The High Commissioner for the Western Pacific was the chief executive officer of the

British Western Pacific Territories The British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT) was the name of a colonial entity, created in 1877, for the administration, under a single representative of the British Crown, styled High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, of a series of Pac ...

, a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colonial entity, which existed from 1877 until 1976. Numerous colonial possessions were attached to the Territories at different times, the most durable constituent colonies being

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

(1877 — 1952) and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

(1893 — 1976). The office of High Commissioner never existed independently, but was always filled ''ex officio'' by the Governor of one of the constitutive British islands colonies. The High Commissioners were concurrently

Governor of Fiji Fiji was a British Crown colony from 1874 to 1970, and an independent dominion in the Commonwealth from 1970 to 1987. During this period, the head of state was the British monarch, but in practice his or her functions were normally exercised loca ...

from 1877 to the end of 1952, although the office was suspended from 1942 through 1945, with most of the islands under British military rule and others, namely the

Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...

and

Phoenix Islands The Phoenix Islands, or Rawaki, are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs that lie east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, north of Samoa. They are part of the Republic of Kiri ...

, under

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese occupation. From 1 January 1953 to 1976, when the office was abolished, the

Governor of the Solomon Islands This is a list of the resident commissioners of the British Solomon Islands protectorate (1893–1975) and the dependent Solomon Islands (1975–1978). Resident commissioners of the Solomon Islands Protectorate (1896–1953) The resident commis ...

doubled as High Commissioner. On 1 January 1972, the

Gilbert and Ellice Islands The Gilbert and Ellice Islands (GEIC as a colony) in the Pacific Ocean were part of the British Empire from 1892 to 1976. They were a protectorate from 1892 to 12 January 1916, and then a colony until 1 January 1976. The history of the colony w ...

were taken off with their own governor. On 2 January 1976 after nearly all had been given separate statehood, the office of High Commissioner and the entity of the Pacific Territories were abolished. They administered from

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Div ...

and

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and li ...

, respectively.

List of High Commissioners for the Western Pacific (1877–1976)

References

Sources and external links

WorldStatesmen
* Deryck Scarr, ''Fragments of Empire. A History of the Western Pacific High Commission. 1877-1914'', Canberra: Australian National University Press & London: C. Hurst & Co., 1967. * McIntyre, William David. "Disraeli's colonial policy: The creation of the Western Pacific High Commission, 1874–1877." ''Historical Studies: Australia and New Zealand'' Volume 9, Issue 35 (1960): 279-294. {{Use dmy dates, date=January 2018 Lists of office-holders History of Oceania Oceania-related lists Solomon Islands diplomacy-related lists Western Pacific Governance of the British Empire Fiji diplomacy-related lists