Crown colony of the British Empire, Central America, administered by an executive and a legislative council; area, 8,598 square miles. Founded in 1638 by Peter Wallis, a Scottish adventurer, it was settled by woodcutters from Jamaica, who enlarged their domains at the expense of the Spanish colonists. Boundaries were fixed by treaty in 1859. The whole of British Honduras is comprised in the Vicarate Apostolic of Belize. See also: