A colonial agent was the official representative of a
British colony
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...
based in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
during the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
. About 200 men served. They were selected and paid a fixed salary by the colonial government, and given the long delays in communication, they played a major role in negotiating with royal officials, and explaining colonial needs and resources. Their main business was with the
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
, where the agent dealt with land problems, border disputes, military affairs, and Indian affairs. They provided the British officials with the documents and news, secured acceptance of controversial colonial legislation, and tried to head off policies objectionable to the colonies. They handled the appeal cases, which usually went to the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
. Before 1700 a colony would send occasional special agents on a temporary basis. Thus Rhode Island sent John Clarke in 1660 to secure a Royal charter; it took two years, and then he returned. Permanent agents became the practice after 1700; most were Americans but some were British. Many of the agents worked together 1730-1733 to oppose a bill establishing a monopoly in West Indian rum, sugar and molasses.
The most famous agent was
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
, who was employed for 15 years by Pennsylvania, and also by Georgia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Others include
Richard Jackson, a prominent London lawyer who represented Connecticut, and
Charles Pinckney Charles Pinckney may refer to:
* Charles Pinckney (South Carolina chief justice) (died 1758), father of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
* Colonel Charles Pinckney (1731–1782), South Carolina politician, loyal to British during Revolutionary War, fath ...
who represented South Carolina.
In 1768, the colony of Georgia hired Franklin, who was already Pennsylvania's colonial agent. Franklin favored Georgia's lower house, to the annoyance of the upper house and royal governor. He cut back his work for Georgia after 1771, because the colony was delinquent in paying his fees.
William Samuel Johnson
William Samuel Johnson (October 7, 1727 – November 14, 1819) was an American Founding Father and statesman. Before the Revolutionary War, he served as a militia lieutenant before being relieved following his rejection of his election to the Fir ...
, a Connecticut lawyer, was known in the 1760s as a colonial rights. As the colonial agent for Connecticut he sharply criticized British policy toward the colonies. His experience in London in 1767 convinced him that Britain's policy was shaped more by ignorance of American conditions and not through the sinister designs of a wicked government, He felt that the American Revolution was not necessary and that independence would be bad for everyone concerned.
[Elizabeth P. McCaughey, "William Samuel Johnson, The Loyal Whig" in William M. Fowler, Jr. and Wallace Coyle, eds. ''American Revolution: Changing Perspectives'' (1979), pp 69-102 ]
Other countries
In southern Ethiopia, Amhara colonial agents in the 19th century were known as
neftenya
A neftenya ( am, ነፍጠኛ, 3=rifle-bearer) was a feudal lord and expansionist settler who operated in the framework of the process of territorial expansion and creation of modern Ethiopia by the late 19th century.Zewde, Bahru. A history of E ...
.
References
* Appleton, Marguerite. "Richard Partridge: Colonial Agent," ''New England Quarterly'' Vol. 5, No. 2 (Apr., 1932), pp. 293-30
in JSTOR* Bond Jr., Beverley W. "The Colonial Agent as a Popular Representative," ''Political Science Quarterly'' Vol. 35, No. 3 (Sep., 1920), pp. 372-39
in JSTOR* Lonn, Ella. ''The Colonial Agents of the Southern Colonies'' (U of North Carolina Press, 1945
online edition
* Morgan, David T. ''The Devious Dr. Franklin, Colonial Agent: Benjamin Franklin's Years in London'' (1996)
* Hoffman, Ross J. S. ''Edmund Burke, New York Agent: With His Letters to the New York Assembly and Intimate Correspondence with Charles O'Hara, 1761-1776'' (American Philosophical Society, 1956
online edition
* Tanner, Edwin P. "Colonial Agencies in England During the Eighteenth Century," ''Political Science Quarterly'' Volume 16, Number 1 (Mar., 1901), pp. 24-4
in JSTOR
Notes
{{Authority control
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...