Colonial Development and Welfare Acts explained

The Colonial Development and Welfare Acts were a series of acts implemented by the British parliament.

Colonial Development Act 1929

Short Title:Colonial Development Act 1929
Type:Act
Parliament:Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long Title:An Act to authorise the making of advances for aiding and developing agriculture and industry in certain colonies and territories, to provide for the extension of the Colonial Stock Acts, 1877 to 1900, to stock forming part of the public debt of certain protected and mandated territories, and to amend the Palestine and East Africa Loans Act, 1926, and section eleven of the Trusts (Scotland) Act, 1921.
Year:1929
Citation:20 Geo. 5. c. 5
Royal Assent:26 July 1929
Status:repealed
Original Text:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/20-21/5/enacted
Collapsed:yes

Following the First World War, a group of European settlers emerged in Kenya, known as the Happy Valley set. Under the political guidance of Lord Delamere they sought to ensure that colonial policy suited the interests of these White settlers. However, with a certain amount of migration from the sub-continent of India, then under British rule, the racial exclusivity of the prime areas for settling came into dispute, and in 1923 Lord Devonshire issued the Devonshire Declaration.[1]

Colonial Development and Welfare Act 1940

Short Title:Colonial Development and Welfare Act 1940
Type:Act
Parliament:Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long Title:An Act to make provision for promoting the development of the resources of colonies, protectorates, protected states and mandated territories and the welfare of their peoples, and for relieving colonial and other Governments from liability in respect of certain loans.
Year:1940
Citation:3 & 4 Geo. 6. c. 40
Royal Assent:17 July 1940
Original Text:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1940/40/contents/enacted
Collapsed:yes

In 1942 the provisions of this act were used initially to fund the British Colonial Research Committee.[2] Later the Colonial Social Science Research Council which was set up in 1944.[3] The Act provided for £5 million per year for development and £500,000 per year for research.[4]

Colonial Development and Welfare Act 1945

Short Title:Colonial Development and Welfare Act 1945
Type:Act
Parliament:Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long Title:An Act to increase the amounts payable out of moneys provided by Parliament for the purposes of schemes under section one of the Colonial Development and Welfare Act, 1940, to extend the period during which certain of such schemes may continue in force, and to amend subsection (2) of the said section as respects the Aden Protectorate.
Year:1945
Citation:8 & 9 Geo. 6. c. 20
Royal Assent:25 April 1945
Collapsed:yes

The 1946 Act provided a significant extension of the 1940 Act. The financing made available was increased to £120 million for all purposes to be spent between 1946 and 1956.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Maxon. R. M.. The Devonshire Declaration: The Myth of Missionary Intervention. History in Africa. 1991. 18. 259–270. 3172065. 10.2307/3172065.
  2. Web site: Colonial Research Committee and Colonial Research Council: Minutes and Papers. discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives. 17 January 2016. en-GB.
  3. Notes and News. American Anthropologist. 1949. 51. 1. 167–169. 10.1525/aa.1949.51.1.02a00310. free.
  4. Colonial Development and Welfare Bill. Nature. 1945. 155. 24 March 1945. 358–359. 10.1038/155358d0. free.