Everything about The Gilbert And Ellice Islands totally explained
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
12 January 1916. The colony's capital was mainly on
Banaba Island (Ocean Island) and after
World War II on
Tarawa, first in
Betio island 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 was contested by the USA. The Tokelaus were detached in
1925 (but not formally until just after WWII); the
Phoenix Islands were added in
1937 and the five islands of the Central and Southern
Line Islands were added in
1972.
In
1974, ethnic differences within the colony caused the
Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the
Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands (later
Kiribati). The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu.
Naming
The islands were named the
Gilbert Islands in 1820 by a Russian admiral,
Johann von Krusenstern, and French captain
Louis Duperrey, after a British captain,
Thomas Gilbert, who crossed the archipelago in 1788.
The Ellice Islands were named after
Edward Ellice, a British politician and merchant, by Captain
Arent de Peyster, who sighted the islands in 1819 sailing on the ship
Rebecca. Ellice owned the cargo of the ship.
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 on
1 January of that year, followed in 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 activities 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.
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).
Sir Arthur Grimble: "A Pattern of Islands". A sympathetic and often amusing account by a British official sent to the islands in his early 20's who stayed to become Commissioner.
Not in print but available second hand. US title: "We Chose the Islands"
Further Information
Get more info on 'Gilbert And Ellice Islands'.
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