Why would I move from London or all of England?

Vanessa here,

Migrations have happened through the ages. So peoples in even during the Regency had wanderlust, a strong desire to see the world. And dare I say it, they even moved beyond the ballrooms of Almack’s. They traveled, they went on holiday, and upon occasion they conquered.

After the Seven-Year War,  George Macartney in 1773, talked of the vastness of England’s reach, “the British Empire on which the sun never sets.”

The common attitude of having at least 184 colonies (accumulated from the 1700’s to 1950’s) around the globe supports the concept, making adaptations of the phase very popular:

“The sun never set on the British Flag” (Rev. R. P. Buddicom, 1827)“The sun never set on British Empire” (Christopher North 1839)

When I study the list of colonies, I believe they are quite right:

Antigua and BarbudaDog Island, GambiaMombasaSabahArchipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa CatalinaEast JerseyColony of NatalSaint Christopher-Nevis-AnguillaProvince of AvalonEssequibo (colony)New BrunswickSaint Kitts and NevisBangladeshFalkland Islands DependenciesNew England ColoniesSarawakBarbadosFijiNew HampshireCrown Colony of SarawakBasutolandFloridaProvince of New HampshireSheikhdom of KuwaitBelizeBritish GambiaNew HebridesSingaporeHistory of BelizeGambia Colony and ProtectorateNew JerseySingapore in the Straits SettlementsBengkuluThe GambiaProvince of New JerseyPost-war SingaporeBerbiceGeorgia (U.S. state)New South WalesSouth AfricaBermudaProvince of GeorgiaNew YorkSouth AustraliaBlack River (settlement)GibraltarNew ZealandSouth CarolinaBritish HondurasGilbert and Ellice IslandsColony of New ZealandProvince of South CarolinaBritish BencoolenGold Coast (British colony)Newfoundland and LabradorSouth SudanColony of British Columbia (1858–66)GrenadaNewfoundland ColonySouthern ColoniesColony of British Columbia (1866–71)GuadeloupeNicobar IslandsStoddart IslandBritish KaffrariaBritish GuianaNigeriaStraits SettlementsBritish West IndiesHeligolandNikumaroroSudanBritish Western Pacific TerritoriesHilton Young CommissionNorth AustraliaSwan River ColonyBruneiHistory of West AfricaCrown Colony of North BorneoTasmaniaBurmaHong KongNorth CarolinaColony of TasmaniaBritish rule in BurmaBritish Hong KongNova ScotiaThirteen ColoniesCanadaIndiaNyasalandTobagoProvince of Quebec (1763–91)JamaicaOhioTokelauProvince of CanadaColony of JamaicaHistory of OhioTransvaal ColonyThe CanadasJordanOhio CountryTrinidadCape Breton IslandKunta Kinteh IslandOperation Sunrise (Nyasaland)Trinidad and TobagoCape ColonyCrown Colony of LabuanOrange River ColonyUnited StatesProvince of CarolinaLagosOrange River SovereigntyHistoric regions of the United StatesCarriacou and Petite MartiniqueLagos ColonyPakistanUpper CanadaBritish CeylonLakshadweepTerritory of PapuaVan Diemen’s LandChesapeake ColoniesBritish Leeward IslandsPennsylvaniaColony of Vancouver IslandChopawamsicLower CanadaProvince of PennsylvaniaVictoria (Australia)Colonial NigeriaMainePlymouth CompanyColony of VirginiaColonial FijiMalaboPrince Edward IslandWalvis BayCôn ĐảoBritish MalayaHistory of PulicatWeihai (British Colony)ConnecticutMalayan UnionColony of the Queen Charlotte IslandsWessagusset ColonyConnecticut ColonyMalaysiaQueenslandBritish West AfricaCook IslandsMaltaRestoration (Colonies)West Indies FederationCook Islands FederationCrown Colony of MaltaColony of Rhode Island and Providence PlantationsWest JerseyCyprusMassachusettsNorthern RhodesiaWestern AustraliaBritish Cyprus (1914–1960)Province of Massachusetts BayColonial history of Southern RhodesiaWestern Samoa Trust TerritoryDelawareMauritiusSouthern RhodesiaBritish Windward IslandsDelaware ColonyMiddle ColoniesRivers StateWitulandDemeraraMinorcaRodriguesZimbabweDemerara-EssequiboMississippiRupert’s LandZulu Kingdom

Lately, I have been thinking about the hopes and dreams that sent people on a journey to an unknown world. Was it religious freedom like the Quakers? Could it be the quest of gold or the hope for eternal gold by proselytize a different people? What attitudes did they bring? Did social station withstand the hard work of building a colony timber by timber?

For my birthday (March 13 – shameless plug), my lovely husband bought me two copper engraved maps, one of England (1810) and one of South African (1835). I see stories brewing. Stay tuned.

 

References:

Bartlett, John (1865). Familiar quotations (4th ed.). Boston: Little, Brown and Company. p. 388.Bacon, Francis (1841). “An Advertisement Touching a Holy War”. Maritime Enterprise and the Genesis of the British Empire, 1480-1630.Wikipedia: English Possessions Overseas.Wikipedia: British Colonization of the Americas.Wikipedia: British Empire.

Originally posted 2015-03-09 08:00:00.