Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Commonwealth Conference : Before the Second World War the term 'Commonwealth' had been used both formally and informally to describe the self-governing Dominions of the British Empire. After the passage of the Statute of Westminster, this term was the official designation for Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Irish Free State. However, these nations constituted the Commonwealth within the British Empire. As a result the conferences called in Ottawa in 1932 and in London in 1935 and 1937 were known as Imperial Conferences. While there were some attempts during the war to continue with the moniker 'empire', none of the overseas dominions or colonies supported this. When the Prime Ministers of the Dominions met in London in 1944 it was ostensibly as the Commonwealth, although the empire did still exist. This was the case with the meetings held in 1945, 1946, 1947 and 1948, all of which fell into this in-between status. It was during these years that some of the former colonies started to achieve independent status within the Commonwealth, including India in 1947. With the admission of India, as a republic, in 1949 the modern Commonwealth was formed. RG25 General Inventory