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1907 Imperial Conference

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1907 Imperial Conference
Host countryUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland United Kingdom
Dates15 April 1907
14 May 1907
CitiesLondon
Heads of Government7
ChairSir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
(Prime Minister)
Follows1902 Colonial Conference
Precedes1911
Key points
Dominion status, co-ordination of Imperial defence, Irish Home Rule, self-government for India, Imperial preference

The 1907 Imperial Conference was convened in London on 15 April 1907 and concluded on 14 May 1907. During the sessions a resolution was passed renaming this and future meetings Imperial Conferences. The chairman of the conference was British prime minister Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.

The conference decided to cease referring to self-governing British colonies as colonies and conferred upon them dominion status. Canada and Australia were referred to as dominions in the conference's statements while Newfoundland Colony and the Colony of New Zealand were granted dominion status by royal proclamation on 26 September. Natal and Cape Colony would unite with the two Boer colonies of Orange River Colony and Transvaal Colony, which had been given self-government in 1907, to form the Union of South Africa as a dominion in 1910.

The possibilities of Irish Home Rule and self-governance for India were also discussed. Imperial preference was raised but rejected by the British prime minister due to British support for free trade.[1][2]

Participants

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The conference was hosted by King-Emperor Edward VII, with his prime ministers and members of their respective cabinets:[3]

Nation Name Portfolio
United Kingdom United Kingdom Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Prime Minister (chairman)
Lord Elgin Secretary of State for the Colonies
Sir Edward Grey Foreign Secretary
Lord Tweedmouth First Lord of the Admiralty
R. B. Haldane Secretary of State for War
H. H. Asquith Chancellor of the Exchequer
David Lloyd George President of the Board of Trade
Sydney Buxton Postmaster General of the United Kingdom
Lord Lorebrun Lord Chancellor
John Burns President of the Local Government Board
John Morley Secretary of State for India
Lord Crewe Lord President of the Council
Winston Churchill Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
Australia Australia Alfred Deakin Prime Minister
Sir William Lyne Minister for Trade and Customs
 Canada Sir Wilfrid Laurier Prime Minister
Sir Frederick William Borden Minister of Militia and Defence
Louis-Philippe Brodeur Minister of Marine and Fisheries
British Cape Colony Cape Colony Leander Starr Jameson Prime Minister
Thomas Smartt Commissioner of Works
Natal Frederick Robert Moor Prime Minister
Transvaal Colony Transvaal Louis Botha Premier
Sir Richard Solomon Agent-General
Dominion of Newfoundland Newfoundland Colony Sir Robert Bond Prime Minister
New Zealand Colony of New Zealand Sir Joseph Ward Prime Minister

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Olson, James Stuart; Shadle, Robert, eds. (1996). Historical Dictionary of the British Empire: A–J. London: Greenwood Publishing. p. 548. ISBN 0-3132-9366-X.
  2. ^ Kendle, J.E. (1967). The Colonial and Imperial Conferences, 1887–1911: A Study in Imperial Organization. Imperial Studies. Vol. XXVIII. London: Longmans for the Royal Commonwealth Society. ASIN B0000CO3QA. doi:10.1086/ahr/74.3.999.
  3. ^ Jebb, Richard (1911). The Imperial Conference: A History and Study. Vol. II. London: Longmans, Green & Co.
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