Between 1836 and 1909 the British Empire grew to take in New Zealand, much of Australia, Fiji, New Guinea, Southern Africa (beyond the Cape), and much more – from 2,824,040 square miles to 12,700,000.
Looking back, we often say that Colonisation was about enriching the British Empire – and so it was. But the historical record says that the avowed reason for much of Britain’s Empire was to protect the natives.
Between 1836 and 1909 the Aborigines’ Protection Society campaigned in parliament and the country, for protection for native peoples across the Empire. The Aborigines’ Protection Society brought the Zulu King Cetshwayo to meet Queen Victoria, and feasted the Maori Chiefs in the Mansion House – even though both were at war with Britain at the time.
Denounced as ‘n-word-lovers’ and traitors, the APS tried to protect natives as far afield as Canada and Tasmania from the cruel incursion of the white settlers. They stood apart from Victorian Society by saying no to racism, arguing that we were all of one blood.
And yet, ironically, it was the Aborigines’ Protection Society, more than any other campaign, that did most to make the case for the Expansion of the British Empire into the rest of the world. It was the APS that made the case for Britain’s domination of South Africa, and ultimately for the Apartheid System.
It was the APS that made the case for the colonisation of the Pacific, of New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga – the better to ‘protect’ the natives. They demanded that Protectors like Auber ‘Rabbit-Proof Fence’ Neville be made overlords of the Aborigines of Australia.
And it was the APS that led the campaign to have King Leopold of Belgium rule over the Congo.
How was it that the most generous, liberal and anti-racist Victorians turned out to be the worst apologists the British Empire.
James Heartfield’s history, The Aborigines’ Protection Society, explains. The first history of the Society for more than a century, and the first comparative history of Victorian native administrations tells the true story of the APS and the drive to colonise native peoples.
Friday 21 October 2011, 6.30pm
Room VG11, K2 Building, Keyworth Street SE1
The Aborigines' Protection Society: Humanitarian Imperialism in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Canada, South Africa, and the Congo, 1836-1909, Hurst/Columbia, 2011, ISBN-10: 1849041202