Colonial Secretary

The member of the British Cabinet responsible for the Colonial Office and the administration of Britain’s colonies. The office, formally Secretary of State for the Colonies, was created in 1768, abolished in 1782, and re-established in 1854. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Colonial Secretary oversaw colonial policy and relations with colonial governments, including those of self-governing Dominions and dependent colonies. The office was abolished in 1966.