The Empire on Which the Sun Never Set Trivia Game | History

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The picture shows the Jamestown Church, built in 1639 and reconstructed in 1907. This stands at the centre of Britain's first permanent overseas colony, James Fort, established in 1607. In which U.S. state can you now visit historic Jamestown?

Answer: Virginia

The first permanent settlement in the British Empire, James Fort, was established in May 1607 in the Colony of Virginia. It was named for King James I (King James VI of Scotland). James succeeded Elizabeth I as the English monarch in 1603 and reigned until his death in 1625. He had become King of Scotland before his first birthday, in 1567.

James Fort was renamed James Towne in 1619. It was burned down in 1676, and although soon rebuilt it was abandoned as a settlement in 1699 when the capital of the colony moved to Williamsburg. It exists today only as an archaeological site. For the oldest surviving settlement in the English New World, you will need to move on ...

2. Established in 1565, Saint Augustine in modern-day Florida is recognized as the oldest continuously-occupied European settlement in the New World. Originally called New London and then later renamed St. George's Town, the oldest surviving English settlement (established in 1612) is located on which island?

Answer: Bermuda

The Spanish established their first settlement in the New World almost half a century before the English. It was 1612 when England established New London, its first surviving settlement, and even that was not in mainland Americas but on the islands designated as 'the Bermudas or Somers Isles', some 640 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras in modern-day North Carolina.

Whilst James Fort was established in Virginia in 1607, the town itself was not established until 1619 and then subsequently abandoned. The English had also set up fishing camps in Newfoundland in the latter part of the 16th century, but the township of St. John's was not formally founded until the early 1620s. St. George's in Bermuda, therefore, seems to have a reasonable claim to be the first continuously-inhabited settlement in the English New World.

3. The 1667 Treaty of Breda finalized the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The upshot was that England gained the former Dutch territory of New Netherland, which they renamed New York. Meanwhile, the Dutch kept control of which colony, noted for its rich sugar plantations, that they had captured from the English?

Answer: Surinam

The Dutch plantation colony of Surinam stood on the north coast of South America, sandwiched between the French colony of Cayenne to the east and the Dutch colony of Berbice to the west.

Soon after he became the Governor of Barbados in 1650, Francis Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby of Parham (1614-66) sent a colonizing party south to the South American mainland. That party captured Fort Zeelandia from the French and renamed it Fort Willoughby in honour of the Governor. By the time the Dutch captured the fort on February 26, 1667 it controlled a sizeable territory. They reinstated the original French name and designated Fort Zeelandia as the capital of the Dutch territory of Surinam. The Treaty of Breda allowed the Dutch to retain this South American colony, which they did until granting it independence as a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands on December 15, 1954.

The pictured flag was adopted on November 25, 1975 when the Republic of Suriname gained full independence. The capital city, Paramaribo, surrounds the site of the original 17th-century fort.

4. Not a multinational banking organization based in London, but the flag of the region known as Rupert's Land or Prince Rupert's Land from 1670 until 1870. Where in the modern-day world was this British territory located?

Answer: Canada

The territory was named after Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the Hudson's Bay Company's first governor. A soldier, scientist, sportsman and amateur artist, Rupert was born in Prague in 1619. Not only was he a nephew of King Charles I of England and first cousin to Charles II, but Rupert also held the titles Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Cumberland and Earl of Holderness.

The land's designated as Rupert's Land covered the drainage basin of Hudson bay. Lying mostly in what is now Canada: Rupert's Land encompassed all of Manitoba, most of Saskatchewan and parts of Alberta, Nunavut, Ontario and Quebec. The territory also crossed what is now the Canada/USA border into Minnesota and North Dakota. The territory covered 1.5 millions square miles, an area a little larger than India.

The territory was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company, hence the lettering on its flag.

5. Originally called White Town, Fort Saint George (founded in 1644) was the first English fortress in India. The fortress is now used as the home of the legislature for the state of Tamil Nadu. In which modern-day coastal city is the site of the original fort located?

Answer: Chennai

The first English fortress in India was built in the port city of Madras, now called Chennai. Built with 20-foot high walls, the fortress withstood numerous assaults in the 1700s. Today, it is still home to a garrison of transitory troops but its main function is as the administrative headquarters of the state legislature.

The 150-foot tall flag post at Fort St George (pictured) is the second-tallest in India.

6. Signed in 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht was a series of documents that established peace at the end of the Spanish War of Succession. Britain acquired Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and part of the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts from the French. Britain also gained the island of Minorca and which other territory from Spain?

Answer: Gibraltar

It was the Treaty of Utrecht that gave Britain sovereignty over Gibraltar, something that is still a bone of contention with the Spanish to this day. Gibraltar became a critical base for the Royal Navy during the century and more that followed. Located at the entrance to the Mediterranean from the Atlantic Ocean, this base allowed Britain to control vital sea routes as numerous European nations sought to enlarge their empires.

As a result of the Treaty of Utrecht, Spain also conceded Sicily to the House of Savoy and both the Spanish Netherlands and Sardinia (along with the Kingdom of Naples and much of the Duchy of Milan) to the Holy Roman Empire (effectively Austria). It also gave up claims to large tracts of Brazil and parts of Uruguay to Portugal.

7. The picture shows "Canvas Town", temporary home to the thousands who arrived every week following the 1851 gold rush. Which city became the second-richest city in the British Empire, after London, as a result of this discovery of gold?

Answer: Melbourne, Australia

Although gold was first discovered in Australia in 1823, it was 1851 when the continent's major gold rush drew prospectors from far and wide to Victoria. The population of Melbourne rose from 25,000 to 40,000 in months and at one stage the city's Treasury Building was accepting deposits in excess of two tonnes of gold per week.

Almost overnight, Melbourne became the most important city in Australia. The effect of this period on the society, economy and politics of the city resonated for decades thereafter.

8. Signed on 6 February 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi gave the indigenous people rights as British subjects and established a British governor in which modern-day country?

Answer: New Zealand

The signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi were representatives of the British Crown and the Maori chiefs of New Zealand's North Island.

Unfortunately, differences in the English and Maori translations of the treaty led to numerous legal and political disputes over the following century and more. Even today, although the treaty is widely acknowledged as the country's 'founding document', the precise interpretation of various aspects are still the subject of heated debate.

9. A treaty signed in 1819 on behalf of the British East India Company with Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor established a trading post, and a further treaty five years later established the region as a British possession. In 1826, it became part of the Straits Settlements and it became the regional capital in 1836. Which Asian city is this?

Answer: Singapore

The representative of the British East India Company who signed the 1819 treaty was Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who statue is pictured here against the backdrop of the modern Singapore skyline.

When Raffles first arrived, there were around 1,000 indigenous Malays and a handful of Chinese people living on the island. Within forty years, the population of Singapore had mushroomed to more than 80,000, more than half of whom were Chinese workers.

10. The British Empire began losing its African colonies early in the 20th century, South Africa gaining dominion status in 1910 and Egypt becoming independent in 1922. The Gold Coast became the first sub-Saharan colony to gain independence, as Ghana in 1957. Which was the last British colony in Africa to gain independence?

Answer: Southern Rhodesia

Although the region south of the Zambezi River was designated as Southern Rhodesia in 1898, it was not officially annexed as a British colony until 1923. (The region north of the river, designated Northern Rhodesia, subsequently became independent as Zambia.) Revolution in 1965 saw the country declare unilateral independence as the 'Republic of Rhodesia' but this state remained unrecognized by both Britain and the United Nations. On April 18, 1980, Britain's last remaining African colony was recognized as the independent Republic of Zimbabwe.

Nigeria followed soon after Gold Coast, gaining independence in 1960. Gambia followed in 1965 and Basutoland became the independent Kingdom of Lesotho in 1966.

Source: Author EnglishJedi

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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The Empire on Which the Sun Never Set Quiz

By the 1920s, more than one fifth of the world's population lived within the British Empire, which covered more than a quarter of the world's land surface. It was the largest empire ever seen...

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