in full Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations.
Advisory body that supervised American colonial affairs.
Established in 1696 to replace the Lords of Trade (167596), it examined colonial legislation to ensure maximum benefit to British trade policies. The board nominated colonial governors, recommended laws affecting the colonies to Parliament, and heard complaints from the colonies about its administrators. It lacked executive or legislative powers, but it became the primary colonial policy-making body of the British government. It was abolished in 1782.