# 1902 Colonial Conference > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1902_Colonial_Conference > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1902_Colonial_Conference.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1902_Colonial_Conference > Source revision: 1329884114 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1902 Colonial Conference Front row left-right: Sir Robert Bond (Premier of Newfoundland), Richard Seddon (Prime Minister of New Zealand), Sir Wilfrid Laurier (Prime Minister of Canada), Joseph Chamberlain (Secretary of State for the Colonies (Chairman)), Sir Edmund Barton (Prime Minister of Australia), Sir Albert Henry Hime (Prime Minister of Natal), Thomas Fuller (Agent-General for Cape Colony) Host country United Kingdom Dates 30 June–11 August 1902 Cities London Heads of Government 7 Chair Joseph Chamberlain (Secretary of State for the Colonies) Follows 1897 Precedes 1907 Imperial Conference Key points The **1902 Colonial Conference** followed the conclusion of the [Boer War](/source/Boer_War) and was held on the occasion of the coronation of [King Edward VII](/source/King_Edward_VII). As with the previous conference, it was called by [Secretary of State for the Colonies](/source/Secretary_of_State_for_the_Colonies) [Joseph Chamberlain](/source/Joseph_Chamberlain) who opened it on 30 June 1902.[1][2] Chamberlain used the occasion to resubmit his earlier proposals made at the [1897 Colonial Conference](/source/1897_Colonial_Conference) for an Imperial Council made up of colonial representatives which would act as a quasi-Imperial Parliament and make decisions for the colonies on imperial policy. This proposal, along with Chamberlain's idea for a unified imperial defence scheme, was rejected by most of the colonial prime ministers. While New Zealand proposed that each colony provide a special force for imperial defence in the case of war, Canada and Australia both believed this idea undermined self-government.[3] Chamberlain also proposed an imperial [economic union](/source/Economic_union) or [customs union](/source/Customs_union) with [free trade](/source/Free_trade) within the empire and tariffs against goods from outside of it. The colonies, however, passed a resolution rejecting imperial free trade. A resolution in favour of [imperial preference](/source/Imperial_preference) as proposed by Canada was approved and Chamberlain agreed to bring the idea to the British government. However, this plan was not implemented until the [British Empire Economic Conference](/source/British_Empire_Economic_Conference) in 1932.[3] Britain had more liberal trade policies than the colonies, making it hard for the British to adopt imperial preference policies without undermining its trade agreements with foreign states.[4] Theodore H. Boggs, an advocate for imperial federation, described the outcome of the conference as "disappointing."[4] ## Participants The conference was hosted by King Edward VII, with his Colonial Secretary and the premiers of various colonies or their representatives and members of their cabinets: Nation Name Portfolio United Kingdom Joseph Chamberlain Secretary of State for the Colonies (chairman) Lord Selborne First Lord of the Admiralty Rear Admiral Wilfred Custance Director of Naval Intelligence Lord Onslow Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies Gerald Balfour, President of the Board of Trade Sir Montagu Ommanney Permanent Under-Secretary for the Colonies Sir Francis Hopwood Permanent Secretary to the Board of Trade Sir Thomas Holderness Secretary of the Revenue, Statistics and Commerce Department, India Office Sir John Anderson Secretary to the Conference, of the Colonial Office Australia Sir Edmund Barton Prime Minister Sir John Forrest Minister of Defence Canada Sir Wilfrid Laurier Prime Minister William Stevens Fielding Minister of Finance Sir William Mulock Postmaster General of Canada William Paterson Minister of Customs Cape Colony Sir John Gordon Sprigg Prime Minister Thomas Fuller Agent-General Natal Sir Albert Henry Hime Prime Minister Newfoundland Sir Robert Bond Premier New Zealand Richard Seddon Prime Minister [5][6] ## See also - [Imperial Conference](/source/Imperial_Conference) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** "The Conference of Colonial Premiers". *The Times*. No. 36808. London. 1 July 1902. p. 6. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Kendle, J.E.](/source/John_Kendle) (1967). [*The Colonial and Imperial Conferences, 1887-1911: A Study in Imperial Organization*](https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/74/3/999/91500). Imperial Studies. Vol. XXVIII. [London](/source/London): [Longmans](/source/Longman) for the [Royal Commonwealth Society](/source/Royal_Commonwealth_Society). [ASIN](/source/ASIN_(identifier)) [B0000CO3QA](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000CO3QA). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1086/ahr/74.3.999](https://doi.org/10.1086%2Fahr%2F74.3.999). 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-imp2_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-imp2_3-1) [*Historical dictionary of European imperialism*](https://books.google.com/books?id=uyqepNdgUWkC&q=colonial+conference+1897&pg=PA138). Greenwood Publishing Group. 1991. p. 138. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0313262578](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0313262578). 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_4-1) Boggs, Theodore H. (1916). ["The British Empire and closer union"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0003055400013277/type/journal_article). *American Political Science Review*. **10** (4): 635–653. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/1946822](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1946822). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0003-0554](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0003-0554). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [1946822](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1946822). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Papers relating to a conference between the secretary of state for the colonies and the prime ministers of self-governing colonies; June to August, 1902"](http://www.youscribe.com/catalogue/tous/savoirs/papers-relating-to-a-conference-between-the-secretary-of-state-for-1924209). *YouScribe*. Retrieved 27 October 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["The Life an Work of Richard John Seddon"](http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/DruSedd-fig-DruSedd_P010a.html). *nzetc.victoria.ac.nz*. Retrieved 24 July 2017. v t e Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings Colonial and Imperial Conferences 1887 1894 1897 1902 1907 1911 1917–1918 1921 1923 1926 1930 1932 1937 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conferences 1944 1946 1948 1949 1951 1952 1953 1955 1956 1957 1960 1961 1962 1964 1965 1966 (Jan) 1966 (Sept) 1969 Heads of Government Meetings 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1986 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2018 2022 2024 2026 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [1902 Colonial Conference](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1902_Colonial_Conference) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1902_Colonial_Conference?action=history)). 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