Cape Colony May 1910, when it joined the Union of South Africa. Population Figures for the 1904 Census. Source: Cape Colony The Cape of Good Hope, also known as the Cape Colony (), was a British colony in present-day South Africa, named after the Cape of Good Hope. The British colony was preceded by an earlier Dutch colony of the same name, the "Kaap de Goede Hoop", established in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company. The Cape was under Dutch rule from 1652 to 1795 and again from 1803 to 1806. The Dutch lost the colony to Great Britain following the
Government of India Act 1858 the grave defects in the existing system of the government of India. However, before this bill was to be passed, Palmerston was forced to resign on another issue. Later Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby (who would later become the first Secretary of State for India) introduced another bill which was originally titled as "An Act for the Better Government of India" and it was passed on 2 August 1858. This act provided that India was to be governed directly and in the name of the Crown. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 forced the British Government to pass the