The British Empire and the economic impact on colonised people: sources from West Africa, East Africa and India, c. 1870-1925 by Discovering Historical Sources

Dooteriah Tea Estate, Darjeeling, 1870s

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-28 15:14:07 UTC

Location: Darjeeling, British India

Creator: Robert Philips

Format: Photograph

^Copyright:^{Public domain}

Photograph of Indian labourers on Ugandan railway, 1899

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-28 15:40:13 UTC

Location: East Africa

Creator: Scherl/Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo

Format: Photograph

^{Copyright: Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo / Alamy Stock Photo}

Photograph of Lever Brothers Sunlight Soap Works, Merseyside, 1897

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-28 15:41:04 UTC

Location: Merseyside, England

Creator: Henry Bedford Lemere

Format: Photograph

^{Copyright: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo}

Photograph of palm oil trade and production, Niger Delta, c. late 1800s

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-28 15:41:38 UTC

Location: Niger Delta, Nigeria

Creator: Jonathan Adagogo Green

Format: Photograph

^{Copyright: © Jonathan Adagogo Green / The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY NC SA}

Photograph of palm oil trade and production, Niger Delta, c. late 1800s

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-28 15:41:43 UTC

Location: Niger Delta, Nigeria

Creator: Jonathan Adagogo Green

Format: Photograph

^{Copyright: © Jonathan Adagogo Green / The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY NC SA}

Photograph of palm oil trade and production, Niger Delta, c. late 1800s

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-28 15:41:51 UTC

Location: Niger Delta, Nigeria

Creator: Jonathan Adagogo Green

Format: Photograph

^{Copyright: © Jonathan Adagogo Green / The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY NC SA}

Photograph of Lever Brothers Sunlight Soap Works, Merseyside, 1897

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-28 15:46:37 UTC

Location: Merseyside, England

Creator: Henry Bedford Lemere

Format: Photograph

^{Copyright: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo}

Kipande and identity papers, 1925

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-28 15:47:51 UTC

Location: British East Africa

Creator: British government

Format: Object

^{Copyright: E428283, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution}

'Free Grants of Land in East Africa', Shields Daily Gazette, 1903

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-28 16:04:32 UTC

Location: East Africa

Creator: Shields Daily Gazette

Format: Newspaper

^Copyright:^{Public domain}

Map of Uganda railway, Handbook to British East Africa and Uganda by John Purvis Bremner, 1900

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-28 16:16:36 UTC

Location: East Africa

Creator: John Purvis Bremner

Format: Printed book

^Copyright:^{Public domain}

Handbook to British East Africa and Uganda by John Purvis Bremner, 1900

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-28 16:29:23 UTC

Location: East Africa

Creator: John Purvis Bremner

Format: Printed book

^Copyright:^{Public domain}

Learn more about this collection of sources from the British Library and other archives on the British Empire and the economic impact on colonised people.

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-31 14:05:45 UTC

British Library

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-03-31 14:06:24 UTC

Explore more at the British Library.

Immigration report, Mauritius, 1899

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-04-02 14:38:52 UTC

Location: Mauritius

Creator: India Office

Format: Official Report / Manuscript

^Copyright:^{Open government licence}

'Escape From Deceivers', transcript of an anti-indenture pamphlet, 1915

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-04-02 14:40:47 UTC

Location: Muzaffarpur, India

Creator: India Office Narayan Press

Format: Pamphlet transcript / Official Report / Manuscript

^Copyright:^{Public domain}

Advertisement for Lipton's Tea, 1892

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-04-02 14:41:06 UTC

Location: London

Creator: Thomas J Lipton Co

Format: Advertisement / Image

^Copyright:^{Public domain}

Maria del Pilar Kaladeen looks at sources from the India Office Records to discuss the system of indentured labour, which is part of her own family history.

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-04-16 13:25:59 UTC

Description of a palm oil factory, John Whitford, 1877

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-04-22 10:56:43 UTC

Location: West Africa

Creator: John Whitford

Format: Printed book

^Copyright:^{Public domain}

Berlin Conference cartoon, 1885

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-05-07 16:01:42 UTC

Location: Germany

Creator: Illustrirte Zeitung

Format: Cartoon

^{Copyright: World History Archive / Alamy Stock Photo}

Indian and African labour on the Jelori Road, IBEAC Correspondence, 1891

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-07-01 13:34:14 UTC

Location: British East Africa

Creator: IBEAC

Format: Official papers

^{Copyright: Mackinnon Macneill Trust}

Gikuyu resistance, IBEAC correspondence, 1893

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-07-01 13:34:20 UTC

Location: British East Africa

Creator: IBEAC

Format: Official papers

^{Copyright: Mackinnon Macneill Trust}

Teaching resources: What were the ‘economic bonds of Empire’ between Britain and its colonies in the period 1857–1914?

discovering_historical_sources — 2025-10-02 09:34:34 UTC

Explore this resource by Head of History Emma McKenna that aims to foster a developed understanding of the impact of the British Empire in economic terms. It is designed to be taught as an eight-lesson enquiry to Year 12 students (primarily those studying AQA 1J specification), although it could be adapted for teaching at Key Stage 3.