Colonial Naval Defence Act 1865
1865 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Act of Parliament 28 & 29 Vic c. 14
The Colonial Naval Defence Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 14) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Background
During the Invasion of the Waikato (July 1863 – April 1864) period of the New Zealand Wars the Imperial British forces realised they needed access to colonial ships to fight Māori. The colonial government acquired vessels which were staffed by Royal Navy officers but owned by the colonial government. The vessels were under local and not Admiralty control. An armed ship, HMVS Victoria, owned by the Colony of Victoria transported troops to New Zealand for the campaign and took part in bombardments of Māori. The British government was concerned about its colonies developing their own navies, not under the control of the Royal Navy's Admiralty.
This led to the British parliament passing the Colonial Naval Defence Act 1865, which allowed the colonial governments to own ships, including for military purposes, but they would have to be under the Royal Navy's command.
Flags
In 1866 the British Admiralty advised colonies that if they possessed vessels governed by the act, they must fly the Royal Navy Blue Ensign but that they must also include on the flag the seal or badge of the colony.
The public source identifies “Colonial Naval Defence Act 1865” as 1865 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Act of Parliament 28 & 29 Vic c. 14. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Colonial, Naval and Defence.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q96375253. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1865, 1863, 1864 and 1866.
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This entry incorporates text from “Colonial Naval Defence Act 1865” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.