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Home / Periods / Victorian & Edwardian Britain / British Colonisation of the South Pacific

Phase

British Colonisation of the South Pacific

late 18th–19th centuries

British colonisation of the South Pacific expanded from the establishment of the penal colony at New South Wales in 1788 into a wider network of settler communities, naval stations, missionary activity and commercial routes. British influence reached New Zealand and numerous Pacific islands through migration, whaling, trade, diplomacy and the assertion of imperial sovereignty.

Colonisation brought profound disruption to Indigenous societies through land seizure, introduced disease, warfare and new legal systems, while Indigenous communities also negotiated, resisted and adapted to imperial expansion. By the end of the nineteenth century the region had been transformed by settler government and competing European colonial claims.

Related people for British Colonisation of the South Pacific

Books

17 Best Novels About British Colonisation of the South Pacific

Non-Fiction

1 Best Non-Fiction Book About British Colonisation of the South Pacific

Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.