| Abstract: | Of several diarists in the second Gladstone Ministry, the most assiduous was Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby. As Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1882-85, he encountered unexpected difficulties in his relations with the self-governing colonies in the south Pacific. He handled tactfully royal involvement in vice-regal appointments, encouraged the first moves towards Australian federation, and persuaded Gladstone to accept the offer of colonial troops for the Sudan. However, in responding cautiously to French and German expansionism in the Pacific, he alienated and infuriated the Australian colonists. Derby's diaries and letters reveal that, while scornful of Australian territorial ambitions and dismissive of the imperial romanticism of some of his colleagues, he was anxious to conciliate the Australian colonies, especially with regard to New Guinea. |
