jamaica
with its own Lieutenant-Governor.
In 1884 it finally broke all administrative ties with Jamaica, as did Cayman Islands and
the Turks and Caicos Islands.
West Indies Federation
The West Indies Federation was a short-lived federation that existed from 3 January 1958
to 31 May 1962.
It consisted of several Caribbean colonies of the United Kingdom.
The Federation's purpose was to create a political unit that would become independent from Britain
as a single state—possibly similar to the Australian Federation, or Canadian Confederation.
But, the Federation collapsed due to internal political conflicts before that could develop.
Sport Cricket
Cricket has traditionally been the main sport in the British West Indies.
Most of the countries and territories listed above field a combined cricket team called
the West Indies, which is one of the ten elite international teams that play at Test match
level.
The West Indies hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup of ODI Cricket and the 2010 Twenty20 World
Cup.
Miscellaneous Related British laws
Acts by the British Government which have governed nationality laws in the territories
include: History of British nationality law
The Aliens Act 1905 The Aliens Restriction Act 1914
The British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914
The Aliens Order, 1920 The British Nationality Act 1948 – Established
nationality called Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies
The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968
The Immigration Act 1971 The British Nationality Act 1981 – Established
nationality called British Dependent Territories citizens
The British Overseas Territories Act 2002 – Established nationality called British
Overseas Territories citizen
See also American West Indies
Danish West Indies Dutch West Indies
French West Indies Spanish West Indies
British colonisation of the Americas British North America
British overseas territories BWIA West Indies Airways
Crown dependencies Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Indo-Caribbean Right of abode
University of the West Indies British West Indies Regiment
References
External links Research Institute for the Study of Man.
"British West Indies".
New York University Libraries.