Decolonization: The Ultimate Diaspora

Abstract

Among the numerous aspects of decolonization (mostly political and economic) studied during the half-century since the beginning of the end of the British Empire, one major social phenomenon has received very little attention in the literature. This is the diaspora of the expatriate career civil servants who were still employed by HM government when independence was granted. Between the transfer of power in India in 1947 and that of Hong Kong in 1997, it is estimated that at least 25,000 prematurely retired British officials of the Indian Civil Service, the All-India Services, the Colonial Service (administration and departmental), the Sudan Political Service and the Sudan Civil Service engaged on permanent and pensionable terms returned to Britain in search of relocation and further employment. Many took up a ‘second career’ with the help of the three ad hoc ex-Service Resettlement Bureaux set up by the British government; others found employment under their own steam; a few, especially in the 45+ age group, looked for voluntary work rather than further paid employment. Based on largely unpublished material and statistics, this article summarizes and analyses the kinds of second careers secured by Britain's former imperial officials. It also invites further research, both into the comparative French, Dutch, Portuguese and Belgian Colonial Service experience and into the impact of this considerable body of experienced and able men and women on Britain's economy and society in the past half-century.