British colonialists

British colonialists were people who established, administered, or settled in territories claimed by Britain, particularly during the expansion of the British Empire from the 17th through 20th centuries.

The term typically refers to administrators, soldiers, traders, and settlers who lived in colonized regions—India, Africa, the Caribbean, and elsewhere.

In contemporary usage, the phrase often carries critical connotations, invoking exploitation, cultural imposition, and racial hierarchies: The museum finally acknowledged that its collection was assembled by British colonialists.