Basutoland

Infobox Former Country
native_name =
conventional_long_name = Territory of Basutoland
common_name = Territory of Basutoland|
continent = Africa
region =
country =
era =
status = Colony
status_text=
empire = British Empire
government_type = Constitutional monarchy
year_start = 1884
year_end = 1966
event_start =
date_start =
event_end =
date_end = 4 October|
p1 = Cape Colony
flag_p1 = Cape Colony flag.pngs1 = Lesotho
flag_s1 = Flag of Lesotho.svg




flag_type = |


symbol =


image_map_caption = |
capital = Maseru
national_motto =
national_anthem = God Save the Queen
common_languages = English
religion =
currency = |
leader1 = Victoria
year_leader1 = 1884-1901
leader2 = Elizabeth II
year_leader2 = 1952-1966
title_leader = Monarch
representative1 = Marshal James Clarke
year_representative1 = 1884-1894
representative2 = Alexander Falconer Giles
year_representative2 = 1961-1965
title_representative = Commissioner

Basutoland or officially the Territory of Basutoland, was a British crown colony established in 1884 after the Cape Colony's inability to control the territory. It was divided into seven administrative disricts; Berea, Leribe, Maseru, Mohales Hock, Mafeteng, Qacha's Nek and Quthing.

The colony was contemporary sometimes referred to as "The Switzerland of South Africa", because of its beautiful nature with mountains and waterfalls. [ [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Basutoland 1911 Encyclopedia - Basutoland] ]

Population

1911

Considering the extensive area of uninhabitable mountain land it contained, the Territory supported a large population. The inhabitants increased from 128,206 in 1875, to 348,848 in 1904. The females outnumbered the males by about 20,000, which was, however, about the number of adult males away from the country at any given period. The majority lived in the district between the Maluti mountains and the Caledon river. The great bulk of the people were Basuto, but there were some thousands of Barolong. The white inhabitants in 1904 numbered 895. The seat of government was Maseru, on the left bank of the Caledon, with a population of about 1000 including some 100 Europeans. There were numerous mission stations throughout Basutoland, to several of which Biblical names have been given, such as Shiloh, Hermon, Cana, Bethesda, Berea.

List of British Resident Commissioners

* Marshal James Clarke: 18 Mar 1884 - 18 Sep 1894
* Godfrey Yeatsman Lagden: 18 Sep 1894 - 1895
* Sir Herbert Cecil Sloley: 1895
* Godfrey Yeatsman Lagden: 1895 - 1901
* Sir Herbert Cecil Sloley: 1902 - 1913
* James MacGregor: 1913
* Sir Herbert Cecil Sloley: 1913 - 1916
* Robert Thorne Coryndon: 1916 - 1917
* Edward Charles Frederick Garraway: 1917 - Apr 1926
* John Christian Ramsay Sturrock: Apr 1926 - Mar 1935
* Sir Edmund Charles Smith Richards: Mar 1935 - Aug 1942
* Charles Nobel Arden-Clarke: Aug 1942 - Nov 1946
* Aubrey Denzil Forsyth-Thompson: Nov 1946 - 24 Oct 1951
* Edwin Porter Arrowsmith: 24 Oct 1951 - Sep 1956
* Alan Geoffrey Tunstal Chaplin: Sep 1956 - 1961
* Alexander Falconer Giles: 1961 - 30 Apr 1965

External links

* [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Basutoland 1911 Encyclopedia - Basutoland]
* [http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/basutoland.htm The British Empire - Basutoland]

References