Frank Swettenham

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Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham
Frank Swettenham

Oil painting of Swettenham by John Singer Sargent
In office
1925 – 1938
Preceded by Sir Montagu Ommanney
Succeeded by Sir William Weigall
Majority British
Resident-General of the Federated Malay States
In office
1896 – 1901
Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements
In office
1901 – 1904
In office
November 1875 – March 1876
Preceded by James W. W. Birch
Succeeded by James G. Davidson
In office
1889 – 1896
Preceded by Hugh Low
Succeeded by William H. Treacher
3rd British Resident of Selangor
In office
September 1882 – March 1884
Preceded by Bloomfield Douglas
Succeeded by John Pickersgill Rodger
Born 28 March 1850(1850-03-28)
Belper, Derbyshire, England
Died 11 June 1946 (aged 96)
London, England
Residence King's House, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Occupation British colonial official
Religion Anglo Catholic

Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham GCMG CH (28 March 1850 – 11 June 1946) was the first Resident General of the Federated Malay States (part of the then Royal Colonies, now independent Malaysia) which was formed by combining a number of kingdoms. He served from July 1, 1896 to 1901. He was also an amateur photographer. He was born in Belper, Derbyshire[1], Britain.

He was one of close to forty former British empire officials to actually oppose the Malayan Union.

He created a dictionary "Vocabulary of the English and Malay languages". He also published two books "Malay Sketches" and "Unaddressed Letters".

Contents

[edit] Career between 1871 and 1901

Sir Frank Swettenham
Sir Frank Swettenham

Swettenham was a British colonial official in British Malaya, who was famous as highly influential in shaping British policy and the structure of British administration in the Malay Peninsula.

In 1871 Swettenham was first sent to Singapore as a cadet in the civil service of the Straits Settlements (Singapore, Malacca, and Penang Island). He learned the Malay language and played a major role as British-Malay intermediary in the events surrounding British intervention in the peninsular Malay states in the 1870s.

He was a member of the Commission for the Pacification of Larut set up following the signing of the Pangkor Treaty of 1874 and he served alongside John Frederick Adolphus McNair, and Chinese Kapitan Chung Keng Quee and Chin Seng Yam. The Commission was successful in freeing many women taken as captives during the Larut Wars (1862–73), getting stockades dismantled and getting the tin mining business going again.

More than a decade later, in 1882, which he was appointed as resident (adviser) to the Malay state of Selangor. In Selangor office, the development of coffee and tobacco estates had successfully promoted by him, while in the meantime, helped boost tin earnings by constructing a railway from Kuala Lumpur (it was capital of Selangor at that time), to the port of Klang, which was later named Port Swettenham in his honour.

He was attended the federation, along with the title of resident-general after secured an agreement of federation from the states of Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang in 1895, when the time he served as resident of Perak state. In 1897 he was knighted by the King George VI, and in 1901, three years before his retirement, he was granted as high commissioner for the Malay states and governor of the Straits Settlements.

Through Swettenham's huge efforts to convince that the British Foreign Office reversed its policy of accepting Siamese control of the northern tier of Malay states. His portrayal of their maladministration under native rulers and his warnings of possible intervention by rival European powers led to British penetration of those states in the early 1900s.

[edit] Chronology

A statue of Swettenham within the compound of Muzium Negara at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
A statue of Swettenham within the compound of Muzium Negara at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  • He was Deputy Commissioner with the Perak Expedition from 1875–1876.
  • British Resident of Selangor in 1882, of Perak from 1889–1895.
  • Resident-General of the Federated Malay States (now Malaysia) in 1896–1901.
  • Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements 1901–1904.
  • Chaired the royal commission to enquire into the affairs of Mauritius in 1909.
  • He was also joint director of the Official Press Bureau from 1915–1919.

[edit] Publication

  • Burns, P.L., and Cowan, C.D. ed. (1975), 'Sir Frank Swettenham's Malayan journals 1874-1876', Kuala Lumpur, London: Oxford University Press.
  • Clifford, Hugh Charles, and Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1894), 'A dictionary of the Malay language', Taiping, Perak: Printed for the author's at the Government's printing office.
  • Cowan, C.D. ed. (1952), 'Sir Frank Swettenham's Perak journals 1874-1876', 'Journal of the Malayan branch of the Royal Asiatic Society', vol.24, part 4. Singapore: Malaya Publishing House.
  • Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1881), 'Vocabulary of the English and Malay languages'. Singapore: printed at the Government Printing Office.
  • Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1893), 'About Perak'. Singapore: Straits Times Press.
  • Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1895), 'Malay sketches'. London: John Lane.
  • Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1898), 'Unaddressed letters'. London: John Lane.
  • Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1899), 'The real Malay'. London: John Lane.
  • Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1907), 'British Malaya'. London: John Lane.
  • Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1910), 'Report of the Mauritius royal commission, 1909'. HMSO.
  • Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1912), 'Also and perhaps'. London: John Lane.
  • Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1925), 'Arabella in Africa'. London: John Lane.
  • Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1942), 'Footprints in Malaya'. London: Hutchinson.
  • Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1946 ?), 'The future of Malaya'. [S.l.]: [s.n.]
  • Swettenham, Frank Athelstane (1967), 'Stories and sketches'. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Frank Swettenham at biography.com
  2. ^ Cambridge University Library 2003: from[1], dated 10 May 2004.

[edit] External links

Heraldic offices
Preceded by
Sir Montagu Ommanney		 King of Arms of the
Order of St Michael and St George
1925 – 1938		 Succeeded by
Sir William Weigall
Political offices
Preceded by
James W. W. Birch		 British Resident of Perak
1875 – 1876		 Succeeded by
James G. Davidson
Preceded by
Hugh Low		 British Resident of Perak
1889 – 1896		 Succeeded by
William H. Treacher
Preceded by
Bloomfield Douglas		 British Resident of Selangor
1882 – 1884		 Succeeded by
John Pickersgill Rodger
Languages