§ 84. Mr. Iremongerasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state the numbers of inhabitants of Christmas Island, in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, in each of the years 1935 to 1961; and if he will indicate their origins and the purposes for which they came to and left the island under the Colony's Labour Ordinances.
§ Mr. MaudlingExcluding Service personnel the numbers of inhabitants ranged from 23 in 1935 to 460 in 1961.
Almost all of them are, and were, copra plantation labourers and their dependants, coming until 1941 from Tahiti and since then from the Gilbert, Ellice and Phoenix Islands. Recently a varying proportion have worked for the British military forces. They leave on 33W the expiry of their contracts to return to their land.
The following are the details:
Numbers of inhabitants, excluding Service personnel, 1935–1961: 1935 … … … 23 1936 … … … not available 1937 … … … not available 1938 … … … not available 1939 … … … not available 1940 … … … 11 1941 … … … not available 1942 … … … 18 1943 … … … 47 1944 … … … 42 1945 … … … 52 1946 … … … 55 1947 … … … 52 1948 … … … 124 1949 … … … 141 1950 … … … 250 1951 … … … 195 1952 … … … 127 1953 … … … 199 1954 … … … 258 1955 … … … 98 1956 … … … 307 1957 … … … 299 1958 … … … 171 1959 … … … 418 1960 … … … 411 1961 … … … 460
§ 85. Mr. Iremongerasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many of Her Majesty's subjects own land on Christmas Island; how many are permanently domiciled there; and how many have made representations to Her Majesty's Government on the subject of nuclear tests.
§ Mr. MaudlingThe answer to the three parts of the question is in each case "None".