Director of Prisons of Rhodesia to 1954, prisons in Southern Rhodesia were administered by the Southern Rhodesia Prison Department (SRPD). On 30 November 1954, the Federal Assembly of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland passed the Prisons Department Act (49/1954), which incorporated the SRPD into the Federal Prison Service (FPS), effective 1 December 1954. This arrangement continued until December 1963, when the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland dissolved and autonomy was returned to the individual colonies of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland, the latter two of which gained independence in 1964 as Zambia and Malawi, respectively. From 1963, the service continued as the Southern
1964 Southern Rhodesian independence referendum made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence, making the country a de facto independent state until returning to British colonial rule in 1979 following the Lancaster House Agreement.The British Government did not accept Southern Rhodesian independence as the referendum was not representative of all of Southern Rhodesia. Voter turnout was 61.9%. 1964 Southern Rhodesian independence referendum A referendum on independence was held in Southern Rhodesia on 5 November 1964. The question put to voters was "Are you in favour of or against Southern Rhodesia obtaining independence on the basis of the 1961 Constitution of Southern Rhodesia. Ian Smith called a meeting