Gambia Colony and Protectorate

The Gambia Colony and Protectorate is the British colonial administration of the Gambia from 1821 to 1965, part of the British Empire in the New Imperialism era.

The colony is the immediate area surrounding Bathurst (now Banjul), and the protectorate is the inland territory situated around the Gambia River, which is declared in 1894.

The foundation of the colony is Fort James and Bathurst, where British presence had been established in 1815 and 1816, respectively.

For various periods in its existence it is subordinate to the Sierra Leone Colony; however by 1888 it is a colony in its own right with a permanently appointed Governor.

The boundaries of the territory are an issue of contention between the British and French authorities due to the proximity to French Senegal.

Additionally, on numerous occasions the British government attempts to exchange it with France for other territories, such as on the upper Niger River.

France and Britain agree in 1889 in principle to set the boundary at six miles north and south of the river and east to Yarbutenda, the furthest navigable point on the river Gambia.

This should have been followed by the dispatchment of a joint Anglo-French Boundary Commission to map the actual border.

Yet, at its arrival on place in 1891, the boundary commission is met with resistance by local leaders whose territories they have come to divide.

The boundary commission can nevertheless rely on British naval power; British ships bomb the town of Kansala to force the Gambians to back off, and according to the 1906 The Gambia Colony and Protectorate: An Official Handbook men and guns from three warships landed on the riverbanks “as a hint of what the resisters had to expect in the event of any continued resistance.”

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