The British Empire in the nineteenth century
This guide was produced to help volunteers for the Free Census Project (FreeCEN) decide whether or not a person born outside the British Isles was nevertheless born in a British Empire territory.
OVB or OVF?
These territories made up the British Empire in the 19th century. So, if a person was born in one of these places, or is described as a British Subject (sometimes abbreviated as BS) put OVB (overseas British) in column T. Otherwise, the entry should be OVF (overseas foreign).
Do not spend long trying to puzzle out anything not covered clearly here — put your best interpretation (or UNK) in column T and an X in column V to alert the checker.
Tip: if you are not sure which region to look in, try using your browser's find facility — typically Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on Mac) or look on the Edit menu. The search box will appear in a bar at the foot (eg Firefox) or near the top (eg Safari) of the browser window.
Europe
- England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Chanel Islands (Alderney; Guernsey incl Brechou, Herm, Jethou, Sark; Jersey), Isle of Man
- Corsica, 1794–1796
- Cyprus, 1878–
- Gibraltar
- Gozo, 1802–
- Heligoland, 1807–1890
- Ionian Islands, 1809–1864
- Corfu
- Ithaca
- Kephalonia
- Kythira
- Lefkas
- Paxos
- Zakynthos or Zante
- Malta, 1802–
- Minorca, 1798–1802
Africa
- Basutoland 1868–
- Bechuanaland 1884–
- British Bechuanaland 1885–
- Bight of Benin 1852–
- Bight of Biafra 1849–
- British Central Africa 1893–
- British East Africa 1888–
- British Somaliland 1884–
- Cape Colony 1795–1803 & 1806–
- Egypt 1801–1803 &1882–
- Gambia 1816–
- Gold Coast 1874–
- Lagos Protectorate 1887–
- Matabeleland 1888–
- Mashonaland 1889–
- Natal 1856–
- Niger 1885–
- Niger Coast Protectorate
- Oil Rivers Protectorate
- Orange River Colony 1900–
- Rhodesia 1895–
- Sierra Leone
- Southern Nigeria 1891–
- Sudan 1899–
- Swaziland 1893–
- Tati Concessions Land 1872–
- Transvaal 1877–
- Uganda 1890–
- Walvis Bay
- Zanzibar 1890–
- Zululand 1887–
Asia
- Aden 1839–
- Afghanistan 1839–
- Arakan 1824–
- Bahrain 1880–
- Baluchistan 1877–
- Bencoolen 1785–1825
- Bengal
- Brunei 1888–
- Burma 1824–
- Christmas Island 1826–
- Hong Kong 1843–
- India
- Kowloon 1860–
- Malacca 1826–
- British Malaya 1824–
- New Territories 1898–
- North Borneo 1882–
- Penang 1826–
- Sarawak, Kingdom of 1888–
- Singapore 1824–
- Socotra Island 1876–
- Straits Settlements 1826–
- Surat
- Stonecutters Island 1860–
- Tenasserim 1824–
- Trucial States 1853–
- Abu Dhabi
- Ajman
- Dubai
- Sharjah
- Umm al-Quwai
- Ras al-Khaimah
- Dibba 1871–
- Hamriyah 1875–
- Weihaiwei 1898–
Indian Ocean
- Andaman Islands
- Ashmore Island 1878–
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Ceylon
- Christmas Island 1888–
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands 1825–
- Dansborg 1801–1802, 1808–1815, 1845–
- Frederiksnagore 1801–1802, 1808–1815, 1845–
- Heard Island 1833–
- Maldives
- Mauritius 1810–
- McDonald Islands 1833–
- Nicobar Islands 1848–
- Réunion 1810–1815
- Rodrigues 1810–
- Seychelles
- Tranquebar 1801–1814, 1845–
Australasia & the Pacific
- Baker Island 1886–
- Bonin Islands 1827–1876
- British New Guinea
- British Solomon Islands 1893–
- Cook Islands 1888–
- Coral Sea Islands 1879–
- Fiji 1874–
- Friendly Islands 1889–
- Gilbert and Ellice Islands 1892–
- Howland Island 1886–
- Jarvis Island 1889–
- King George Sound
- Lord Howe Island
- Macquarie Island 1810–
- New Guinea 1886–
- New Hebrides 1824–
- New South Wales
- New Zealand
- Niue 1889–
- Norfolk Island
- Palmyra Atoll 1889–1898
- Pitcairn Islands 1838–
- Queensland 1824–
- Torres Strait Islands 1879–
- Samoa 1889–1900
- Sandwich Islands –1843
- South Australia
- Swan River 1829–
- Tasmania 1855–
- Tokelau 1889–
- Van Diemen's Land 1803–
- Victoria 1839–
- Western Australia 1832–
Antarctic
- Graham Land 1832–
- South Orkney 1821–
- South Shetland 1819–
- Victoria Land 1841–
North America
- Assiniboia 1812–
- British Columbia 1858–
- Canada, Dominion of 1867–
- Canada, Province of 1841–
- Cape Breton Island
- Keewatin, District of 1876–
- Labrador
- Lower Canada
- Manitoba 1870–
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland
- North-Western Territory
- Northwest Territories 1870–
- Nova Scotia
- Ontario 1867–
- Prince Edward Island
- Quebec
- Red River Colony 1812–
- Rupert's Land
- Stikine Territory 1862–
- Upper Canada
- Vancouver Island
South America
- Berbice 1803–
- British Guiana
- Demerara 1814–
- Essequibo 1803–
North Atlantic
- Bermuda
Caribbean & Central America
- Anguilla
- Antigua
- Aruba 1799-1802 1805-1816
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Barbuda
- Bay Islands –1860
- Bonaire 1807–1815
- British Honduras
- British Virgin Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Curaçao 1800–1803 1807–1816
- Dominica
- Guadeloupe 1810–1814, 1815–1816
- Grenada
- Grenadines
- Jamaica
- Leeward Islands
- Martinique 1794–1802, 1809–1814
- Montserrat
- Mosquito Coast –1861
- Nevis
- Redonda 1872–
- Saba 1801–1803 1810–1816
- St Christopher
- St Eustatius 1801–1802 1810–1816
- St John 1801–1802, 1807–1815
- St Kitts
- St Lucia
- St Martin 1801–1802
- St Thomas 1801–1802, 1807–1815
- St Vincent & The Grenadines
- South Caribbean Islands
- Tobago
- Trinidad 1802–
- Turks & Caicos Islands
- Windward Islands
South Atlantic
- Ascension Island 1815–
- Falkland Islands 1774–1833, 1841–
- St Helena
- South Georgia
- South Sandwich Islands
- Tristan da Cunha 1816–
Notes
- All these territories were under British control during the whole of the 19th century, unless a date (or range) is given. An entry such as “New Colony –1804, 1815–1835, 1874–” should be read as: “New Colony was part of the British Empire up to 1804, from 1815 to 1835 and from 1874 onwards.”
- Sources: the lists were compiled largely from the Wikipedia article, the Evolution of the British Empire. In addition, a number of other sources were used to check, clarify or expand the information given there. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure accuracy, I would be more than happy to receive any corrections or additions.