Editing Basutoland (section)

===Background===
Between 1856 and 1868 the Basotho engaged in conflict with the [[Orange Free State]].<ref name="Roberts-Wray1966" /> Their king, [[Moshoeshoe I]], sought British protection.<ref name="Roberts-Wray1966" /> On 29 August 1865, he wrote to [[Philip Wodehouse (colonial administrator)|Sir Philip Wodehouse]], the [[Governor of Cape Colony]]:<ref name="Roberts-Wray1966">{{cite book|last=Roberts-Wray|first=Sir Kenneth|title=Commonwealth and Colonial Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2WOuAAAAIAAJ|year=1966|publisher=F.A. Praeger|location=London|page=830}}</ref>

{{blockquote|I am giving myself and my country up to Her Majesty's Government under certain conditions which we may agree on between your Excellency and me.}}

In July 1866, after referring to the former letter, the Chief said:<ref name="Roberts-Wray1966" />

{{blockquote|All those things I have given up into your hands the last year..., they are still yours. I still continue to be the humble servant of Her Majesty.}}

Eventually, in January 1868, the Governor received a document dated 9 December 1867, signed by the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]], authorizing the annexation of Basutoland to the [[Colony of Natal]] (not to the Cape as Wodehouse had wished).<ref name="Roberts-Wray1966" /> On 12 March 1868, a proclamation declared the [[Sotho people|Basotho]] to be British subjects and Basutoland to be British territory.<ref name="Tylden1950">{{cite book|last=Tylden|first=G. |title=The Rise of the Basuto|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NnsNAQAAIAAJ|year=1950|publisher=Juta|page=107}}</ref> It was not in fact annexed to Natal, as Natal attempted unsuccessfully to condition its acceptance on Basotho land being made available for European settlement; so for some time Basutoland remained under the direct authority of Wodehouse as British High Commissioner for South Africa.<ref name="Roberts-Wray1966" />

[[File:1963 Basutoland R1 mohair.jpg|thumb|160px|Postage stamp with a portrait of [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]], 1963]]
Three years later, Basutoland was annexed to the [[Cape Colony]] by Act No. 12 of 1871 of the [[Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope]], confirmed by an [[Order in Council]] of 3 November 1871.<ref name="Roberts-Wray1966" /> The rule of the Cape Colony then proved unpopular with the people, leading to the [[Basuto Gun War]] of 1880–1881.

By an Order in Council dated 2 February 1884, which came into force on 18 March 1884,<ref>S.R.O. & S.I. Rev. III, 79</ref> [[royal assent]] was given to a Cape bill repealing the Act of 1871. Basutoland was thus brought under the direct authority of the Queen, with legislative and executive powers again vested in the [[High Commissioner]].<ref name="Roberts-Wray1966" />