chain of connexion on the eastern route, and such on other routes are the lesser West African stations, Ascension, St. Helena, the Mauritius and Seychelles, the Falklands, Tristan da Cunha, and the groups of the western Pacific. Other annexations of the British empire have been rocky islets of the northern Pacific required for the purpose of telegraph stations in connexion with an all-British cable.
For purposes of political administration the empire falls into the three sections of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with the dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man; the Indian empire, consisting of British India and the feudatory native states; and the colonial empire, comprising all other colonies and dependencies.
In the modern sense of extension beyond the limits of the United Kingdom the growth of the empire is of comparatively recent date. The Channel Islands became British as a part of the Norman inheritance of William the Conqueror. The Isle of Man, which was for a short time held Growth.in conquest by Edward I. and restored, was sold by its titular sovereign to Sir William Scrope, earl of Wiltshire, in 1393, and by his subsequent attainder for high treason and the confiscation of his estates, became a fief of the English crown. It was granted by Henry IV. in 1406 to Sir John Stanley, K.C., ancestor of the earls of Derby, by whom it was held till 1736, when it passed to James Murray, 2nd duke of Atholl, as heir-general of the 10th earl. It was inherited by his daughter Charlotte, wife of the 3rd duke of Atholl, who sold it to the crown for £70,000 and an annuity of £2000. With these exceptions and the nominal possession taken of Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583, all the territorial acquisitions of the empire have been made in the 17th and subsequent centuries. The following is a list of the British colonies and dependencies (other than those belonging to the Indian empire) together with a summary statement of the date and method of their acquisition. Arranged in chronological order they give some idea of the rate of growth of the empire. The dates are not, however, in all cases those in which British sovereignty was established. They indicate in some instances only the first definite step, such as the building of a fort, the opening of a trading station, or other act, which led later to the incorporation in the empire of the country indicated. In the case of Australian states or Canadian provinces originally part of other states or provinces the date is that, approximately, of the first settlement of British in the district named; e.g. there were British colonists in Saskatchewan in the last half of the 18th century, but the province was not constituted until 1905. Save where otherwise stated, British authority has been continuous from the first date mentioned in the table. Reference should be made to the articles on the various colonies.
| Name. | Date. | Method of Acquisition. |
| Newfoundland | 1583 | Possession taken by Sir H. Gilbert for the crown. |
| 17th Century. | ||
| Barbados | 1605–1625 | Settlement. |
| Bermudas | 1609 | ” |
| Gambia | c. 1618 | ” A second time in 1816. |
| St Christopher | 1623 | ” Did not become wholly British until 1713. |
| Novia Scotia | 1628 | ” Ceded to France 1632; recovered 1713. |
| Nevis | 1628 | ” |
| Montserrat | 1632 | ” |
| Antigua | 1632 | ” |
| Honduras | 1638 | ” |
| St Lucia | 1638 | ” Finally passed to Great Britain in 1803. |
| Gold Coast | c. 1650 | Settlement. Danish forts bought 1850, Dutch forts 1871. Northern Territories added 1897. |
| St Helena | 1651 | Settled by East India Co. Government vested in British crown 1833. |
| Jamaica | 1655 | Conquest. |
| Bahamas | 1666 | Settlement. |
| Virgin Islands | 1666–1672 | Settlement and conquest. |
| N.W. Territories of Canada | 1669 | Settlement under royal charter of Hudson’s Bay Co. Purchased from imp. gov. 1869, and transferred to Canada 1870. |
| Turks and Caicos Is. | 1678 | Settlement. |
| 18th Century. | ||
| Gibraltar | 1704 | Capitulation. |
| New Brunswick | 1713 | Cession. |
| Prince Edward Is. | 1758 | Conquest. |
| Ontario | 1759–1790 | With New Brunswick and Nova |
| Quebec | 1759–1790 | Scotia constituted Dominion of Canada 1867. Prince Edward Is. enters the confederation 1873. In 1880 all British possessions (other than Newfoundland) in North America annexed to the Dominion. |
| Dominica | 1761 | Conquest. |
| St Vincent | 1762 | Capitulation. |
| Grenada | 1762 | ” |
| Tobago | 1763 | Cession. Afterwards in French possession. Reconquered 1803. |
| Falkland Is. | 1765 | Settlement. Reoccupied 1832. |
| Saskatchewan | 1766 | Settlement. Separation from N.W. Territories of Canada 1905. |
| Pitcairn I. | 1780 | Settlement. |
| Straits Settlements | 1786 to 1824 | Settlement and cession. Vested (1858) in crown by E.I. Co. Transferred from Indian to colonial possessions 1867. Malacca in British occupation 1795–1818. |
| Sierra Leone | 1787 | Settlement. |
| Alberta | c. 1788 | Separated from N. W. Territories of Canada 1905. |
| New South Wales | 1788 | Settlement. |
| Ceylon | 1795 | Capitulation. |
| Trinidad | 1797 | ” |
| Malta | 1800 | ” |
| 19th Century. | ||
| British Guiana | 1803 | Capitulation. |
| Tasmania | 1803 | Settlement. |
| Cape of Good Hope | 1806 | Capitulation. Present limits not attained until 1895. First British occupation 1795–1803. |
| Seychelles | 1806 | Capitulation. |
| Mauritius | 1810 | ” |
| Manitoba | 1811 | Settlement by Red River or Selkirk colony. Created province of Canada 1870. |
| Ascension and Tristan da Cunha | 1815 | Military occupation. |
| B. Columbia and Vancouver Island | 1821 | Settlement under Hudson’s Bay Co. Entered Canadian confederation 1871. |
| Natal | 1824 | Settlement. Natal Boers submit 1843. |
| Queensland | 1824 | Separated from New South Wales 1859. |
| West Australia | 1826 | Settlement. |
| Victoria | 1834 | Separated from New South Wales 1851. |
| South Australia | 1836 | Settlement. |
| New Zealand | 1840 | Settlement and treaty. |
| Hong-Kong | 1841 | Treaties. Kowloon on the mainland added in 1860; additional area leased 1898. |
| Labuan | 1846 | Cession. Incorporated in Straits Settlements 1906. |
| Lagos | 1861 | Cession. South Nigeria amalgamated with Lagos, under style of Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria 1906. |
| Basutoland | 1868 | Annexation. |
| Fiji | 1874 | Cession. |
| W. Pacific Islands, including Union, Ellice, Gilbert, Southern Solomon, and other groups | 1877 | High commission created by order in council, giving jurisdiction over islands not included in other colonial governments, nor within jurisdiction of other civilized powers. Protectorates declared over all these islands by 1900. |
| Federated Malay States | 1874–1895 | Treaty. |
| Cyprus | 1878 | Occupied by treaty. |
| North Borneo | 1881 | Treaty and settlement under royal charter. Protectorate assumed 1888. |
| Papua | 1884 | Protectorate declared. |
| Nigeria | 1884–1886 | Treaty, conquest and settlement under royal charter. Chartered Co.’s territory transferred to crown, and whole divided into North and South Nigeria 1900. |
| Somaliland | 1884–1886 | Occupation and cession. Protectorate declared 1887. |
| Bechuanaland | 1885–1891 | Protectorate declared. Southern portion annexed to Cape Colony 1895. |
| Zululand | 1887 | Annexation. Incorporated in Natal 1897. |
| Sarawak | 1888 | Protectorate declared. |
| Brunei | 1888 | ”” |
| British East Africa | 1888 | Treaty, conquest and settlement under royal charter. Transferred to crown 1895. |
| Rhodesia | 1888–1893 | Treaty, conquest and settlement under royal charter. |
| Zanzibar | 1890 | Protectorate declared. |
| Uganda | 1890–1896 | Treaty and protectorate. |
| Nyasaland | 1891 | Protectorate declared. |
| Ashanti | 1896 | Military occupation. |
| Wei-hai-wei | 1898 | Lease from China. |
| Pacific Islands— | ||
| Christmas, Fanning, Penrhyn, Suvarov | 1898 | Annexed for purposes of projected Pacific cable. |
| Choiseul and Isabel Is. (Solomon Group) | 1899 | Cession. |
| Tonga and Niué | 1900 | Protectorate declared. |
| Orange Free State | 1900 | Annexation. Formerly British 1848–1854. |
| Transvaal and Swaziland | 1900 | Annexation. Formerly British 1877–1881. |
| 20th Century. | ||
| Kelantan, Trengganu, &c. | 1909 | Cession from Siam. |
