Gilbert and Ellice Islands

The Gilbert and Ellice Islands were a British protectorate from 1892 and colony from 1916 — until 1 January 1976 when the islands were divided into two different colonies which became independent nations shortly after. The Gilbert Islands have been the major part of the nation of Kiribati since 1979, and the Ellice Islands became Tuvalu in 1978.

The protectorate was generally established on this area (but not on these islands) by the Pacific Islands Protection Act of 1857, and then in 1877 for the Western Pacific Territories, but the protectorate on the Gilbert group and on the Ellice group was formal and effective only from 1892, and a High Commissioner was appointed in 1893. The islands became a Crown Colony on 12th January 1916. The colony's capital was mainly on Banaba Island (Ocean Island) and, after World War II, on Tarawa, first in Betio islet then near Bairiki.

The sixteen islands of the Gilberts, declared a protectorate by Captain Davis, R. N. of HMS Royalist between 27 May and 17 June 1892, were discovered intermittently from perhaps as early as 1537 up to 1826. The Ellice Islands were declared a protectorate by Captain Gibson, R. N. of HMS Curacao between 9th and 16 October of the same year; Banaba (or Ocean Island) was included within the protectorate in 1900 and then in the colony in 1916. In the same year, Fanning Island and Washington Island were included in it together with the islands of the Tokelau or Union Islands; Christmas Island was included in 1919 but somehow contested by the USA. The Tokelaus were detached in 1925 (but formally just after WWII); the Phoenix Islands were added in 1937 and the five islands of the Central and Southern Line Islands in 1972. The Ellice Islands were detached to become a separate colony in 1976.

Postage stamps

Originally mail service was ad hoc, depending on which ships were calling at the various islands. A regular service began in 1911; Edward VII postage stamps of Fiji were overprinted GILBERT & ELLICE / PROTECTORATE and put on sale 1 January of that year, followed by March by a set of four stamps depicting a Pandanus tree, inscribed "GILBERT & ELLICE ISLANDS / PROTECTORATE".

These were followed in 1912 by George V stamps of the common type, inscribed "GILBERT & ELLICE ISLANDS". A new definitive series came out starting 14 January, 1939, featuring local scenery and a profile of George VI. These were updated in 1956 with a profile of Elizabeth II.

A set of four stamps on 1 May 1960 commemorated the 60th anniversary of the discovery of phosphate at Ocean Island. The definitive series of 1965 depicted daily activites of the natives, but a decimal currency conversion necessitated surcharges in 1966 and a reissue of the stamps in 1968. The colony issued about 10-15 stamps per year thereafter, usually as sets of four, until the end of 1975. The following stamps are issued by Kiribati Philatelic Bureau, since 12 July 1979.

Proclamation

In the name of Her Majesty Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India

By Edward Henry Meggs Davis

Esquire Captain in Her Majesty's Fleet and Deputy Commissioner for the Western Pacific -

Commander Her Majesty's Ship Royalist.

WHEREAS I have it in my command from Her Majesty Queen Victoria through Her Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies

to declare that Her Majesty has this day assumed a Protectorate over the Group of Islands known as the Gilbert Islands situated between 4 degrees north and three degrees south latitude and 170 degrees east and 177 degrees longitude and that the following islands and all small islands or islets depending upon them are included in such protectorate viz. -

ARORAI [Arorae], TAMANA, ONOTOA, PERU [Beru], NUKUNAU [Nikunau], TAPUTEWEA [Tabiteuea], NONUTI [Nonouti], ARANUKA, KURIA, APAMAMA [Abemama], MAIANA, TARAWA, APIANG [Abaiang], MARAKI [Marakei], BUTARITARI, MAKIN

NOW THEREFORE I Edward Henry Meggs Davis Captain in Her Majesty's fleet and Deputy Commissioner for the Western Pacific commanding Her Majesty's Ship Royalist do hereby proclaim and declare to all men that from and after the date of these presents the above mentioned islands have been placed under British Protection.

Given under my hand at APAMAMA [Abemama] this 27th day of May, One thousand eight hundred and ninety two (1892).

(Signed) Ed. H.M. Davis

WITNESS:

(Signed) F. St. L. Luscombe Lieut.
(Signed) R. D. Corrie Trader.

Bibliography

Barrie Macdonald, Cinderellas of the Empire: towards a history of Kiribati and Tuvalu, Suva, Fiji : Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, 2001, ISBN 982-02-0335-X (Australian National University Press first published it in 1982).

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