Resident (title)
Encyclopedia
A Resident, or in full Resident Minister, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indirect rule
Indirect rule
Indirect rule was a system of government that was developed in certain British colonial dependencies...

.

Resident Ministers

This full style was common as a diplomatic rank
Diplomatic rank
Diplomatic rank is the system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. Over time it has been formalized on an international basis.-Ranks:...

 for the head of a mission ranking just below envoy
Envoy (title)
In diplomacy, an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary is, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, a diplomat of the second class, ranking between an Ambassador and a Minister Resident....

, usually reflecting the relatively low status of the states of origin and/or residency, or else difficult relations.

On occasion, the Resident Minister's role could become extremely important, as when in 1806 the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV
Ferdinand IV
Ferdinand IV is the name of:*Ferdinand IV of Castile , king of Castile and León from 1295*Ferdinand IV of Germany...

 fled his kingdom of Naples, and Lord William Bentinck
Lord William Bentinck
Lieutenant-General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck GCB, GCH, PC , known as Lord William Bentinck, was a British soldier and statesman...

, the British Resident, was the author of a new and relatively liberal constitution.

Residents could also be posted with shadowy governments. For instance, the British sent Residents to the Mameluk Beys who ruled Baghdad province
Baghdad Province
Baghdad Province may refer to:*Baghdad Province, Ottoman Empire *Baghdad Governorate...

 as an autonomous state in the north of what is now Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, until the Ottoman sultans regained control over it and its Wali
Wali
Walī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...

 (governor).

Even after the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was a central Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Duchy of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence...

 was restored by the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...

 in 1815 the British posted a "mere" Resident to Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

.

As international relations developed, it became customary to give the highest title of diplomatic rank, ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

, to the head of all permanent missions in any country, except as a temporary expression of downturned relations or where representation was merely an interim arrangement.

Pseudo-colonial Residents

Some official representatives of European colonial powers, while in theory diplomats, in practice exercised a degree of indirect rule
Indirect rule
Indirect rule was a system of government that was developed in certain British colonial dependencies...

. Some such Residents were former military officers, rather than career diplomats, who resided in smaller self-governing protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...

s and tributary state
Tributary state
The term tributary state refers to one of the two main ways in which a pre-modern state might be subordinate to a more powerful neighbour. The heart of the relationship was that the tributary would send a regular token of submission to the superior power...

s and acted as political advisors to the rulers. A trusted Resident could even become the de facto prime minister to a native ruler. In other respects they acted as an ambassador of their own government, but at a lower level, since even large and rich native states were usually seen as inferior to Western nations. Instead of being a representative to a single ruler, a Resident could be posted to more than one native state, or to a grouping of states which the European power decided for its convenience. This could create an artificial geographical unit, as in Residency X in some parts of the British Indian Empire.

Similar positions could carry alternative titles, such as Political Agent and Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner
Resident Commissioner is the title of several, quite different types of Commissioner in overseas possession or protectorate of the British Crown or of the United States.-British English:...

.

In some cases, the intertwining of the European power with the traditional native establishment went so far that members of the native princely houses became Residents, either in other states or even within their own state, provided that they were unlikely ever to succeed as ruler of the state.

A Resident's real role varied enormously, depending upon the underlying relationship between the two parties and even upon the personalities of the Resident and the ruler(s). Some residents were little more than observers and diplomats, others were seen as the "face of the oppressor" and were treated with hostility, while some won enough trust from the ruler that they were able to exercise great influence.

In 1887, when both Boers and gold prospectors of all nationalities were overrunning his country, the Swazi paramount chief Umbandine asked for a British resident, seeing this as a desirable and effective form of protection. His request was refused.

British & dominion Residents

The Residents of the governments of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and the dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...

s to a variety of protectorates include:

Residents in Africa

  • In the Sultanate of Zanzibar
    Zanzibar
    Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...

    , the second 'homeland' of the Omani dynasty, since 1913. From 1913 to 1961 the Residents were also the Sultan's vizier
    Vizier
    A vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....

    . There were Consuls and Consuls-general until 1963.
  • In present day Kenya
    Kenya
    Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

    , in the Sultanate of Witu
    Witu
    Witu may refer to*Wituland*Vitu language *Wiru :**Wiru people**Wiru language...

    , after the British took over the protectorate from the German Empire, which had itself posted a Resident.
  • In British Cameroon (part of the former German Kamerun), since 1916, in 1949 restyled Special Resident (superior to the new two provinces) for Edward John Gibbons (b. 1906 – d. 1990), who stayed on in October 1954 as first Commissioner when it became an autonomous part of Nigeria
    Nigeria
    Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

    .
  • in Southern Africa:
    • when the military party sent from Cape Colony to occupy Port Natal on behalf of Great Britain was recalled in 1839, a British Resident was appointed among the Fingo
      Fingo
      Fingo may refer to:* The Fingo tribe of South Africa.* Fingo fever, a disease of Victorian Australia.* FinGO, a mobile communications company.* The 'hypotheses non fingo'....

       and other tribes in Kaffraria
      Kaffraria
      Kaffraria was the descriptive name given to the southeast part of what is today the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Kaffraria, i.e. the land of the Kaffirs, is no longer an official designation...

       until the definite establishment of British rule in Natal and its 1845 organization as an administrative entity, when the incumbent Shepstone was made Agent for the native tribes.
    • In kwaZulu
      KwaZulu
      KwaZulu was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a semi-independent homeland for the Zulu people. The capital, formerly at Nongoma, was moved in 1980 to Ulundi....

      , which since 1843 was under a British protectorate, after it became the Zulu "Native" Reserve or Zululand Province on 1 September 1879: two British Residents (William Douglas Wheelwright, 8 September 1879 to January 1880, then Sir Melmoth Osborn until 22 December 1882). Thereafter there were Resident Commissioners until Zululand was incorporated into the crown colony
      Crown colony
      A Crown colony, also known in the 17th century as royal colony, was a type of colonial administration of the English and later British Empire....

       of Natal
      Colony of Natal
      The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...

       as British Zululand on 1 December 1897.
    • in 1845 the resident 'north of the Orange river' chose his residency at Bloemfontein
      Bloemfontein
      Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...

      , which became the capital of the Orange River Sovereignty
      Orange River Sovereignty
      The Orange River Sovereignty was a short-lived political entity between the Orange and Vaal rivers in southern Africa. In 1854, it became the Orange Free State, and is now the Free State province of South Africa.-History:...

       in 1848. In 1854 the British abandoned the Sovereignty, and the independent Boer republic of the Orange Free State
      Orange Free State
      The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...

       was established
    • in the Boer
      Boer
      Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...

       republic of Transvaal
      South African Republic
      The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...

       at Pretoria
    • with the Matabele chief at Bulawayo
      Bulawayo
      Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...

  • in Ghana
    Ghana
    Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

    , with the rulers of the Asanteman Confederation (established in 1701), since it became in 1896 a British protectorate; on 23 June 1900 the Confederation was dissolved by UK protectorate authority, on 26 September 1901 turned into Ashanti Colony, so since 1902 his place was taken by a Chief Commissioner
    Chief Commissioner
    A Chief Commissioner is a commissioner of a high rank, usually in chief of several Commissioners or similarly styled officers.-Colonial:In British India the gubernatorial style was Chief Commissioner in various provinces , the style being applied especially where an elected assembly did not exist,...

     ?at Kumasi
    Kumasi
    Kumasi is a city in southern central Ghana's Ashanti region. It is located near Lake Bosomtwe, in the Rain Forest Region about northwest of Accra. Kumasi is approximately north of the Equator and north of the Gulf of Guinea...

  • in various parts of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate
    Northern Nigeria Protectorate
    Northern Nigeria was a British protectorate formed in 1900. The basis of the protectorate was the 1885 Treaty of Berlin which broadly granted Northern Nigeria to Britain, on the basis of their protectorates in Southern Nigeria...

    , Southern Nigeria Protectorate
    Southern Nigeria Protectorate
    Southern Nigeria was a British protectorate in the coastal areas of modern-day Nigeria, formed in 1900 from union of the Niger Coast Protectorate with territories chartered by the Royal Niger Company below Lokoja on the Niger River....

     and after their joining Nigeria protectorate, notably in Edo state
    Edo State
    Edo State is an inland state in central southern Nigeria. Its capital is Benin City. It is bounded in the north and east by Kogi State, in the south by Delta State and in the west by Ondo State.-History:...

     at Benin City
    Benin City
    Benin City, is a city and the capital of Edo State in southern Nigeria. It is a city approximately twenty-five miles north of the Benin River. It is situated 200 miles by road east of Lagos...

     (first to the British-installed ruling council of chiefs, later ?to the restored Oba), with the Emir of and in Bauchi
    Bauchi Emirate
    The Bauchi Emirate was founded by Fula in the early 19th century in what is now Bauchi State, Nigeria, with its capital in Bauchi. The emirate came under British "protection" in the colonial era, and is now denoted a traditional state.-History:...

    , to the jointly ruling bale
    Bale
    - Places :* Bale , a small town in Croatia* Bale, California, in Napa County* Bale, Norfolk in England* Bale, Poland* Balé Province, Burkina Faso* Basel, the Swiss city, for which the French name is Bâle-Ethiopia:* Bale Mountains...

     and balogun of Ibadan
    Ibadan
    Ibadan is the capital city of Oyo State and the third largest metropolitan area in Nigeria, after Lagos and Kano, with a population of 1,338,659 according to the 2006 census. Ibadan is also the largest metropolitan geographical area...

     (a vassal state in Yoruba
    Yoruba people
    The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...

    land), with the Emir of Illorin, with the Emir of and in Muri (Nigeria)
    Muri (Nigeria)
    Muri is a town and traditional emirate in the northwestern Taraba State of eastern Nigeria, approximately between 9 and 11 40 E. and 7 10 and 9 40 N. The Benue River is nearby, and the portion on the southern bank of the river is watered by streams flowing from the Cameroon region to the Benue. ...

    , with the Emir of Nupe
    Nupe
    The Nupe, traditionally called the Tapa by the neighbouring Yoruba, are an ethnic group located primarily in the Middle Belt and northern Nigeria, and are the dominant group in Niger and an important minority in Kwara State.-History:...


Residents in Asia

For those working in the Malay states, see the British Residents(-general) section below as they came under the authority of a Resident-general

British Residents were posted in various Princely state
Princely state
A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...

s—in major states or groups of states—in the days of British India. Often they were appointed to a single state, as with the Resident in Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....

, the capital of Oudh; to the Maharaja Gaekwar of Baroda; to the Maharaja Sindhya of Gwalior; to the Nizam al-Molk of Hyderabad
Hyderabad State
-After Indian independence :When India gained independence in 1947 and Pakistan came into existence in 1947, the British left the local rulers of the princely states the choice of whether to join one of the new dominions or to remain independent...

; to the Maharaja Rana of Jhalawar
Jhalawar
Jhalawar is a city in southeastern Rajasthan. It was the capital of the former princely state of Jhalawar, and is the administrative headquarters of Jhalawar District. Jhalawar was once known as Brijnagar .-Jhalawar town:...

; to the restored Maharaja of Mysore, after the fall of Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...

; to the Maharaja Sena Sahib Subah of the Mahratta state of Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...

; to the (Maha)Raja of Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...

; to the (Maha)Raja of Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...

; to the Maharana of Mewar
Mewar
Mewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and some of the part of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom that later...

 in Udaipur.
Even when Lord Lake
Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake
General Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake was a British general. He commanded British forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the military in British India.-Background:...

 had broken the Mahratta
Mahratta
Mahratta may refer to* the Maratha caste, a ruling class of the Indian subcontinent* the Maratha EmpireShips*SS Mahratta , lost in a collision with SS Victoria in 1887 in the River Hoogly.* SS Mahratta , lost on the Goodwin Sands in 1909....

 power in 1803, and the Mughal emperor
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

 was taken under the protection of the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

, the districts of Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

 and Hissar
Hisar, India
Hisar city, previously spelled Hissar, is the administrative headquarters of Hisar district, in the state of Haryana, in northwestern India. Hisar was founded in 1354 CE, as Hissar-e-Firoza by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, who reigned over the Sultanate of Delhi from 1351 to 1388. on the demolished ruins...

 were assigned for the maintenance of the royal family, and were administered by a British Resident, until in 1832 the whole area was annexed to the North-Western Provinces
North-Western Provinces
The North-Western Provinces was an administrative region in British India which succeeded the Ceded and Conquered Provinces and existed in one form or another from 1836 until 1902, when it became the Agra Province within the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh .-Area:The province included all...

.

A Resident could however also be posted to a group of princely states, usually because most were considered rather unimportant, either to a geographical group or to one of states with other links between them.

British Residents were also posted in major states considered to be connected with India, neighbouring or on the sea route to it, notably:
  • in Aden
    Aden
    Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...

     (while subordinated to the Bombay Presidency
    Bombay Presidency
    The Bombay Presidency was a province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the English East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its greatest...

    ), the only part of the present-day Yemen
    Yemen
    The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

     made a colony in full British possession. The last of three British Political Agents since 1939 stayed on as first Resident since 1859, the last again staying on in 1932 as first Chief Commissioner; he was the only diplomatic representative to the various Arabian rulers who over time accepted British protectorate, but since the 1935 legal separation from British India was followed in 1937 by a reorganisation into an Eastern and a Western Aden Protectorate (based at Mukallah and Lahej; together covering all Yemen), the British Representatives in each were styled British Political Officer
    Political officer
    Political officer may refer to:*Political officer , Occasionally, a synonym for political commissar*Political officer , in the context of the British Empire, for a pseudo-ambassadorial role in areas bordering imperial territories...

    s
  • in Afghanistan
    Afghanistan
    Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

    , a kingdom entitled to a gun salute of 21 guns (the highest rank among princely state
    Princely state
    A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...

    s, not then among Sovereign monarchs): the first British Residents were Sir Alexander Burnes (1837 – 2 November 1841); William Hay McNaghten (7 August 1839 – 23 December 1841); Eldred Pottinger (December 1841 – 6 January 1842).After that, four native Vakils acted on behalf of the British government: Nawab Foujdar Khan (1856 – April 1859), Ghulam Husain Khan Allizai (April 1859 – 1865), Bukhiar Khan (February 1864 – January 1868, acting), Attah Muhammad Khan Khagwani (January 1868 – 1878); then there were two more British Residents Louis Napoleon Cavagnari (24 July 1879 – 3 September 1879), Henry Lepel-Griffin (1880); next came two Military Commanders (8 October 1879 – 11 August 1880) and until 1919 ten native British Agents, one od whom served two non-consecutive terms.
  • Hiram Cox was the first British Resident to the King of independent Burma (October 1796 – July 1797), and there were more discontinuous posting to that court, in the 19th century, never satisfactory to either party; after the British conquest of Burma there were two separate British Residents in a border zone of that country: in the Northern Shan States and in the Southern Shan States (each several tribal states, usually ruled by a Saopha
    Saopha
    Saopha, Chaofa, or Sawbwa was a royal title used by the rulers of the Shan States of Myanmar . The word means "king" in the Shan and Tai languages...

    =Sawbwa) in 1945–1948 (each group had been under a Superintendent from 1887/88 till 1922, then both jointly under a Resident Commissioner till the 1942 Japanese occupation)
  • after five military governors since the East India Company started chasing the Dutch out of Ceylon in August 1795 and occupying the island (completed in 16 February 1796), their only Resident there was Robert Andrews, 12 February 1796 – 12 October 1798, who was subordinate to the presidency of Madras (see British India), afterwards the HEIC appointed Governors as it was made a separate colony
  • to the Sultan of the Maldives
    Maldives
    The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...

     archipelago since he formally accepted British protection on 16 December 1887 (informally since 1796, after the British took over Ceylon from the Dutch), but in fact this office was filled ex officio by the colonial Governors of until 4 February 1948, abolished on 26 July 1965
  • in Nepal
    Nepal
    Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

     since 1802, accredited to the Hindu Kings (title Maharajadhiraja), since 15 March 1816 exercising a de facto protectorate—the last staying on 1920 as Envoy
    Envoy (title)
    In diplomacy, an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary is, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, a diplomat of the second class, ranking between an Ambassador and a Minister Resident....

     till the 1923 emancipation
  • with the Imam/Sultan of Oman
    Oman
    Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...

    , 1800–1804, 1805–1810 and 1840 (so twice interrupted by vacancy), then located with the African branch of the dynasty on Zanzibar island, since 1862 his role was handed over to a Political Agent


And elsewhere:
  • in Transjordan
    Transjordan
    The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...

     (present Jordan) April 1921 – 17 June 1946 four incumbents accredited to the Hashemite Emir/King


Even in overseas territories occupied ('preventively' or conquered) to keep the French out of strategic trade and waters, residencies could be established, e.g. at Laye
Laye
Laye is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in southeastern France.-Population:-References:*...

 on Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

, an island returned to the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....


Residents in (British) European protectorates

Since on 5 November 1815 the United States of the Ionian Islands became a federal republic of seven islands (Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, Santa Maura, Ithaca, Cerigo and Paxos), as a protectorate (nominally of the allied Powers; de facto UK protectorate; the highest office was the always-British Lord High Commissioner
Lord High Commissioner
Lord High Commissioner is the style of High Commissioners, i.e. direct representatives of the monarch, in three cases in the Kingdom of Scotland and the United Kingdom, two of which are no longer extant...

), until its 1 June 1864 incorporation into independent Greece, there were British Residents, each posted with a local Prefect, on seven individual islands, notably: Cephalonia (Kephalonia), Cerigo (Kythira), Ithaca
Ithaca
Ithaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and...

, Paxos
Paxos
Paxos may refer to:* Paxos algorithm, an algorithm for fault tolerant distributed systems* Paxoi, a Greek island...

, Santa Maura (Leucada/Lefkada) and Zante (Zakynthos)

Residents on (British & dominion) Ocean Island states

  • in the early colonial settlement phase on New Zealand
    New Zealand
    New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

     (where the Polynesian Māori declared independence on 28 October 1835 as the Confederation of the United Tribes, under British protectorate), from 10 May 1833 James Busby
    James Busby
    James Busby is widely regarded as the "father" of the Australian wine industry, as he took the first collection of vine stock from Spain and France to Australia. Later he become a British Resident who traveled to New Zealand, involved in the drafting of the Declaration of the Independence of New...

     (b. 1801 – d. 1871; from 1834–1836 jointly with Thomas McDonnell
    Thomas McDonnell, Snr.
    Thomas McDonnell, Snr. was a timber trader and Additional British Resident in New Zealand...

     as co-Resident) till 28 January 1840, then two Lieutenant governors (as part of New South Wales
    New South Wales
    New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

    , in Australia) and many Governors since 3 January 1841
  • at Rarotonga
    Rarotonga
    Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 , out of the country's total population of 19,569.The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings and international airport are on Rarotonga...

     since the 1888 establishment of the British protectorate over the Cook Islands
    Cook Islands
    The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...

    ; the third and last incumbent stayed on as first Resident Commissioner since 1901, at the incorporation in the British Western Pacific Territories
    British Western Pacific Territories
    The British Western Pacific Territories was the name of a colonial entity, created in 1877, for the administration, under a single representative of the British Crown, styled High Commissioner, of a series of relatively minor Pacific islands in and around Oceania...

     (under a single High Commissioner, till its 1976 dissolution, in Suva or Honoria), until the abolition of the post at the 1965 self-government grant as territory in free association with New Zealand, having its own cabinet (still under the British Crown, which after the 1976 appoints a special King's/Queens Representative as well as a High Commissioner).

Residents in protectorates of decolonised Commonwealth states

  • Sikkim
    Sikkim
    Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

    , where the Maharaja
    Maharaja
    Mahārāja is a Sanskrit title for a "great king" or "high king". The female equivalent title Maharani denotes either the wife of a Maharaja or, in states where that was customary, a woman ruling in her own right. The widow of a Maharaja is known as a Rajamata...

     had been under a British protectorate (1861 – 15 August 1947; the crown representative was styled Political Agent), became immediately afterwards a protectorate of newly independent India
    India
    India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

     (formally from 5 December 1950; in the meantime the Indian representative was again styled Political Agent, the first incumbent actually being the former British Political Agent—India was a dominion
    Dominion
    A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...

    , still under the British crown, till 26 January 1950) until 16 May 1975, it was annexed as a constituent state of India.

Dutch colonial Residents

In the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....

, Dutch residents and lower ranks such as assistant residents were posted alongside a number of the many native princes in present Indonesia, compare Regentschap.

For example on Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

, there were Dutch Residents at Palembang
Palembang
Palembang is the capital city of the South Sumatra province in Indonesia. Palembang is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being a capital of a maritime empire. Located on the Musi River banks on the east coast of southern Sumatra island, it has an area of 400.61 square...

, at in Deli sultanate; another was posted with the Sultan of and on Ternate
Ternate
Ternate is an island in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It is located off the west coast of the larger island of Halmahera, the center of the powerful former Sultanate of Ternate....

, one on Bali etc.*

French colonial Residents

France also maintained Residents, the French word being Résident.

However the 'Jacobine' tradition of strict state authority didn't agree well with indirect rule, so often direct rule was preferred.

Many were part of a white colonial hierarchy, rather than truly posted with a native ruler or chieftain. Those under the authority of a Resident general are treated in that section, below.

In the following sub-sections are only other (solo-)residencies.

Style Résident

  • A single post of Resident was also created in Côte d'Ivoire, i.e. Ivory Coast (from 1881 subordinated to the Superior Commandant of Gabon
    Gabon
    Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

     and the Gulf of Guinea Settlements; from 1886 subordinated to the Lieutenant Governors of Guinea
    Guinea
    Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...

    ), where in 1842 France had declared protectorates over the Kingdoms of Nzima and Sanwi (posts at Assinié 1843–1870, and Grand Bassam, Fort Dabou 1853–1872, part of the Colony of Gorée and Dependencies in Senegal]):
    • 1871–1885 Arthur Verdier (to 1878 Warden of the French Flag) (b. 1835 – d. 1898)
    • 1885–1886 Charles Bour -Commandant-particular
    • 1886 – 9 March 1890 Marcel Treich Leplène (b. 1860 – d. 1890)
    • 9 March 1890 – 14 June 1890 Jean Joseph Étienne Octave Péan (acting)
    • 14 June 1890 – 1892 Jean Auguste Henri Desailles
    • 1892 Eloi Bricard (acting)
    • 1892 – 12 November 1892 Julien Voisin (acting)
    • 12 November 1892 – 10 March 1893 Paul Alphonse Frédéric Heckman; thereafter it had its own Governors
  • On the Comoros
    Comoros
    The Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa, on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar...

    , in the Indian Ocean, several Residents were posted with the various native sultanates
    Sultans on the Comoros
    Several Sultanates on the Comoros, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean with an ethnically complex mix, were founded after the introduction of Islam into the area in the 15th century. Other uses depending on the island could also be styled fani, mfaume and ntibe. Unlike sultans in many other Arab...

     on major islands; they were all three subordinated to the French administrator
    Administration (government)
    The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to jurisdiction.-United States:In United States usage, the term refers to the executive branch under a specific president , for example: the "Barack Obama administration." It can also mean an executive branch agency...

    s of Mayotte
    Mayotte
    Mayotte is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre , a smaller island, Petite-Terre , and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and...

     island protectorate (itself constituting the native Maore or Mawuti sultanate):
    • On Ngazidja (Grande Comore
      Grande Comore
      Grande Comore is an island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. It is the largest island in the Comoros nation. Most of its population is of the Comorian ethnic group. Its population as of 2006 is about 316,600. The island's capital is Moroni, which is also the national capital...

       island, divided in eleven sultanates, some of which on occasian had the superior title of Sultani tibe): November 1886 – 1912
    • On Ndzuwani (Anjouan
      Anjouan
      Anjouan is an autonomous island, part of the Union of Comoros. The island is located in the Indian Ocean. Its capital is Mutsamudu and its population as of 2006 is about 277,500. The total area of the island is 424 sq. kilometers Anjouan (also known as Ndzuwani or Nzwani) is an autonomous island,...

       island) with the Phany (sole Sultan): only two incumbents 188x–189x
    • On Mwali (Mohéli
      Mohéli
      Mohéli, also known as Mwali, is one of the three islands which make up the nation of Comoros. Mohéli is located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. It is by far the smallest of the Comoros islands. Its population, as of 2006, is about 38,000. Its capital city is Fomboni...

       island) from 1886; then 1889–1912 filled by the above résidents of Anjouan
  • On Wallis and Futuna
    Wallis and Futuna
    Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands , is a Polynesian French island territory in the South Pacific between Tuvalu to the northwest, Rotuma of Fiji to the west, the main part of Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast,...

    , after a single French Representative styled chargé de mission (7 April 1887 – 26 June 1888, Maurice Antoine Chauvot), there was a long list of Residents from 7 April 1887; since 3 October 1961, when both islands were joined as the Wallis & Futuna overseas territory, their successors were styled Administrateur supérieur 'Administrator-superior', but the native dynasties remain; they represented the French government by virtue of the protectorate treaties with the Tui
    Tui
    As a noun, Tui may refer to:* Tu'i , a title of nobility in Polynesia and some of Melanesia* Tui Awards, New Zealand's annual music industry awards* Tui , a brand of New Zealand beer produced by Tui Breweries...

     (ruler) of `Uvea (Wallis island, 5 April 1887; 27 November 1887 administratively attached to New Caledonia
    New Caledonia
    New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...

    ) and on 16 February 1888 with the two kingdoms on Futuna—Tu`a (also called Alo) and Sigave
    Sigave
    Sigavé is one of the three official chiefdoms of the French territory of Wallis and Futuna in Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean.-Geography:...


Résident supérieur

This French title, meaning "Superior" (i.e. Senior) Resident, indicates that he had junior Residents BOO
In Upper Volta
French Upper Volta
Upper Volta was a colony of French West Africaestablished on March 1, 1919, from territories that had been part of the colonies of Upper Senegal and Niger and the Côte d'Ivoire...

 (present Burkina Faso), which had its own Lieutenant governor (before) or Governor (after) and intermediately has been part of one or (carved up) more neighbouring French colonies, there has been one Résident-Superieur of "Upper Ivory Coast", 1 January 1938 – 29 July 1940, while it was part of the Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...

 colony: Edmond Louveau
  • In Cambodia
    Cambodia
    Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

    , where the local royal government was theoretically maintained, the resident at Phnom-Penh was the Resident-Superior, over the various Residents posted throughout Cambodia. The Resident-Superior of Cambodia answered to the Governor-General of French Indo-China

German colonial Residents

In the German colonies, the title was also Resident; the post was called Residentur.
  • in Wituland
    Wituland
    Wituland was an approximately territory in East Africa centered on the town of Witu just inland from Indian Ocean port of Lamu north of the mouth of the Tana River in what is now Kenya.-History:Founded in 1858 by the former ruler of the insular Pate sultanate after several abortive moves to the...

    : Ahmed ibn Fumo Bakari, the first mfalume (sultan) of Witu (on the Kenyan coast), ceded 25 square miles (64.7 km²) of territory on 8 April 1885 to the brothers Clemens and Gustav Denhardt’s “Tana Company”, and the remainder of the Wituland became the German Schutzgebiet (Protectorate) of Wituland
    Wituland
    Wituland was an approximately territory in East Africa centered on the town of Witu just inland from Indian Ocean port of Lamu north of the mouth of the Tana River in what is now Kenya.-History:Founded in 1858 by the former ruler of the insular Pate sultanate after several abortive moves to the...

     (Deutsch-Witu) on 27 May 1885. The Reich was represented there by the German Residents: Gustav Denhardt (b. 1856 – d. 1917; in office 8 April 1885 – 1 July 1890) and his deputy Clemens Andreas Denhardt (b. 1852 – d. 1928) until on 1 July 1890 imperial Germany renounces its protectorate, ceding the Wituland to Great Britain which had on 18 June 1890 declared it a British protectorate).
  • in German East Africa
    German East Africa
    German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....

    • Resident of Ruanda: 1906 – 15 November 1907 Werner von Grawert (d. 1918), formerly the last military district commander of Usumbura (the other district being Ujiji)
    • Resident of Urundi (present Burundi): 15 November 1907 – June 1916, starting with the same as above; formally accredited to the native Mwami (King; on 8 October 1905 the Germans recognized the already ruling Mwezi IV Gisabo as "Sultan" of Burundi and its only supreme authority)
    • Resident of Bukoba
      Bukoba
      Bukoba is a town in northwest Tanzania on the western shore of Lake Victoria. It is the capital of the Kagera region. Population estimate: 100,000...

       west of Lake Victoria
      Lake Victoria
      Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....

       overseeing an area of 32,200 km²;

  • in German Kamerun
    • Resident of Garua
    • Resident of Mora
      Mora, Cameroon
      Mora is a town in northern Cameroon. The German fort of Mora was the last German fort in Cameroon to surrender during World War I. After a long time under blockade by allied forces, Captain von Raben and his men surrenderd to the allied forces on February 20, 1916, over a year after the rest of the...

    • Resident of Ngaundere

  • in German South-West Africa
    German South-West Africa
    German South West Africa was a colony of Germany from 1884 until 1915, when it was taken over by South Africa and administered as South West Africa, finally becoming Namibia in 1990...

     (present Namibia)
    • Resident of Schuckmannsburg
      Schuckmannsburg
      Schuckmannsburg is an African village in the Caprivi Strip in northeastern Namibia with a population of about 800. It belongs to the Kabbe electoral constituency of the Caprivi Region...

       for the Caprivi Strip
      Caprivi Strip
      Caprivi, sometimes called the Caprivi Strip , Caprivi Panhandle or the Okavango Strip and formally known as Itenge, is a narrow protrusion of Namibia eastwards about , between Botswana to the south, Angola and Zambia to the north, and Okavango Region to the west. Caprivi is bordered by the...

      .

Portuguese colonial Residents

  • In Cabinda
    Cabinda (province)
    Cabinda is an exclave and province of Angola, a status that has been disputed by many political organizations in the territory. The capital city is also called Cabinda. The province is divided into four municipalities - Belize, Buco Zau, Cabinda and Cacongo.Modern Cabinda is the result of a fusion...

     (in present Angola
    Angola
    Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

    ), five incumbents from 1885 (18 July 1885 Portuguese Congo district created after 14 February 1885 confirmation by the Berlin Conference of the 1883 Portuguese protectorate over "Portuguese Congo") to 1899 (end of autonomy under the Governors of Congo district which had its seat in Cabinda since 1887)
  • In the Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá (in present Benin
    Benin
    Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...

    ), civil residents served from 1911 (withdrawal of the portuguese military garrison) until 31 July 1961 (invasion of the fort by the Benin military forces)

In the British Malay states and possessions

At the "national" level of British Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...

, after the post of High Commissioners had been filled (1 July 1896 – 1 April 1946) by the governors of the Straits Settlements (see Singapore), Britain appointed the following Residents-general:
  • 1 July 1896 – 1901 Frank Athelstane Swettenham
    Frank Swettenham
    Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham GCMG CH was the first Resident General of the Federated Malay States which was formed by combining a number of sultanates. He served from 1 July 1896 to 1901. He was also an amateur photographer...

     (b. 1850 – d. 1946; from 1897, Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham)
  • 1901–1904 William Hood Treacher
    William Hood Treacher
    Sir William Hood Treacher, K.C.M.G. was born on 1 December 1849 and died on 3 May 1919. Sir William was the fourth son of Rev. Joseph Skipper Treacher, MA, Vicar of Sandford-on-Thames, by his 1st wife Pauline Louise Pierret. He was the sixth British Resident of Perak and the first Governor of...

     (b. 1849 – d. 1919)
  • 1904–1910 Sir William Thomas Taylor (b. 1848 – d. 1931)
  • 1910–1911 Arthur Henderson Young (b. 1854 – d. 1938)


Then there were various British Chief Secretaries 1911–1936 and two Federal Secretaries until 31 January 1942; after three Japanese Military governors, the British Governor (1 April 1946 – 1 February 1948) stayed on as first of four High Commissioners as de facto Governor-general of the Federation of Malaya until independence on 31 August 1957 saw the creation of an elective federal Paramount ruler
Paramount Ruler
The term Paramount Ruler, or sometimes Paramount King, is a generic description, though occasionally also used as an actual title, for a number of rulers' position in relative terms, as the summit of a feudal-type pyramid of rulers of lesser polities in a given historical and geographical context,...

 styled Yang Dipertuan Agong (since 16 September 1961 with the addition bagi Malaysia).

There were specific Residents accredited in most constituent Malay states:
  • 1885–1911 British Residents were appointed to the Sultans (until 1886 styled Maharaja) of Johore, an unfederated state until 1946; thereafter the British crown was represented by General Advisers until the Japanese occupation, finally by Commissioners 1945–1948
  • 1888–1941 to the Yang Di Pertuan Besar (state's elective ruler) of the nine member-confederation Negeri Sembilan
    Negeri Sembilan
    Negeri Sembilan, one of the 13 states that constitutes Malaysia, lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia, just south of Kuala Lumpur and borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the south....

    , which accepted a British protectorate in 1888 and acceded in 1896 to the Federation; again British Commissioners after the Japanese occupation
    • 1883–1895 additional British Residents were appointed to the Yang Di-Pertuan Muda (ruler) of Jelebu
      Jelebu
      Jelebu is second largest districts in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia after Jempol, consisting more than 40,000 in population. Jelebu borders with the Seremban district, Jempol district, Kuala Pilah district, Pahang and Selangor...

      , a major member principality
    • 1875–1889 additional British Residents were also appointed to the Undang Luak Sungai Ujong (ruler) of Sungai Ujong, another major member principality
  • 1888–1938 British Residents were appointed to the Sultans (until 1882 styled Bendahara Seri Maharaja) of Pahang
    Pahang
    Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, occupying the huge Pahang River river basin. It is bordered to the north by Kelantan, to the west by Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, to the south by Johor and to the east by Terengganu and the South China Sea.Its state...

     from the start of the British protectorate; again British Commissioners after the Japanese occupation
  • 1874–1941 British Residents to the Sultans of Perak
    Perak
    Perak , one of the 13 states of Malaysia, is the second largest state in the Peninsular Malaysia bordering Kedah and Yala Province of Thailand to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, Selangor the Strait of Malacca to the south and west.Perak means silver in Malay...

     as written in the Pangkor Treaty of 1874
    Pangkor Treaty of 1874
    The Pangkor Treaty of 1874 was a treaty signed between the British and the Sultan of Perak. Signed on January 20, 1874, on the island of Pangkor off Perak, the treaty is significant in the history of the Malay states as it legitimized British control of the Malay rulers and paved the way for...

    , since they exchanged Thai sovereignty for a British protectorate; since 1 July 1896 part of the Federated Malay States; after the Japanese occupation a single British Commissioner
  • 1875–1941 British Residents to the Sultans of Selangor
    Selangor
    Selangor also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity") is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and the Strait of Malacca to the west...

     during the Klang War
    Klang War
    The Klang War or Selangor Civil War took place in the Malay state of Selangor and was fought between Raja Abdullah bin Raja Jaafar, the administrator of Klang and Raja Mahadi bin Raja Sulaiman from 1867 to 1874...

    , a year after accepting British protectorate (never under Thailand), 1 July 1896 part of Federated Malay States; after the Japanese occupation British Commissioners


A similar position, under another title, was held in the other Malay states:
  • 1909–41 British Advisers replaced the Thai king's Advisers in the sultanate of Kedah
    Kedah
    Kedah is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km², and it consists of the mainland and Langkawi. The mainland has a relatively flat terrain, which is used to grow rice...

    , an unfederated state; after Japanese and Thai occupation, British Commissioners were appointed
  • 1903–41 British Advisers replaced Thai ones in the sultanate of Kelantan
    Kelantan
    Kelantan is a state of Malaysia. The capital and royal seat is Kota Bharu. The Arabic honorific of the state is Darul Naim, ....

    , an unfederated state; after Japanese and Thai occupation, British Commissioners were appointed
  • 1909–1941 British Advisers replaced Thai ones with the Rajas of Perlis
    Perlis
    Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia. It lies at the northern part of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and has Satun and Songkhla Provinces of Thailand on its northern border. It is bordered by the state of Kedah to the south...

    , since the acceptance of British protectorate as an unfederated state instead of the Thai sovereignty (since the secession from Kedah) and were appointed again after Japanese and Thai occupation, until 1 April 1946 it joins the Malay Union (from 16 September 1963, Malaysia)
  • 1904–25 British Agents were appointed to the Sultans of Terengganu
    Terengganu
    Terengganu is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Iman...

    , i.e. even before the 9 July 1909 exchange of Thai sovereignty for a British protectorate as unfederated Malay state, then Advisers 1919–1941 (overlap merely both titles for the same incumbent); after Japanese and Thai occupation, British Commissioners were appointed.


In the Straits Settlements
Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...

, under direct British rule:
  • in Singapore
    Singapore
    Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

    , after two separate British Residents (7 February 1819 – December 1822 William Farquhar, then John Crawfurd), the Governors of the Straits Settlements filled the post 1826 – 15 February 1942; after four Japanese Military Administrators and two Japanese Mayors, a British Military Administrator 12 September 1945 – 1 April 1946, then four British Governors and the second incumbent stayed on as first of two gubernatorial 'Heads of state' styled yang di-pertuan negara
    Yang di-Pertuan Negara
    Yang di-Pertuan Negara, meaning "Head of State" in Malay, was used as an official title at various times in Sabah, Singapore and Brunei.-Singapore:...

    , his Malay successor also becoming the first President after independence
  • In Malacca
    Malacca
    Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...

     (Melaka), a former Dutch colony, seven consecutive British Residents were in office 1795–1818, followed by three Dutch governors; after the final inclusion in the British Strait Settlements, 1826, most were titled Resident Councillor, except the periode 1910–1920 reverting to the style Resident; after the Japanese occupation, Resident Commissioner
    Resident Commissioner
    Resident Commissioner is the title of several, quite different types of Commissioner in overseas possession or protectorate of the British Crown or of the United States.-British English:...

    s took their place until the 1957 independence installed Malaysian Governors and Chief Ministers
  • In Penang
    Penang
    Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...

     (Pinang), after three Superintendents for the British East India Company (1786–1799; only Prince of Wales Island
    Penang Island
    Penang Island is part of the state of Penang, on the west coat of Peninsular Malaysia. It was named Prince of Wales Island when it was occupied by the British East India Company on 12 August 1786, in honour of the birthday of the Prince of Wales, later King George IV...

     had yet been ceded to the British by the Sultan of Kedah), then two Lieutenant-governors (in 1801 Province Wellesley on the mainland was added) and many Governors after 1805 (since 1826 as part of the Strait Settlements), only Resident Councillorss were in office 1849–1941 (name Penang assumed in 1867); after four Japanese and since 1945 two British military governors, four Resident Commissioners 1946–1957, since then Malaysian-appointed "heads of state".


On Northern Borneo, contrary to the Malay peninsula, in Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...

 and Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...

 no such officials were appointed, as there were white rulers or governors;

but to the still sovereign Sultans of Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...

, lying between those larger states, British Residents were appointed 1906–1959 (interrupted by Japanese commander Masao Baba 6 January 1942 – 14 June 1945), afterwards only High Commissioners for the matters not transferred under autonomy (and 1971 self-government) until full independence went in force 1 January 1984.

In Africa

  • In Morocco
    Morocco
    Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

    , accredited with the Sultan: Residents-general 28 April 1912 – 2 March 1956 (first incumbent previously military governor)
  • In Tunisia
    Tunisia
    Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

    , accredited with the Basha Bey Residents-general 23 June 1885 – 31 August 1955; first incumbent was the last of the two previous Resident ministers
  • On Madagascar
    Madagascar
    The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

    : 28 April 1886 – 31 July 1897

In Indochina

  • In present Vietnam
    Vietnam
    Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

     & Laos: Residents-general for Annam-Tonkin
    Tonkin
    Tonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...

     (at Hué) 11 June 1884 – 9 May 1889
    • Residents-Superior for Annam (also at Hué) 1886 – 1950s (at least 1953)
    • Residents-Superior for Tonkin
      Tonkin
      Tonkin , also spelled Tongkin, Tonquin or Tongking, is the northernmost part of Vietnam, south of China's Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces, east of northern Laos, and west of the Gulf of Tonkin. Locally, it is known as Bắc Kỳ, meaning "Northern Region"...

       (at Hanoi; subordinated to Annam until 1888) 1886–1950s (at least 1953)—but none in Cochinchina
    • Residents-superior for Laos
      Laos
      Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

       September 1895 – 5 April 1945
  • In Cambodia
    Cambodia
    Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

     Residents-general 12 August 1885 – 16 May 1889;
    • later downgraded (under Hué?) to Residents-superior 16 May 1889 – 15 October 1945
    • several regional Résidents

Belgian

(Belgium mainly used French in the colonies; the word in its other official language, Dutch, is Resident-generaal)
  • Burundi (cfr. German above; there were Belgian Residents ): 1960 – 1 July 1962 Jean-Paul Harroy (b. 1909 – d. 1995), staying on after being its Belgian last Governor (and Deputy Governor-general of the Belgian Congo)

Japanese (original title?)

In the protectorate Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, accredited to the Choson
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

 Monarch (rendered as King or Emperor) 21 Dec 1905 – 1 Oct 1910 three incumbents, all Japanese peers (new western-type styles, rendered as: Marquess/Duke or Viscount); the last stayed on as the first Governor-General after full annexation to Japan

Postcolonial Residents

On occasion, residents were maintained, notably by former colonial powers, in territories in a transitional process to a new constitutional status, such as full independence. Such function could also be performed under another title, such as Commissioner or High Commissioner.

Thus after World War I, there were Residents in some mandate territories:
  • after the French and British occupation of the former German colony Kamerun
    Kamerun
    German Cameroon was a West African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon.-History:-1800s:...

     (since 26 September 1914), Britain started appointing a long line of Residents (some were District Officer or Senior D.O., others Deputy Resident or Senior Resident) in its zone from 1916, even before the 28 June 1919 formal division into French and British Cameroons and the 20 July 1920 British Cameroons, League of Nations mandate; they continued in the 13 December 1946 created British Cameroons United Nations trust territory, until 31 December 1949; next a single Special Resident was appointed (although in 1949 Southern Cameroons was divided into two provinces: Bamenda, capital Bamenda, and Southern, capital Buea) until 1 October 1954 when British Cameroons became an autonomous part of Nigeria
    Nigeria
    Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

    ; next two Commissioners were appointed in stead, until on 1 October 1961 Southern British Cameroons was incorporated into the Republic of Cameroon (the former French Cameroun), the northern part was already united with Nigeria on 1 June 1961.
  • Present Jordan
    Jordan
    Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

     was part since 12 May 1920 of the British mandate of Palestine (under a British High Commissioner
    High Commissioner
    High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...

    ), but in August 1920 the British create autonomous local administrations in Ajlun, Salt, and Karak—with limited success; 11 April 1921 the Emirate of Transjordan
    Transjordan
    The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...

     (under British mandate); 26 May 1923 Transjordan formally separated from Palestine; 28 Feb 1928 Britain recognizes Transjordan mandate as independent, but maintains military and some financial control; 25 May 1946 proclamation of the Hashemite Kingdom (style Malik
    Malik
    Malik is an Arabic word meaning "king, chieftain".It has been adopted in various other, mainly Islamized or Arabized, Asian languages for their ruling princes and to render kings elsewhere. It is also sometimes used in derived meanings...

    ) of Transjordan (present Jordan
    Jordan
    Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

    ); the 17 June 1946 formal independence from Britain finally ends the term of the last of four British Residents:
    • April 1921 – 21 November 1921 Albert Abramson (b. 1876 – d. 19..)
    • 21 November 1921 – April 1924 Harry St. John Bridger Philby (b. 1885 – d. 1960)
    • August 1924 – March 1939 Henry Cox (from 1937, Charles Henry Cox) (b. 1880 – d. 1953)
    • March 1939 – 17 June 1946 Alec Seath Kirkbride (b. 1897 – d. 1978)


Also after World War II, and not only in former mandate territories; e.g. in parts of Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

, a former Italian colony, put under UN administration since 1946 prior to their unification as a Libyan kingdom, Britain maintained a Resident in Tripolitania
Tripolitania
Tripolitania or Tripolitana is a historic region and former province of Libya.Tripolitania was a separate Italian colony from 1927 to 1934...

 April 1949 – 24 December 1951 and another in Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...

 17 September 1949 – 24 December 1951, and France one in Fezzan
Fezzan
Fezzan is a south western region of modern Libya. It is largely desert but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys in the north, where oases enable ancient towns and villages to survive deep in the otherwise inhospitable Sahara.-Name:...

 1950 – 24 December 1951.

In a later phase a former colony could itself appoint such Residents, as India did 5 December 1950 – 16 May 1975 in its Himalayan protectorate Sikkim
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

, then still an independent monarchy (afterwards absorbed into India as an additional constitutive state) where Britain had obtained a protectorate over the Maharaja in 1861, see above.

Variations on the title

  • Government Resident: in Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

    :
    • in the Northern Territory
      Northern Territory
      The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

      , under the authority of the Governor of New South Wales
      New South Wales
      New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

      , after having been merely under Military Commanders: 3 March 1864 – 1 January 1911, at which date it became a separate territory but the last incumbent stayed on as first of six Administrators; then again 1 February 1927 Robert Hunter Weddell was Government Resident for North Australia, until from 12 June 1931. Administrators were (and still are) appointed, even after on 1 July 1978 self-government was granted.
    • 1 March 1927 – 12 June 1931, while the above was split, there were two consecutive incumbents for Central Australia
      Central Australia
      Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...

    • during the late 1860s, the title was often used in reference to Robert John Sholl, the chief government official in the North District
      North West Australia
      The terms North West Australia, The North West and North Western Australia have been used as a regular label for the region of the North of Western Australia and the West of the Northern Territory.- Early 20th century gold rush:...

       of the Colony of Western Australia
      Western Australia
      Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

      . Sholl, who was based in Roebourne
      Roebourne, Western Australia
      Roebourne is an old gold rush town in Western Australia's Pilbara region. It is 202 km from Port Hedland and 1,563 km from Perth, the state's capital. It prospered during its gold boom of the late 19th century and was once the biggest settlement between Darwin and Perth...

      , was officially responsible for all government matters in the northern part of the Colony. (His position was later downgraded to that of Resident Magistrate
      Resident Magistrate
      A resident magistrate is a title for magistrates used in certain parts of the world, that were, or are, governed by the British. Sometimes abbreviated as RM, it refers to suitably qualified personnel - notably well versed in the law - brought into an area from outside as the local magistrate,...

       for Roebourne.)
  • Resident Administrator: in Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

    : on Lord Howe Island
    Lord Howe Island
    Lord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of...

    , repeatedly:
    • at least two incumbent 1869–1882 (the first before the settlement started in 1834 was included in New South Wales
      New South Wales
      New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

      ; in 1878 the island was declared a forest reserve, reclassified botanic reserve in 1883; since 1913 this had a Local Advisory Committee); next came non-resident Magistrates and non-resident Chairmen of a Control Board in Sidney, then two Superintendents August 1940–1945;
    • again (incumbents not known) 1945–1953, then again Chairmen of the newly created Lord Howe Island Board; since 1982 the island is a UNESCO World Heritage site

Other uses

  • In espionage
    Espionage
    Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...

    , resident (or rezident) may be used to refer to the head or representative of a country's intelligence services in a foreign country, often within an Embassy.
  • In the U.S. and Canada, the term "chief resident" applies to a physician who is appointed to act as head of the residents in his or her hospital, program or department.

Sources and references

(passim)
  • WorldStatesmen here India—see also its Princely States and other present countries mentioned or the pages for polities there
  • RoyalArk various mentions, usually in the extensive genealogies, in various states
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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