Agent-general

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File:Agent General for British Columbia plaque in London November 2015.jpg
The plaque of the Agent General for British Columbia in London

An Agent-General (Template:Langx or Script error: No such module "Lang"., masculine and feminine respectively)[1] is the representative in cities abroad of the government of a Canadian province or an Australian state and, historically, also of a British colony in Jamaica, Nigeria, Canada, Malta, South Africa, Australia or New Zealand and subsequently, of a Nigerian region. Australia's and Canada's federal governments are represented by high commissions, as are all Commonwealth national governments today.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, a growing number of British colonies appointed agents in Great Britain and Ireland and occasionally elsewhere in Europe to promote immigration to the colonies. Eventually, agents-general were appointed by some colonies to represent their commercial, legal, and diplomatic interests in Britain and to the British government and Whitehall.[2] They were appointed, and their expenses and salaries provided, by the governments of the colonies they represented.[3]

Starting in 1886, Quebec and the federal Canadian government also appointed agents-general to Paris. The first, Hector Fabre, was dispatched by the province of Quebec but was asked by the federal government to represent all of Canada. He and his successor, Philippe Roy, continued to represent both Quebec City and Ottawa in France until 1912 when the federal government asked Roy to resign his Quebec position to avoid conflicts of interest. Canadian provinces have also appointed agents-general (called delegates-general by Quebec beginning in the 1970s) to other countries and major cities.

Following a military coup in Nigeria in 1966, the federal system was abolished, and the posts of the agents-general of Nigerian regions in London were subsumed in the Nigerian High Commission.

By the 1990s, some Australian state governments regarded the office of their agent-general in London as a costly anachronism, even for promoting tourism and investment, and have since been closed and subsumed into the Australian High Commission. The majority of Australian states continue to have agents-general in London, but operate from Australia House rather than maintain separate premises.

Many Canadian provinces similarly are no longer represented by an agent-general, although Quebec continues to have a Government Office in London (Script error: No such module "Lang".[1]) and in several other cities around the world. Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have representatives who work out of the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC.[4]

Diplomatic and legal status

Status in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, Agents-General of Australia and Canada (and their Staff) are granted the same Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities held under international law by virtue of the Template:Cite legislation UK, this privilege is granted under the Template:Cite legislation UK, these privileges including the right to freedom from arrest and exemption of duties and taxes. Agents-General of other countries are not afforded these privileges.

Status in Australian and international law

Under international Agents-general have no diplomatic or legal status, privileges or immunities under international but may be granted the privilege of a Diplomatic Passport by some originating countries during their commission.[5][6]

Australia

In the Australian colonies and Province of South Australia, prior to each achieving responsible government, each was represented in the United Kingdom by the Colonial Agent.[7] The position was appointed by the British Secretary of State for the Colonies to work within the Office of the Crown Agents for the Colonies; each colony was represented by the same Agent, Edward Barnard, who was not appointed or paid by the colonies.[8][9]

Growing dissatisfaction among colonial governments led, following each colony and province achieving responsible government, to the appointment of individual Agents-General appointed by the relevant colonial government to represent their interest to the Crown and Empire.[8][10]

South Australia was the first Australian colonial government to appoint an Agent-General, with Gregory Seale Walters taking the post in January 1859.[11] Only a few Australian states continue to maintain Agents-General in London.

Agents-general for South Australia

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Agents-general for New South Wales

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Agents-general for Queensland

Agent-general Years
John Douglas 1869–1870
Archibald Archer 1870–1872
Richard Daintree 1872–1876
Arthur Macalister 1876–1881
Thomas Archer 1881–1885
William Hemmant (acting) 1885–1885
Sir James Garrick 1885–1888
Thomas Archer 1888–1890
Sir James Garrick 1890–1895
Charles Shortt Dicken (acting)[12] 2 October 1895 – 31 October 1895
Sir Thomas McIlwraith (acting)[13] 31 October 1895 – 25 November 1896
Sir Henry Wylie Norman[14][15] 1896–1897
Charles Shortt Dicken (acting) 29 December 1897 – 1898
Sir Horace Tozer 2 March 1898 – 1909
Thomas Bilbe Robinson 1910–1919
John McEwan Hunter 1 January 1920 – 1922
John Arthur Fihelly 8 February 1922–1924
John Huxham 1 August 1924Template:Snd31 July 1929[16]
Edward Henry Macartney 1 August 1929Template:Snd14 August 1931
Leonard Henry Pike 14 August 1931Template:Snd30 September 1951
Sir David Muir 3 October 1951Template:Snd9 January 1964
Sir William Summerville 1 April 1964 – 1970
Sir Peter Delamothe 1971–1973
N. C. Sweeney (acting) 1973–1974
Sir Wallace Rae 6 December 1974–1980
G. W. Swan (acting) August 1980Template:SndMarch 1981
John H. Andrews April 1981Template:SndSeptember 1984
John F. S. Brown September 1984Template:SndMarch 1988
Tom McVeigh April 1988Template:SndJanuary 1991
Ray T. Anderson June 1991Template:SndSeptember 1995
Dermot McManus February 1996Template:SndOctober 2000
Ray Kelly (acting) October 2000Template:SndApril 2001
John Dawson April 2001Template:SndSeptember 2007
Ross Buchanan (acting) October 2007Template:SndApril 2008
Andrew Hugh Craig April 2008Template:SndJune 2011
Ken Smith July 2011Template:SndMay 2017
Linda Apelt 20 July 2017Template:SndMarch 2021
David Stewart 15 March 2021 - present[17]

Agents-general for Tasmania

  • Hon Adye Douglas (later Sir, Kt), 1886–1887
  • Sir Arthur Blyth (acting), 1887–1888
  • James Arndell Youl CMG (later Sir, KCMG) (acting), 1888
  • Hon Edward Braddon, (later Right Hon Sir, PC KCMG), 1888–1893
  • Sir Robert Herbert, 1893–1896
  • Sir Andrew Clarke (acting), 1896
  • Sir Westby Perceval, 1896–1898
  • Sir Andrew Clarke (acting), 1898–1899
  • Hon Sir Philip Oakley Fysh, KCMG, 1899–1901
  • Sir Andrew Clarke (acting), 1901
  • Hon Alfred Dobson, CMG, 1901–1908
  • Sir John McCall, KCMG, Kt., 1909–1919
  • Alfred Henry Ashbolt (later Sir, Kt), 1919–1924
  • Lieut.-Colonel R. Eccles Snowden (later Sir, Kt), 1924–1930
  • Darcy W. Addison, CMG, ISO, MVO, 1930–1931
  • Herbert W. Ely, ISO (acting), 1931–1937
  • Hon Sir Claude Ernest Weymouth James, Kt, 1937–1950
  • Sir Eric E. von Bibra, Kt, OBE 1950–1958
  • Hon Sir Alfred J White, Kt 1959–1971
  • Royce R. Neville, 1971–1978
  • Hon Bill Neilson AC, 1978–1981

Agents-general for Victoria

Agents-general for Western Australia

Canada

Agents-general for Canada

to the United Kingdom
to France

Agents-general for Alberta

Agents-general for British Columbia

Agents-general for Manitoba

As it was difficult to compete with larger provinces like Ontario and Quebec, the province of Manitoba decided to leave trade promotion to the federal government and accordingly recalled their agent-general in 1965 without appointing a replacement.Template:Sfn

Agents-general for New Brunswick

Agents-general for Nova Scotia

Agents-general for Ontario

to the United Kingdom
  • Southworth (1908–?)
  • Richard Reid (1913–1916) Died in office
  • Brigadier-General Manley R. Sims (1918–1920)
  • G. C. Creelman (1920–1921)
  • William C. Noxon (1921–1934)
  • vacant (1934–1944)
  • James S. P. Armstrong (1944–1967)
  • Allan Rowan-Legg (1968–1972)
  • Ward Cornell (1972–1978)
  • W. Ross DeGeer (1978–1985)
  • Thomas Leonard Wells (1985–1992)
  • Robert Nixon (1992–1994)
  • Sophia Arvanitis (2021-present)[31]
to Asia-Pacific
  • Tim (Thomas E.) Armstrong (1986-1990)
to France
to Japan
to New York City

Agents-general for Prince Edward Island

  • Harrison Watson (1902–?)[32]

Agents-general for Quebec

Script error: No such module "labelled list hatnote". Quebec uses the title agent-general or delegate-general. In 1936, legislation was passed by the government of Maurice Duplessis closing all Quebec government offices abroad. The government of Adélard Godbout repealed the legislation and opened an office in New York City in 1940. When Duplessis returned to power in 1944, his government retained the New York City office and its agent-general but opened no others. In the early 1960s, the government of Jean Lesage began to open additional offices abroad appointing in Paris (1961), London (1962), Rome and Milan (1965) and subsequent governments opened offices in Chicago (1969), Boston, Lafayette, Dallas and Los Angeles (1970), Munich and Berlin (1971), Brussels (1972), Atlanta (1977), Washington (1978), Mexico City and Tokyo (1980), Beijing and Santiago (1998), Shanghai and Barcelona (1999), Mumbai (2007), São Paulo (2008) and Moscow (2012).[33] In 1971, the title of agent-general was officially changed to delegate-general although previous title is still often used, particularly for the government's representative to London.

Template:As of, the Government of Quebec has 35 offices abroad, including 9 delegates-general.[34]

to the United Kingdom
to France
  • Hector Fabre (1882–1910)[45]
  • Philippe Roy (1911–1912)
  • vacant (1912–1961)[33]
  • Charles Lussier (1961–1964)[46]
  • Jean Chapdelaine (delegate general) (1964–1976)
  • François Cloutier (delegate general) (1976–1977)
  • Jean Deschamps (delegate general) (1977–1979)
  • Yves Michaud (delegate general) (1979–1984)
  • Louise Beaudoin (delegate general) (1984–1985)
  • Claude Pug (delegate general) (1985–1986)
  • Jean-Louis Roy (delegate general) (1986–1990)
  • Marcel Bergeron (delegate general) (1990–1991)
  • André Dufour (delegate general) (1991–1994)
  • Claude Pug (delegate general) (1994–1995)
  • Marcel Masse (delegate general) (1995–1997)
  • Michel Lucier (delegate general) (1997–2000)
  • Clément Duhaime (delegate general) (2000–2005)
  • Wilfrid-Guy Licari (delegate general) (2005–2010)
  • Michel Robitaille (delegate general) (2010–present)
to Belgium
to Germany (Munich)
  • Claude Trudelle (delegate general) (as of 2016)[44]
to Japan
  • Claire Deronzier (delegate general) (2013–present)[44]
to Mexico
to the United States (New York City)
  • Charles Chartier (1940–1967)
  • Jean-Marc Roy (1967–1969)
  • Général Jean V. Allard (1969–1971)
  • Guy Poliquin (1971–1977)
  • Marcel Bergeron (delegate general) (1977–1980)
  • Richard Pouliot (delegate general) (1980–1982)
  • Raymond Gosselin (delegate general) (1982–1984)
  • Rita Dionne-Marsolais (delegate general) (1984–1987)
  • Léo Paré (delegate general) (1987–1992)
  • Reed Scowen (delegate general) (1992–1994)
  • Kevin Drummond (delegate general) (1994–1997)
  • David Levine (delegate general) (1997–1998)
  • Diane Wilhelmy (delegate general) (1998–2002)
  • Michel Robitaille (delegate general) (2002–2007)
  • Bruno Fortier (delegate general) (2007–2008)
  • Robert Keating (delegate general) (2008–2009)
  • John Parisella (delegate general) (2009–2012)
  • André Boisclair (delegate general) (2012–2013)
  • Dominique Poirier (delegate general) (2013–2014)
  • Jean-Claude Lauzon (delegate general) (2014–present)[44]

Agents-general for Saskatchewan

Jamaica

Source: Historic Jamaica.[49]

  • 1664–1666: Sir James Modyford
  • 1682–?: Sir Charles Lyttelton
  • William Beeston
  • 1688: Ralph Knight
  • Gilbert Heathcote
  • 1693–1704: Bartholomew Gracedieu
  • 1714: P. Marsh
  • 1725: Alexander Stephenson
  • 1725–1726: Edward Charlton
  • 1728–1733: Charles de la Foy
  • 1733: John Gregory
  • 1733–1757: John Sharpe
  • 1757–1762: Lovell Stanhope (MP for Winchester)
  • 1764–1795: Stephen Fuller
  • 1795–1803: Robert Sewell
  • 1803–1812: Edmund Pusey Lyon
  • 1812–1831: George Hibbert
  • 1831–1845: William Burge
  • 1845 Office abolished

Malta

With the granting of responsible self-government to Malta in 1921, a proposal of the government of Lord Strickland to appoint an agent-general to "encourage the migration of Maltese to the Northern Territory and north-west Australia" was presented to the parliament. Strickland, who was Governor of Western Australia (1909–1913) suggested former Colonial Secretary and Agent-General of Western Australia in London, Sir James Connolly.[50] The position was discontinued with the suspension of the constitution in November 1933 and was replaced by a Trade Commissioner, who was in turn replaced by a Commissioner-General in 1947.[51]

Agents-General Years Notes
Sir James Connolly 30 January 1929 – 23 December 1932 [52][53]
Constantine John Colombos (acting) 23 December 1932 – 2 November 1933 [54]

South Africa

Prior to the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the four constituent British colonies of southern Africa all sent agents-general to London, coinciding with the establishment of responsible self-government in each colony.

Agent-general for the Orange River Colony

The Orange River Colony sent an agent-general from 1908 until the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. Brounger was a former director of the Orange Free State Railways.

Agents-General Years Notes
Richard Ernest Brounger August 1908 – 31 May 1910 [55]

Agent-general for the Transvaal Colony

The Transvaal Colony sent an agent-general from the establishment of responsible self-government in 1907 until the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. Solomon then served as the first South African High Commissioner in London from 1910 to 1913.

Agents-General Years Notes
Sir Richard Solomon 3 May 1907 – 31 May 1910 [56][57][58]

Agents-general for the Cape Colony

The Cape Colony sent separate agents-general until the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910.

Agents-General Years Notes
Sir Charles Mills October 1882 – 31 March 1895 [59]
Sir David Tennant 1896 – 31 December 1901 [60][61]
Sir Thomas Ekins Fuller 1 January 1902 – 31 December 1907 [62]
Sir Somerset Richard French 1 January 1908 – 31 May 1910 [63]

Agents-general for Natal

The Colony of Natal sent separate agents-general until the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910.

Agents-General Years Notes
Sir Walter Peace December 1893 – 28 January 1904 [64]
Sir William Arbuckle 1 November 1904 – November 1909 [65][66][67]
Robert C. Russell (acting) November 1909 – 31 May 1910 [68][69][70]

New Zealand

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". After 1905 the position of Agent-General was replaced by that of High Commissioner, with the final Agent-General becoming the first High Commissioner.

Agents-General Years Notes
Isaac Featherston 1871 – 19 June 1876 [71]
W. Tyrone Power (acting) 1876 [72]
Sir Julius Vogel 1876–1880
Sir Dillon Bell 1880–1891
Sir Westby Perceval 1891–1895 [73]
William Pember Reeves 1895–1905

Nigerian regions

File:The National Archives UK - CO 1069-82-7.jpg
Signing the visitors' book at Nigeria House with Arthur Prest (left) and Alhaji Sa'adu Alanamu (right)

The First Nigerian agents-general to the United Kingdom were appointed in December 1959 and include:

  • Northern Region: Alhaji Sa'adu Alanamu
  • Eastern Region: Jonah Chinyere Achara
  • Western Region: Chief Akitoye Emmanuel Coker

The last Nigerian agents-General in London were:

  • Northern Region: Baba Gana
  • Eastern Region: A. Ekukinam-Bassey
  • Western Region: Prince Delphus Adebayo Odubanjo
  • Mid-West Region: Josiah A.P. Oki

Notes

Template:Reflist

Bibliography

External links

Template:Diplomacy

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  32. ↑ Template:Cite newspaper The Times
  33. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  35. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  44. ↑ a b c d e f g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  48. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  50. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  51. ↑ The Colonial Office List, H.M. Stationery Office, 1964, page 194
  52. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  53. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  54. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  59. ↑ Template:Cite DNB
  60. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  61. ↑ Template:London Gazette
  62. ↑ Template:Cite DNB
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  70. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  71. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  73. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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