With the emegence of an empire, many of the devices and instruments adopted for the governance of England, were extended beyond the seas to the colonies. One such device was royal commissions of inquiry. Royal commissions, the origins of which in England have been traced as far back as the time of the Norman Conquest, were utilised by the administration in England from time to time to investigate particular problems in colonies, and suggest ways and means of solving them. In the first empire, the American settlements received bodies of somewhat similiar nature on some occasions, but their true value was displayed only when the second empire was being founded. During the turbulent years of the French and Napoleonic wars the empire was continuously extended, but only after peace was established did it become possible for the ministers in England to take stock of the empire which had been acquired. What were the purposes of the empire, what were the nature and the conditions of the colonies conquered, in what manner should this new empire of a diverse and amorphous character be governed, were some of the numerous questions which faced them through the following years. These clearly emphasised above all the need to obtain information about the colonies. The information provided by their Governors did not prove to be adequate, and there was no possibility of officials at home acquiring the much needed information. To resolve the problem, they fell back upon the age old method: royal commissions of inquiry.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:627759 |
| Date | January 1969 |
| Creators | Samaraweera, Vijaya |
| Publisher | University of Oxford |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6fadce04-c8fb-4ee1-a0d2-8ed1e0aa704b |
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