The high commissioner for the Western Pacific was a colonial office of the British Empire in the western Pacific Ocean. The High Commissioner was the head of the Western Pacific High Commission, which was based in Fiji from 1877 to 1952 and in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1952 to 1976.
The High Commission filled various roles during its existence. It was created by an order-in-council in 1877 and initially exercised extraterritorial jurisdiction over British subjects within a defined portion of the western Pacific Ocean, largely for the purpose of controlling the illegal blackbirding trade in Pacific Islander labourers. A High Commissioner's Court was also established, presided over by the Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific.
In 1893, the role of the High Commission expanded to include a supervisory role over the British protectorates proclaimed over individual islands, including the Ellice Islands (Tuvalu), Gilbert Islands and southern Solomon Islands. Authority in protectorates was typically delegated to deputy commissioners or resident commissioners, who exercised varying administrative powers or filled quasi-diplomatic roles (in the case of the Kingdom of Tonga and the New Hebrides condominium).
The role of High Commissioner was filled ex officio by the Governor of Fiji until 1952, when the High Commissioner was moved to Honiara in the Solomon Islands. After that point, the High Commission directly administered the British Solomon Islands Protectorate until it was granted self-government in 1976, with resident commissioners also exercising powers in the New Hebrides and the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony until 1972.
History
The Pacific Islanders Protection Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 51), then later, the Foreign Jurisdiction Act 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c. 37), provided for jurisdiction over British subjects in the Pacific. In 1877 the position of High Commissioner for the Western Pacific was formalised by the Western Pacific Order in Council 1877 by the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. Article 12 established the Chief Justice of Fiji as the Chief Judicial Commissioner for the Western Pacific. The Order in Council granted the High Commissioner authority to manage the engagement of indentured labourers and to otherwise give the colonial entity authority over British subjects in the Western Pacific beyond the jurisdiction of British and colonial Australian laws.
The Governor of Fiji was given authority over persons and acts in the islands south of the equator. The Governor, as High Commissioner and Consul-General, was given the authority: to conduct diplomatic relations with local representatives of the foreign powers, to regulate the labour trade where it was conducted by British subjects only, and to maintain law and order among British subjects in the Pacific islands where there were no recognised governments. The regulation of the coercive labour trade in Melanesia, which was known as Blackbirding, was significant problem for the Western Pacific High Commission. Ships of the Royal Navy Australian Station were responsible for limiting blackbirding. The High Commissioner appointed resident commissioners to manage specific island territories. Following a commission of inquiry, a revised Order in Council was issued in 1893, which gave the resident commissioners wider autonomy over the islands under their control.
In 2002 the archived records of the High Commission were transferred to New Zealand, and are now held in the Special Collections of the University of Auckland Library.