History of Fiji - 1874 To 1970

1874 To 1970

Date	Event
1875	An outbreak of measles leaves a third of the Fijian population dead.
1876	Great Council of Chiefs established.
1879	Arrival of 463 indentured labourers from India - the first of some 61,000 to come over the ensuing 37 years.
1881	First large sugar mill built at Nausori. Rotuma Island annexed to Fiji.
1882	Capital moved from Levuka to Suva.
1897	Arrival in Suva of Hannah Dudley, first European Christian missionary among the Indians. She works among both the indentured and "free" Indians encouraging education and welfare programs.
1904	Legislative Council reconstituted as a partially elected body, with European male settlers enfranchised and Fijian chiefs given an indirect input. Most seats still filled by nomination rather than election.
1916	End of the importing of indentured labourers from India, this decision brought about by agitation within India and the visit to Fiji by Anglican clergyman Rev. Charles Freer Andrews, close confidant of Mahatma Gandhi. First Indian appointed to Legislative Council.
1917	Count Felix von Luckner arrested on Wakaya Island.
1918	14% of the population killed by the Spanish flu pandemic (within sixteen days).
1928	First flight from Hawaii lands at Suva.
1929	Wealthy Indians enfranchised for the first time; Indian representation in the Legislative Council made elective.
1935	Establishment in Ra Province on Viti Levu of the Toko Farmers movement led by Ratu Nacanieli Rawaidranu and influenced by the Methodist missionary Arthur Lelean. Lelean encourages the farmers to be independent in their commercial operations and also to initiate moves for the formation of an independent Methodist Church.
1939	Nadi Airport built as an Allied air base.
1940	Native Land Trust Board established under the chairmanship of Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna.
1951	Founding of Fiji Airways (now Air Pacific).
1953	Visit of Queen Elizabeth II. Legislative Council expanded - but elective seats still a minority.
1954	Ratu Sukuna appointed first Speaker of the Legislative Council.
1963	Indigenous Fijians enfranchised. Indigenous representation in the Legislative Council made elective, except for two members chosen by the Great Council of Chiefs. Women enfranchised.
1964	Member System introduced, with Legislative Council members appointed to oversee government departments. This was the first step towards the establishment of a Cabinet system.
1965	Constitutional conference in London fails to agree on a timetable for a transition to internal self-government, but subsequent negotiations lead to compromises.
1967	Responsible government instituted; Ratu Kamisese Mara appointed first Chief Minister.
1968	University of the South Pacific established.
1970	April - Constitutional conference in London; Mara and Sidiq Koya agree on a compromise constitutional formula. 10 October - Fiji attains independence, ending 96 years of British rule.