John M. Ward

THERE ARE FEW good histories of the British territories in
the Pacific. Historians in Britain, who have near to hand some of the
best sources for the task, have shown little interest in writing the his-
tory of the distant, scattered islands that comprise the British terri-
tories referred to in this essay. They have preferred to study places
nearer to home, places wealthier, more populous and altogether more
significant in the world's notice, such as the West Indies and, more
recently, Africa. As a result, most of the important contributions to
the history of the British territories in the Pacific have been made by
scholars in Australia, New Zealand and, in a small degree, the United
States of America. Because the historical professions in Australia and
New Zealand emerged so recently, systematic study of the British
territories in the Pacific has begun only in the last thirty years or so.

The interest of Australian and New Zealand historians in the Pacific
is thoroughly consonant with the course of island history since the
British first settled in Australia in 1788. Whalers, sealers, traders, ad-
venturers, missionaries, and officials went out from Sydney, and later
from other ports in Australia and New Zealand as well, to win profits,
save souls, or keep order among the unruly white men resorting to the
islands. Pressure from New South Wales was partly responsible for
the British decision to annex New Zealand. Australia and New Zealand
both developed their own commercial enterprises and missionary orga-
nizations in the islands. Many times during the nineteenth century,
colonists in those countries demanded that Britain extend her rule
over the whole of the South Pacific in order to strengthen the Empire
and keep out foreign powers that might disturb the British predomi-
nance that was so convenient to Australia and New Zealand.

During the years in which Britain could have annexed most of

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