# New Guinea

country · PG · -5.0000, 140.0000

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Guinea
Wikidata: `Q40285` (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q40285)

## People
- [Noela Mary Brennock](/p/noela-mary-brennock-14693.md)
- [Angus Peter Munck](/p/angus-peter-munck-35385.md)
- [Edward Wililam Gesch](/p/edward-wililam-gesch-51519.md)
- [John Douglas](/p/john-douglas-52427.md)
- [Thomas McIlwraith](/p/thomas-mcilwraith-64922.md)

## Events
- 4 APR 1883 — **Annexation of eastern New Guinea**: [Thomas McIlwraith](/p/thomas-mcilwraith-64922.md) — Concerned that the German government was planning to annex eastern New Guinea to Queensland's north, McIlwraith attempted to annex it for Queensland, employing Henry Chester to proclaim the Queen's sovereignty on 4 April 1883. The annexation was disallowed by the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Derby, on the ground that a colonial government had no authority to annex other colonies. Indignation at the decision brought about the Intercolonial Convention of November and December 1883, a first step in the federation movement, and the establishment of the Federal Council of Australasia in 1884; a British protectorate over the southern coast of eastern New Guinea was proclaimed on 6 November 1884.
- FROM DEC 1885 TO SEP 1888 — **Special Commissioner for the Protectorate of British New Guinea**: [John Douglas](/p/john-douglas-52427.md) — Appointed after the death of Sir Peter Scratchley in December 1885 and in charge until the protectorate's annexation in September 1888. His policy followed Scratchley's and the spirit of J. E. Erskine's proclamation: to protect the Papuans while developing the island for Europeans. He had few defined powers, and his campaign for financial support from the Australian colonies was unsuccessful. He was not chosen for the permanent appointment.
- 23 OCT 1942 — **Died**: [Angus Peter Munck](/p/angus-peter-munck-35385.md) — Killed in action
- 12 JAN 1945 — **Died**: [Edward Wililam Gesch](/p/edward-wililam-gesch-51519.md)
- 22 MAR 1971 — **Died**: [Noela Mary Brennock](/p/noela-mary-brennock-14693.md)