colony · Maritime Southeast Asia
British occupation of Manila
Origins
After Spain entered the Seven Years War, a British expedition from Madras under William Draper and Samuel Cornish attacked Manila in September 1762. The city fell on 6 October, and the acting governor, Archbishop Manuel Rojo, agreed a capitulation and a large ransom that was never fully paid.
Rule and society
British control barely extended beyond Manila and Cavite. Dawsonne Drake of the East India Company governed as deputy, while Simón de Anda y Salazar organised Spanish resistance from Bacolor in Pampanga. The occupation encouraged uprisings, notably that of Diego Silang in Ilocos, who sought British support and was assassinated in 1763.
Decline and legacy
The Treaty of Paris of 1763 returned Manila to Spain, and the British left in April 1764. The episode prompted Spanish reforms and fortification, and revolts it had encouraged foreshadowed later Filipino resistance to Spanish rule.
Lineage
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- British occupation of Manila was a colony of British Empire1762 CE – 1764 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). British occupation of Manila. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/british-occupation-of-manila
- MLA
- “British occupation of Manila.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/british-occupation-of-manila. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “British occupation of Manila.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/british-occupation-of-manila.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘British occupation of Manila’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/british-occupation-of-manila (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻