Colonial Agencies in 1900

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Arthur H. Beavan continued his survey of Government Departments in Imperial London, 1901 with this look at Colonial Agencies:

Until shortly before 1900, the self-governing colonies had no agencies of their own in London, being represented by the Colonial Office, described by Carlyle in 1850 as "a world-wide jungle of red-tape, inhabited by doleful creatures, deaf or nearly so to human reason or entreaty."

Very different was it in 1900; the colonies were petted, too much so some may think, made much of in Downing Street, and when some Canadian or Australian came home on an official mission, he spent his days at the Colonial Office and his nights at public dinners, to say nothing of the luncheon intervening.

Walking up Victoria Street towards Westminster Abbey, one was struck, if it be a fete-day, by the number of offices flying the distinguishing flag of the colony each represented.

It seemed as if British delegates from every quarter of the globe had settled down there; and so it was.

First on the left from Victoria Station was the Cape of Good Hope Government Agency; on the same side higher up were the offices of the colony of Natal; nearing the Abbey, on the south side of the street, in Victoria and Westminster Chambers they thickened; the Canadian Dominion, Western Australia, Victoria, New Zealand, New South Wales, Tasmania, and Queensland all being close together in the order given.

South Australia alone dwelled not in Victoria Street, but, wisely, as many consider, had its offices in the City, at 1, Crosby Square, where the Agent-General had immediate and ready access to the mercantile world.

Every assistance was always given at these Agencies to those having business with the colonies, and colonial visitors found them a great help in all kinds of ways; but their defect was that they could not initiate anything, any official proposition made to them having to be referred to headquarters at Ottawa, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, etc., and in most instances it would be cheaper in the long run to go straight out there than attempt to transact any Government affair through London.

But they had little real power, the democratic tendencies of Australasia regarding with something approaching jealousy any lengthened residence of their Agents-General in England, who, they maintained, in the fascinations of fashionable London society, quickly lost touch with colonial sentiment.

There is nothing to describe about any of these offices. They were all rather cramped, and altogether unworthy of the vigorous young communities they represented.

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