LOL... that "Confessions of a British Spy" book is a hoax.
In 1710, there was no Ministry of Colonies or Minister of Colonies in the UK.
The book refers to British Colonies in India, the Middle East and China, and yet Britain held no colonies in India until 1757, none in the Middle east until the 19th century, and noen in China until 1842.
The book contains references to the Ottoman Empire as the "Sick Man", despite this label never being used for it until the late 19th century. Indeed during the early 1700s the Ottoman Empire was still near the peak of its power, enjoying stability and continuing to win battles against European armies.
The entire book is a falsehood, a lie written to split up Muslims more than we are already.
Sure I do have serious doubts regarding these Memoirs and I have already indicated so in my above comments ----- It does not matter Whether these are warranted allegations or unwarranted contentions ----- what matters the most here is the global harmony within all sects of Islam!!!!!.
With exclusive reference to the excerpt in hand!
Even though above excerpt does seem to generally imply to the existence of British colonies rather than to explicitly state any specific ones, still, it does not seem to infer from premises of the existence or non existence of such colonies, but it sure seems to indicate the presence of the Ministry of Colonies in Britain during the period in question.
During the "Age of Discovery' also referred to as "Age of Exploration", which, if I am not mistaken ----- started in late 15th century and continued in to the early 17th century, during that period Europeans expeditiously mapped and explored the world. Between 15th and 16th centuries Portuguese and Spanish pioneered Oceanic explorations in Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans to explore and search "Alternate Trade Routes", these explorations soon started a race and, were joined by Britain, France and Netherlands and latter by Australia in early 1600s and at last by New Zealand in mid 1600s. Perhaps due to the tough nature of the competition Britain might have felt the need to take a proactive action for establishing the ministry of colonies at that time.
I am one hundred percent certain that twelve out of Thirteen Original Colonies existed at the time ----- these Thirteen Original Colonies were founded as follows ----- 1) New York 1613 ----- 2) New Hampshire 1623 ----- 3) Massachusetts 1628 ----- 4) Rhode Island 1630----- 5) Connecticut 1635 ----- 6) New Jersey 1664 ----- 7) Maryland 1634 ----- 8) Virginia 1607 ----- 9) North Carolina 1653 ----- 10) South Carolina 1670 11) Delaware 1638 ----- 12) Pennsylvania1681 ----- and 13) Georgia which was founded in 1733 may not have existed at the time. I have just written these collonies on the top of my head so please excuse me if I have put them in the wrong order!!!!!.
More sounds like today's nuclear arms race ----- LOL!!!!!
Engrossing and intriguing topic indeed!
Nuff said!