Vanessa here,

Migrations have happened through the ages. So peoples in even during the Regency had wanderlust, a strong desire to see the world. And dare I say it, they even moved beyond the ballrooms of Almack’s. They traveled, they went on holiday, and upon occasion they conquered.

After the Seven-Year War,  George Macartney in 1773, talked of the vastness of England’s reach, “the British Empire on which the sun never sets.”

The common attitude of having at least 184 colonies (accumulated from the 1700’s to 1950’s) around the globe supports the concept, making adaptations of the phase very popular:

  • “The sun never set on the British Flag” (Rev. R. P. Buddicom, 1827)
  • “The sun never set on British Empire” (Christopher North 1839)

When I study the list of colonies, I believe they are quite right:

Antigua and Barbuda Dog Island, Gambia Mombasa Sabah
Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina East Jersey Colony of Natal Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla
Province of Avalon Essequibo (colony) New Brunswick Saint Kitts and Nevis
Bangladesh Falkland Islands Dependencies New England Colonies Sarawak
Barbados Fiji New Hampshire Crown Colony of Sarawak
Basutoland Florida Province of New Hampshire Sheikhdom of Kuwait
Belize British Gambia New Hebrides Singapore
History of Belize Gambia Colony and Protectorate New Jersey Singapore in the Straits Settlements
Bengkulu The Gambia Province of New Jersey Post-war Singapore
Berbice Georgia (U.S. state) New South Wales South Africa
Bermuda Province of Georgia New York South Australia
Black River (settlement) Gibraltar New Zealand South Carolina
British Honduras Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony of New Zealand Province of South Carolina
British Bencoolen Gold Coast (British colony) Newfoundland and Labrador South Sudan
Colony of British Columbia (1858–66) Grenada Newfoundland Colony Southern Colonies
Colony of British Columbia (1866–71) Guadeloupe Nicobar Islands Stoddart Island
British Kaffraria British Guiana Nigeria Straits Settlements
British West Indies Heligoland Nikumaroro Sudan
British Western Pacific Territories Hilton Young Commission North Australia Swan River Colony
Brunei History of West Africa Crown Colony of North Borneo Tasmania
Burma Hong Kong North Carolina Colony of Tasmania
British rule in Burma British Hong Kong Nova Scotia Thirteen Colonies
Canada India Nyasaland Tobago
Province of Quebec (1763–91) Jamaica Ohio Tokelau
Province of Canada Colony of Jamaica History of Ohio Transvaal Colony
The Canadas Jordan Ohio Country Trinidad
Cape Breton Island Kunta Kinteh Island Operation Sunrise (Nyasaland) Trinidad and Tobago
Cape Colony Crown Colony of Labuan Orange River Colony United States
Province of Carolina Lagos Orange River Sovereignty Historic regions of the United States
Carriacou and Petite Martinique Lagos Colony Pakistan Upper Canada
British Ceylon Lakshadweep Territory of Papua Van Diemen’s Land
Chesapeake Colonies British Leeward Islands Pennsylvania Colony of Vancouver Island
Chopawamsic Lower Canada Province of Pennsylvania Victoria (Australia)
Colonial Nigeria Maine Plymouth Company Colony of Virginia
Colonial Fiji Malabo Prince Edward Island Walvis Bay
Côn Đảo British Malaya History of Pulicat Weihai (British Colony)
Connecticut Malayan Union Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands Wessagusset Colony
Connecticut Colony Malaysia Queensland British West Africa
Cook Islands Malta Restoration (Colonies) West Indies Federation
Cook Islands Federation Crown Colony of Malta Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations West Jersey
Cyprus Massachusetts Northern Rhodesia Western Australia
British Cyprus (1914–1960) Province of Massachusetts Bay Colonial history of Southern Rhodesia Western Samoa Trust Territory
Delaware Mauritius Southern Rhodesia British Windward Islands
Delaware Colony Middle Colonies Rivers State Wituland
Demerara Minorca Rodrigues Zimbabwe
Demerara-Essequibo Mississippi Rupert’s Land Zulu Kingdom

Lately, I have been thinking about the hopes and dreams that sent people on a journey to an unknown world. Was it religious freedom like the Quakers? Could it be the quest of gold or the hope for eternal gold by proselytize a different people? What attitudes did they bring? Did social station withstand the hard work of building a colony timber by timber?

For my birthday (March 13 – shameless plug), my lovely husband bought me two copper engraved maps, one of England (1810) and one of South African (1835). I see stories brewing. Stay tuned.2015-03-09 00.22.32

 

References:

  • Bartlett, John (1865). Familiar quotations (4th ed.). Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 388.
  • Bacon, Francis (1841). “An Advertisement Touching a Holy War”.
  • Maritime Enterprise and the Genesis of the British Empire, 1480-1630.
  • Wikipedia: English Possessions Overseas.
  • Wikipedia: British Colonization of the Americas.
  • Wikipedia: British Empire.

Originally posted 2015-03-09 08:00:00.

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