[12] Another category for special naturalisation includes those who have served the government in a paid position abroad for a minimum of seven years.

[19][21] In 1819, an American-born, British captain, Arent DePeyster first used Ellice Island as a reference for Funafuti, but Charles Wilkes, who led the United States Exploring Expedition, 1838–1842 applied the name to the entire archipelago of what would become later Tuvalu.

[26] They were assisted by headmen who administrated and supervised the population, distributing food, land, and organising fishing expeditions.

[24] Families performed specific inherited tasks for the community — some were builders, some were farmers, others provided for defence.

[27] From the early part of the 19th century, there were conflicts among European powers, who were establishing spheres of influence in the Pacific.

[28] British policy was to avoid annexation but to intervene on behalf of its nationals if conflict arose and through show of force, intimidate local leaders.

[28] In 1886, Germany and Britain signed the Anglo-German Declarations about the Western Pacific Ocean to establish terms of their interaction and delineate the territories with which each was aligned.

[31] Despite the accord, Germany continued attempts to control the Gilbert Islands and in 1888, petitioned the government to annex them.

[32] Eager to gain German support to buffer French hostility for British involvement in Egypt, the Foreign Office rejected annexation.

The Colonial Office recognised the need to take pre-emptive action because of growing involvement of the United States in the region.

[36] Charles Swayne was appointed as the Resident Commissioner and upon arriving in the islands in 1893, formalised the customary social organisation, granting chiefs and elders leadership authority, and establishing a court and policing system, and a secretary-treasurer to monitor taxation.

[41] The uniform law, which went into effect on 1 January 1915, required a married woman to derive her nationality from her spouse, meaning if he was British, she was also, and if he was foreign, so was she.

[44] The statute reiterated common law provisions for natural-born persons, those born within the realm on or after the effective date, to be British subjects.

[45] For those born abroad on or after the effective date, legitimacy was still required, and could only be derived by a child from a British father (one generation), who was natural-born or naturalised.

[36][40] Because of a rise in statelessness, a woman who did not automatically acquire her husband's nationality upon marriage or upon his naturalisation in another country, did not lose their British status after 1933.

[53] In response to a call from the United Nations for decolonisation, in 1963 an Advisory Council was established, and a constitution was drawn up for the Colony in 1967.