Territory of Papua Information
The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1949. It became a British Protectorate in the year 1884, and four years later it was formally annexed as British New Guinea. It was devolved to Australian jurisdiction in the year 1906, and in 1949 it amalgamated with the former German New Guinea territory that had been mandated to Australia by the League of Nations after the first world war. The combined territory was named the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, and it was granted full independence by Australia in the year 1975 under the name of Papua New Guinea. The Territory of Papua made up roughly half of that country and contained the capital Port Moresby.
History
British flag raised in 1883 when Queensland annexed the southern part of New GuineaIn 1883 Sir Thomas McIlwraith, the Premier of Queensland, ordered Henry Chester (1832-1914), the Police Magistrate on Thursday Island to proceed to Port Moresby and formally annex New Guinea and adjacent islands in the name of the British government. Chester made the proclamation on 4 April 1883, but the British government repudiated the action.
On 6 November 1884, after the Australian colonies had promised financial support, the territory became a British protectorate.
On 4 September 1888 it was annexed, together with some adjacent islands, by Britain as British New Guinea.
The northern part of modern Papua New Guinea, then known as Kaiser-Wilhelmsland and part of the colony of German New Guinea, had been under German commercial control since 1884 and passed to direct rule by the German government in 1899.
In 1902, Papua was effectively transferred to the authority of the new British dominion of Australia. With the passage of the Papua Act of 1905, the area was officially renamed the Territory of Papua, and Australian administration became formal in 1906.
Shortly after the start of the Pacific War, the island of New Guinea was invaded by the Japanese. Papua was the least affected region. Most of West Papua, at that time known as Dutch New Guinea, was occupied, as were large parts of the Territory of New Guinea (the former German New Guinea, which was also under Australian rule after World War I), but Papua was protected to a large extent by its southern location and the near-impassable Owen Stanley Ranges to the north. Civil administration was suspended during the war and both territories (Papua and New Guinea) were placed under martial law for the duration.
After the war, the Papua and New Guinea Act 1949 united the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea as the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, which later became the fully independent Papua New Guinea. However, for the purposes of Australian nationality a distinction was maintained between the two territories.
See also
Categories: Former countries in Oceania | Former British colonies | States and territories established in 1884 | 1949 disestablishments | States and territories disestablished in 1949 | History of Papua New Guinea
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