Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T03:51:11.885Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The structure of British official attitudes: colonial Mauritius, 1883–1968*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Kenneth Ballhatchet
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article seeks to demonstrate the structure of attitudes in British colonial officialdom through a case study of Mauritius from the governorship of Sir John Pope Hennessy to decolonization. It suggests that officials consistently saw Mauritians as a whole as ‘the Others’, while seeking both to divide and rule them – into an émigré French elite left over from the French colonial period at the time of British conquest (1810), a Creole community, and an Indian community – without assimilating them; and to suspect each in turn of disloyalty and treachery. By a grim irony, many of the governors and their officials were suspected by the colonial office of joining the Others. This is thus a story of an adaptable imperial paranoia.

Type
Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 38 , Issue 4 , December 1995 , pp. 989 - 1011
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Ballhatchet, K., Race, sex and class under the Raj. Imperial attitudes and policies and their critics, 1793–1905 (London, 1980).Google Scholar

2 Ballhatchet, K., Priests, peasants and fishermen. Caste, class and Catholicism in India, 1789–1914 (to be published 1996).Google Scholar

3 The most scholarly survey of the history of Mauritius is Auguste, Toussaint, Histoire de l'île Maurice (2nd edn, Paris, 1974)Google Scholar. The same author also wrote a succinct history of the capital: Auguste, Toussaint (transl. Ward, W. E. F.), Port Louis, a tropical city (London, 1973)Google Scholar. A detailed analysis of recent political and economic history will be found in Adele Smith, Simmons, Modern Mauritius: the politics of decolonization (Bloomington, 1982).Google Scholar

4 In the 1881 census the general population numbered 110,881, while Indians numbered 284,993. The 1921 figures were: general population, 111,219; Indians, 265,461. In 1919 Sir Henri Leclézio thought the general population included 6,000 white French, 5,000 upper-class Creoles (he called them ‘gentry of colour’), and 15,000 middle-class Creoles. Leclézio to J. Middleton, 21 Apr. 1919, CO 167/826/34921.

5 Célicourt Antelme, a prominent member of the French elite, was unconvinced and continued to oppose the changes. Anand, Moheeputh, ‘The first general elections’, La Gazette des Îles, 1986, pp. 30–1.Google Scholar

6 A. A. P[earson], minute, 22 Jan. [1886], [P.R.O.] CO 167/623/989.

7 CO167/625/2451.

8 James, Pope-Hennessy, Verandah: some episodes in the crown colonies, 1867–1889 (London, 1964), p. 277.Google Scholar

9 Le Cernéen, 2 Feb. 1887.

10 Secretary of state to O.A.G., 27 Sept. 1887, CO 167/633/19054.

11 Council of education proceedings, 11 June 1891, CO/167/663/21334.

12 E. W[ingfield], minute, 29 Nov. [1892], CO167/670/2134.

13 E. W[ingfield], minute, 24 Jan. [1896], CO167/691/1601.

14 Secretary of state to governor, 13 Feb. 1896, ibid.

15 Memorial, 1 July 1896, CO167/697/16916.

16 G. G[rindle], minute, 28 Aug. [1896], ibid.

17 S[elbornel], minute, 1 Sept. [1896], ibid.

18 Secretary of state to O.A.G., 7 Sept. 1896, ibid.

19 R. M[eade], minute, 18 July [1895]; colonial office to foreign office, 19 July 1895, CO167/688/11515.

20 Jerningham to Chamberlain, 29 Aug. 1895, CO167/689/17468.

21 Jerningham to Chamberlain, 27 Sept. 1895, CO167/688.

22 Jerningham to Card. Ledochowski, 21 Oct. 1895, archives of propaganda fide, Rome, NS 97, rubr. 143, 329–32.

23 E. W[ingfield], minute, 2 Dec. [1897], CO167/707/25414.

24 H. F. W[ilson], minute, 29 Nov. 1897, ibid.

25 ‘Mr Piggott's reasons for suggesting promotion of Mr Rouillard’, ibid.

26 A. [Lord Amptill], minute, 3 Dec. [1897], ibid. In fact Brown had been born in England, of a Mauritian mother, and was brought up in Mauritius, where he was educated at Royal College. Bruce to Chamberlain, 10 Dec. 1901, CO167/741/1807.

27 Bruce to Chamberlain, 13 Nov. 1899, CO167/724/35032; Bruce to Chamberlain, 27 Nov. 1899, CO167/724/36085.

28 Bruce to Chamberlain, 7 Dec. 1899, CO167/724/1065.

29 G. W. J[ohnson], minute, n.d., CO167/724/1065.

30 J. C[hamberlain], minute, 18 Jan. [1900], ibid.

31 G. W. J[ohnson], minute, n.d., ibid.

32 S. of S. to governor, 28 Feb. 1900, ibid.

33 Bruce to Chamberlain, 26 Sept. 1901, CO167/741/37874.

34 Bruce to Chamberlain, 30 June 1900, CO167/730/24559.

35 R. E. S[tubbs], minute, 9 Aug. [1900], ibid.

36 H. B. C[ox], minute, 10 Aug. [1900], ibid.

37 R. E. S[tubbs], minute, 22 Aug. [1900], ibid.

38 Secretary of state to O.A.G., 12 Oct. 1900, ibid.

39 Marius Francis Xavier Nalletamby. Governor to secretary of state, 3 Sept. 1901, CO167/740/35042.

40 Le Cernéen, 3 Sept. 1901, 10 Oct. 1901.

41 Le Petit Journal, 9 Oct. 1901. This was edited by the Creole barrister Charles Newton, and expressed the views of the Creole elite, as compared with Le Progrès Colonial, representing the views of the Creole middle class.

42 J. C.[hamberlain], minute, 21 Nov. [1901], CO167/742/40145.

43 Grimaud, B. in ‘Bulletin de l'alliance françhise’, 15 Jan. 1904.Google Scholar

44 O.A.G. to secretary of state, 4 June 1904, CO167/766/23698.

45 R. E. S[tubbs], minute, 9 July [1904], ibid.

46 Bower to Cox, 7 July 1904, CO167/767/28705.

47 Boyle to secretary of state, 20 Oct. 1904, CO167/768/39743.

48 Boyle to secretary of state, 12 July 1905, CO167/771/294276.

49 C. P. L[ucas], minute, 3 Oct. [1907], CO167/780/32896.

50 F. J. S. H. [Sir F. Hopwood], minute, 5 Oct. 1907, ibid.

51 Boyle to Elgin, 16 Nov. 1907, CO167/708/44389.

52 G. V. F[iddes], minute, 24 Dec. [1907], ibid.

53 F. J. S. H. [Sir F. Hopwood], 31 Dec. [1907], ibid.

54 Chamber of agriculture proceedings, 8 Apr. 1908, CO882/9/110.

55 G. V. F[iddes], minute, 29 May [1908], ibid.Le Vrai Progrès Colonial, 1 May 1908, even quoted Le Cernéen with approval.

56 A. J. H[arding], minute, 25 May [1908], CO167/784/18647.

57 Le Vrai Progrès Colonial, 20 Apr. 1908.

58 Boyle to Crewe, 15 July 1908, CO167/784/29966.

59 Bower to Governor, 1 Aug. 1908, CO167/785/34038; Bower to Cox, 24 Nov. 1908, CO167/786/248.

60 There were other whites in the Action Libérale – examples in Le Vrai Progrès Coloniale, 20 Mar. 1911. A similar point had been made about the oligarchs in Le Progrès Coloniale, 6 Apr. 1888, to support the argument that it was the party of the rich.

61 Laurent and de Boucherville to Crewe, 19 Sept. 1910, CO167/794/36215.

62 Inspector H. S. Ward to I.G.P., 15 May 1909, ibid.

63 Boyle to Crewe, 18 Oct. 1910, CO167/794/36319.

64 A. J. Harding, minute, 15 Dec. [1910], CO167/794/36215.

65 Herchenroder, explanatory report, 20 Jan. 1910, CO167/792/5837.

66 A.J. H[arding], minute, 9 Mar. [1910], ibid.

67 R. E. Sftubbs], minute, 9 Mar. [1910], ibid.

68 H. B. C[ox], minute, 20 Mar. [1910], ibid.

69 Secretary of state, telegram to governor, 24 Mar. 1910, ibid.

70 Boyle to Crewe, 25 Jan. 1911, CO167/796/2468.

71 A. J. H[arding], minute, 1 Feb. 1911, ibid.

72 Smith to governor, 12 Dec. 1910, CO167/794/1567.

73 Boyle to Harcourt, 15 Dec. 1910, ibid.

74 Trotter to colonial secretary, 30 Jan. 1911; Boyle to Harcourt, 4 Feb. 1911, CO167/796/9020.

75 A. M. Piperdy et al. to secretary of state, n.d., CO167/799/41611.

76 Boyle to Harcourt, 4 Feb. 1911, CO167/796/9020.

77 Edward C. Fraser (Ireland, Fraser & Co.), to Boyle, 23 Feb. 1911, enclosed with Boyle to Harcourt, 23 Feb. 1911, CO167/796/10337.

78 J. R[obinson], minute, 30 Mar. [1911], ibid.

79 Smith to Harcourt, 12 Aug. 1911, CO167/798/30479.

80 Petition enclosed with O.A.G. to secretary of state, 11 Oct. 1911, CO167/799/36610.

81 A. H. W. Gordon to colonial secretary, 30 Aug. 1911, ibid.

82 Trotter to colonial secretary, 26 Sept. 1911, ibid.

83 C. W. D[ixon], minute, 15 Nov. [1911], ibid.

84 R. E. S[tubbs], minute, 15 Nov. [1911], ibid.

85 G. V. F[iddes], minute, 18 [Nov. 1911], ibid.

86 Secretary of state to governor, 28 Nov. 1911, ibid.

87 Chancellor to Bonar Law, 21 Apr. 1916, CO167/816/19359.

88 Bell to Long, 12 Dec. 1918, CO167/824/10552.

89 Elba, L., La Rétrocession el les aliens (Port Louis, 1919)Google Scholar. (‘Elba L.’ was the pseudonym of Abel Loumeau, who was of French descent and had a responsible post as a district cashier. He was dismissed when his identity as ‘Elba L.’ was discovered.)

90 Leclézio to J. Middleton, 21 Apr. 1919, CO167/826/34921.

91 La Croix et Patrie, 9 Nov. 1920. This was grimly noted in the colonial office, CO167/836/4852.

92 O. C. R. W[illiams], minute, 9 Sept. 1920, ibid.

93 Bell, telegram to Milner, 5 Oct. 1920, CO167/833/49163.

94 O. C. R. W[illiams], minute, 7 Oct. 1920., ibid.

95 H. C[owell], and G. G[rindle], minutes, 8 Oct. 1920, ibid.

96 Milner, telegram to Bell, 12 Oct. 1920, ibid.

97 Bell to Milner, 25 Nov. 1920, CO167/833/486. The newspapers were Le Mauricien and Le Journal de Maurice.

98 G. G[rindle], minute, 10 Dec. 1920, CO167/833/59557.

99 Milner to Walter Long, 9 Dec. 1920, CO167/833/59370.

100 Bell, telegram to Milner, 30 Jan. 1921, CO167/836/4852.

101 Bell to viceroy of India, 28 Apr. 1921, CO167/837/38467.

102 Police security reports 1 and 2 of 1922, CO537/812/13227.

103 Minute, 24 Mar. 1922, CO167/840/9001.

104 A. R. C. Lavictoire, report, 22 Aug. 1937; R. Osman to procureur-général, 27 Dec. 1937. CO167/900/57230.

105 O. A. G., telegram to S. of S., 21 Aug. 1937, CO167/837/57230.

106 A. Bevir, minute, 21 Aug. 1837; P. Rogers, minute, 24 Aug. 1937; S. of S. to G. of I., 22 Aug. 1937, ibid.

107 Report of commission of inquiry, 79, CO167/900/57230; industrial associations ordinance, 1938, CO167/924/57230.

108 Bede Clifford to Ormsby Gore, 13 Apr. 1938, CO167/900/57230.

109 Donald Mackenzie-Kennedy to A. Creech Jones, 7 and 22 Mar. 1947, CO537/2230/33,40.

110 Creech Jones, minute, 17 Mar. 1947, ibid.

111 G. of I. to colonial secretary, Mauritius, 12 Mar. and 6 May, 1947; acting colonial secretary to G. of I., 28 May 1947, CO537/2230/49.

112 J. B. S[idebotham], minute, ibid.

113 The colonial office nourished similar suspicions, CO537/2044/25091.

114 Le Cernéen–Le Mauricien–Advance, 21 Sept. 1948; Le Mauricien–Le Cernéen, 25 Feb. 1949.

115 Economist, 18 June 1949; Franco-Mauritian memorandum, CO167/956/57660.

116 Mauritius monthly political report 65 (Nov. 1953), CO1023/33.

117 Scott, 10 Dec. 1955, quoted in J. M. M[artin], minute, 20 Jan. 1956; J. A. Steward, minute, 3 Feb. 1956, CO1036/279.

118 Minutes of a meeting between H.E., O.A.G., and bureau of chamber of agriculture, 18 June 1947, CO537/2230.

119 D.I.S. to P.S. and A.D.C., 2 Aug. 1947, CO537/2231.

120 Simmons, p. 99.

121 Mauritius monthly political report 3 (1948), CO167/945/57715/1.

122 Note on security, Jan. 1954, CO1036/90.

123 Martin to Scott, 24 Apr. 1956; Scott to Martin, I4 June 1956, CO1036–279.

124 R. Newton to H. P. Hall, 2 Apr. 1957, encl. Mauritius Internal Security Scheme, CO1036/367. Benedict later published Indians in a plural society (London, 1961)Google Scholar, and Mauritius, the problems of a plural society (London, 1965).Google Scholar

125 Mackenzie-Kennedy to Creech Jones, 1 Oct. 1948, CO167/945/57715/1.

126 J. D. Harford to Creech Jones, 10 Mar. 1949, CO167/945/57715/1.

127 Harford, note of a talk with Dr Ramgoolam at le Réduit, 24 Mar. 1949, CO167/938/57249/9.

128 Mauritius electoral boundary commission, CO1036/318/125.

129 Report by Mr Profumo on his visit to Mauritius, 17–23 June 1957, CO/1036/316.

130 J. H. Robertson, note, 31 Oct. 1957, CO1036/317/61.

131 H. P. H[all], minute, 10 Mar. 1958.

132 P. Rogers, minutes, 17 and 21 Jan. 1958, CO/1036/317.

133 I. S. Wheatley, minute, 22 Jan. 1958, ibid.

134 Scott to Lennox-Boyd, 22 Mar. 1958, CO1036/318/141.

135 Scott to Lennox-Boyd, 6 July 1959, CO1036/381.

136 Le Cernéen, 22 Apr. 1967.