Straits Settlements

Straits Settlements
Negeri-negeri Selat نݢري٢ سلت 叻嶼呷
British colony
←   ←   ←   ← 1826–1942 Japanese Occupation: 1942–45 1945–1946 →   →   →   →
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem God Save the King/Queen
Malaya in 1922:   Unfederated Malay States   Federated Malay States   Straits Settlements
Panoramic view of Singapore from St Andrew's Church Spire, 1863.
Capital		Singapore
Languages		English Malay Chinese (mainly Hokkien) Indian
Government		Company rule (1826–67) Monarchy (1867–1946)
King/Queen
•	1820–30	George IV
•	1830–37	William IV
•	1837–1901	Victoria
•	1901–10	Edward VII
•	1910–36	George V
•	1936	Edward VIII
•	1936–52	George VI
Governor
•	1826–30 (first)	Robert Fullerton
•	1934–46 (last)	Shenton Thomas
Historical era		British Empire
•	Anglo-Dutch Treaty	17 March 1824
•	Established under     East India Co. rule	1826
•	Converted to     Crown colony	1 April 1867
•	Labuan incorporated	1 January 1907
•	Fall of Singapore	15 February 1942
•	Formal surrender     by Japan to British     Military Administration	12 September 1945
•	Federated to     Federation of Malaya and     Crown colony     of Singapore	1 April 1946
•	Labuan to British     North Borneo	15 July 1946
Currency		Straits dollar (to 1939) Malayan dollar (1939–1946)
Today part of		Malaysia  Singapore  Australia

The Straits Settlements (Malay: Negeri-negeri Selat, نݢري٢ سلت; Chinese: 叻嶼呷/海峽殖民地^[1]) were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a Crown colony on 1 April 1867. The colony was dissolved in 1946 as part of the British reorganisation of its Southeast Asian dependencies following the end of the Second World War.

The Straits Settlements consisted of the four individual settlements of Malacca, Dinding, Penang (also known as Prince of Wales Island) and Singapore (with Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands). The island of Labuan, off the coast of Borneo, was also incorporated into the colony with effect from 1 January 1907, becoming a separate settlement within it in 1912. Most of the territories now form part of Malaysia, from which Singapore gained independence in 1965. Meanwhile, the Cocos (or Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island were transferred to Australian control in 1955 viz. 1958, combined in 1996 to form the Australian Indian Ocean Territories.

History and government

Part of a series on the
History of Malaysia
Prehistoric Malaysia
Early kingdoms Gangga Negara 2nd–11th century Langkasuka 2nd–14th century Chi Tu 2nd–6th century Pan Pan 3rd–5th century Kedah Tua 5th–9th century Melayu 6th century Srivijaya 650–1377 Majapahit 1293–1500
Rise of Muslim states Kedah Sultanate 1136–present Brunei Sultanate 1368–present Malacca Sultanate 1402–1511 Sulu Sultanate 1450–1899 Aceh Sultanate 1496–1903 Pattani Sultanate 1516–1902 Johor Sultanate 1528–present House of Jamalullail 1843–present
Colonial era Portuguese Malacca 1511–1641 Dutch–Portuguese War 1601–1661 Dutch Malacca 1641–1824 Siamese invasion of Kedah 1821–1826 Straits Settlements 1826–1946 Kingdom of Sarawak 1841–1946 Crown Colony of Labuan 1848–1946 British Malaya / Borneo 1874–1946 North Borneo 1882–1946 Federated Malay States 1895–1946 Unfederated Malay States 1909–1946
War and emergency Japanese occupation of Malaya / of Borneo 1941–1945 Syburi 1943–1945 British Military Administration of Malaya / of Borneo 1945–1946 Crown Colony of Sarawak (Anti-cession movement) 1946–1963 Crown Colony of N. Borneo 1946–1963 Malayan Union 1946–1948 Federation of Malaya 1948–1963 Malayan Emergency 1948–1960
Independence Independence of Malaya 1957 Self-government of Singapore 1959 Brunei Revolt 1962 Sarawak Communist Insurgency 1962–1990 Moro attacks on Borneo 1962–present Self-government of Sarawak / of North Borneo 1963 North Borneo dispute 1963–present Formation of Malaysia 1963 Singapore in Malaysia 1963–1965 Confrontation with Indonesia 1963–1966
After Independence ASEAN Declaration (ASEAN) 1967 Communist Insurgency War 1968–1989 13 May Incident 1969 Malaysian haze crisis 1972–present Formation of Federal Territories 1974 Pedra Branca dispute 1979–2008 South China Sea islands dispute (Spratly Islands) 1980–present Operation Lalang 1987 Constitutional crisis 1987–1988 Financial crisis 1997–1998 Sipadan and Ligitan dispute 2002
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History of Singapore
Early history of Singapore (pre-1819)
Kingdom of Singapura (1299–1398)
Founding of modern Singapore (1819–26)
Straits Settlements (1826–67)
Crown colony (1867–1942)
Battle of Singapore (1942)
Japanese Occupation (1942–45)
Sook Ching (1942)
Post-war period (1945–62)
First Legislative Council (1948–51) Maria Hertogh riots (1950) Second Legislative Council (1951–55) Anti-National Service Riots (1954)
Internal self-government (1955–62)
Hock Lee bus riots (1955)
Merger with Malaysia (1962–65)
Merger referendum (1962) Operation Coldstore (1963) Race riots in Singapore (1964) MacDonald House bombing (1965)
Republic of Singapore (1965–present)
ASEAN Declaration (ASEAN) (1967) 1969 race riots of Singapore (1969) Singaporean haze crisis (1972–present) Laju incident (1974) Operation Spectrum (1987) East Asian financial crisis (1997) Embassies attack plot (2001) SARS outbreak (2003) Little India riot (2013)
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The establishment of the Straits Settlements followed the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, by which the Malay archipelago was divided into a British zone in the north and a Dutch zone in the south. This resulted in the exchange of the British settlement of Bencoolen (on Sumatra) for the Dutch colony of Malacca and undisputed control of Singapore. The Settlements were largely Chinese in population, with a tiny but important European minority.^[2] Their capital was moved from Penang to Singapore in 1832. Their scattered nature proved to be difficult and, after the Company lost its monopoly in the china trade in 1833, expensive to administer.^[3]

During their control by the East India Company, the Settlements were used as penal settlements for Indian civilian and military prisoners,^[4] earning them the title of the 'Botany Bays of India'.^[5] The years 1852 and 1853 saw minor uprisings by convicts in Singapore and Penang.^[6] Upset with East India Company rule, in 1857 the European population of the Settlements sent a petition to the British Parliament^[7] asking for direct rule; but the idea was overtaken by events – the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

When a 'Gagging Act' was imposed to prevent the uprising in India spreading, the Settlements' press reacted with anger, classing it as something that subverted 'every principle of liberty and free discussion'.^[8] As there was little or no vernacular press in the Settlements, such an act seemed irrelevant: it was rarely enforced and ended in less than a year.^[9]

On 1 April 1867 the Settlements became a British Crown colony, making the Settlements answerable directly to the Colonial Office in London instead of the government of British India based in Calcutta, British India. Earlier, on 4 February 1867, Letters Patent had granted the Settlements a colonial constitution. This allocated much power to the Settlements' Governor, who administered the colony of the Straits Settlements with the aid of an Executive Council, composed wholly of official (i.e. ex-officio) members, and a Legislative Council, composed partly of official and partly of nominated members, of which the former had a narrow permanent majority. The work of administration, both in the colony and in the Federated Malay States, was carried on by means of a civil service whose members were recruited by competitive examination held annually in London.

Penang and Malacca were administered, directly under the governor, by resident councillors.

Dindings and Province Wellesley

The Dindings (now known as Manjung), which included Pangkor Island as well as the towns of Lumut and Sitiawan, were ceded by Perak to the British government under the Pangkor Treaty of 1874. Hopes that its excellent natural harbour would prove to be valuable were doomed to disappointment, and the islands, sparsely inhabited and altogether unimportant both politically and financially, were returned to and administered by the government of Perak in February 1935.^[10]

Province Wellesley, on the mainland opposite the island of Penang, was ceded to Great Britain in 1800 by the Sultan of Kedah, on its northern and eastern border; Perak lies to the south. The boundary with Kedah was rectified by treaty with Siam (now Thailand) in 1867. It was administered by a district officer, with some assistants, answering to the resident councillor of Penang. Province Wellesley consisted, for the most part, of fertile plain, thickly populated by Malays, and occupied in some parts by sugar-planters and others engaged in similar agricultural industries and employing Chinese and Tamil labour. About a tenth of the whole area was covered by low hills with thick jungle. Large quantities of rice were grown by the Malay inhabitants, and between October and February there was snipe-shooting in the paddy fields. A railway from Butterworth, opposite Penang, runs into Perak, and thence via Selangor and Negri Sembilan to Malacca, with an extension via Muar under the rule of the sultan of Johor, and through the last-named state to Johor Bharu, opposite the island of Singapore.

Governor's wider role

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands (which were settled and once owned by a Scottish family named Clunies-Ross) and Christmas Island, formerly attached to Ceylon, were in 1886 transferred to the care of the government of the Straits Settlements in Singapore along with the addition of Labuan in 1907.

The governor of the Straits Settlements was also High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States on the peninsula, for British North Borneo, the sultanate of Brunei and Sarawak in Borneo. Since the administration of the colony of Labuan, which for a period was vested in the British North Borneo Company, was resumed by the British government he was also governor of Labuan. British residents controlled the native states of Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Pahang, but on 1 July 1896, when the federation of these states was effected, a resident-general, responsible to the (governor as) high commissioner, was placed in supreme charge of all the British protectorates in the peninsula.

Japanese invasion and dissolution

During World War II, the Japanese invaded Malaya and the Straits Settlements by landing on Kelantan on 8 December 1941, and on 16 December Penang became the first Straits Settlement to fall into Japanese hands. Malacca fell on 15 January and Singapore fell on 15 February, following the famous Battle of Singapore. The Straits Settlements, along with the rest of the Malay Peninsula, remained under Japanese occupation until August 1945.

After the war, the colony was dissolved with effect from 1 April 1946, with Singapore becoming a separate Crown colony (and ultimately an independent republic), while Penang and Malacca joined the new Malayan Union (a predecessor of modern-day Malaysia). Labuan was briefly annexed to Singapore, before being attached to the new colony of British North Borneo.

The Cocos or Keeling Islands and Christmas Island, originally made part of the Crown colony of Singapore in 1946, were transferred to Australian administration in 1955 and 1957 respectively.

View of Malacca, 1860-1900.

View of Penang from Tie Sin's Tower, 1860-1900.

Evolution of Malaysia.

Population

Malacca business street, 1912.

The following are the area and population, with details of race distribution, of the colony of the Straits Settlements, the figures being those of the census of 1901:

The population, which was 306,775 in 1871 and 423,384 in 1881, had in 1901 reached a total of 572,249. As in former years, the increase was solely due to immigration, more especially of Chinese, though a considerable number of Tamils and other natives of India settled in the Straits Settlements. The total number of births registered in the colony in 1900 was 14,814, and the ratio per 1000 of the population during 1896, 1897 and 1898 respectively was 22–18, 20–82 and 21–57; while the number of registered deaths for the years 1896–1900 gave a ratio per 1000 of 42–21, 36–90, 30–43, 31–66 and 36-25 respectively, the number of deaths registered during 1900 being 23,385. The cause to which the excess of deaths over births is to be attributed is to be found in the fact that the Chinese and Indian population, which numbers 339,083, or over 59% of the whole, is composed of 261,412 males and only 77,671 females, and a comparatively small number of the latter were married women and mothers of families. The male Europeans also outnumbered the females by about two to one; and among the Malays and Eurasians, who alone had a fair proportion of both sexes, the infant mortality was excessive, due to early marriages and other well-known causes.

The number of immigrants landing in the various settlements during 1906 was: Singapore 176,587 Chinese; Penang 56,333 Chinese and 52,041 natives of India; and Malacca 598 Chinese. The total number of immigrants for 1906 was therefore 285,560, as against 39,136 emigrants, mostly Chinese returning to China. In 1867, the date of the transfer of the colony from the East India Company to the Crown, the total population was estimated at 283,384.

In 1939, the total population reached 1,370,300.

Finance

The revenue of the colony in 1868 only amounted to $1,301,843. That for 1906 was $9,512,132, exclusive of $106,180 received on account of land sales. Of this sum $6,650,558 was derived from import duties on opium, wines and spirits, and licences to deal in these articles, $377,972 from land revenue, $592,962 from postal and telegraphic revenue, and $276,019 from port and harbour dues.

The expenditure, which in 1868 amounted to $1,197,177, had risen in 1906 to $8,747,819. The total cost of the administrative establishments amounted to $4,450,791, of which $2,586,195 were personal emoluments and $1,864,596 other charges. The military expenditure (the colony paid on this account 20% of its gross revenue to the British government by way of military contribution) amounted in 1906 to $1,762,438; $578,025 was expended on upkeep and maintenance of existing public works, and $1,209,291 on new roads, streets, bridges and buildings.

The East India Company Dollar (XEID), its currency since 1826, was replaced in 1886 by their own Straits Settlements Dollar (STSD).

See also

• Federation of Malaya
• History of Malaysia
• History of Singapore
• Governor of the Straits Settlements
• Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements
• Postage stamps and postal history of the Straits Settlements
• Straits Settlements cricket team

Notes

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: H. Cl. (1911). "Settlements, Straits". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. . Endnotes:
  • Straits Settlements Blue Book, rpo (Singapore, 1907)
  • Straits Directory, 1908 (Singapore, 1908)
  • Journal of the Straits branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Singapore)
  • Sir Frederick Weld and Sir William Maxwell, severally, on the Straits Settlements in the Journal of the Royal Colonial Institute (London, 1884 and 1892)
  • Henry Norman, The Far East (London, 1894)
  • Alleyne Ireland, The Far Eastern Tropics (London, 1904); Sir Frank Swettenham, British Malaya (London, 1906)
  • The Life of Sir Stamford Raffles (London, 1856, 1898)

External links

• WorldsStatesmen Singapore, listing the chief administrators

Protectorates and Crown colonies of British Malaya and Borneo Malaya Straits Settlements (1826–1946) Federated Malay States (1895–1946) Unfederated Malay States (1800s–1946) Crown Colony of Malacca (1946–1957) Crown Colony of Penang (1946–1957) Borneo Kingdom of Sarawak (1841–1941) Crown Colony of Sarawak (1946–1963) Crown Colony of Labuan (1848–1946) North Borneo (1882–1946) Crown Colony of North Borneo (1946–1963)

History of East Malaysia Main history1 Empire of Brunei Japanese occupation Borneo campaign British Military Administration Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Malaysia Agreement Proclamation of Malaysia History of Sabah Brunei Civil War Sultanate of Sulu Austrian colony North Borneo Chartered Company British North Borneo Antanum Mat Salleh Madrid Protocol Jesselton Revolt Sandakan camp Sandakan Death Marches Battle of North Borneo Crown Colony of North Borneo Self-government of North Borneo Cobbold Commission 20-point agreement Double Six Crash Moro attacks 1985 Lahad Datu ambush 2000 Sipadan kidnappings 2013 Lahad Datu standoff 1986 Sabah riots 1991 Sabah political arrests History of Sarawak Kingdom of Sarawak Rentap Liu Shan Bang Syarif Masahor Crown Colony of Sarawak Anti-cession movement of Sarawak Sarawak Communist Insurgency Self-government of Sarawak Cobbold Commission 18-point agreement 1966 Sarawak constitutional crisis 1987 Ming Court Affair History of Labuan Crown Colony of Labuan North Borneo Chartered Company Administered under Straits Settlements Battle of North Borneo Battle of Labuan Administered under Crown Colony of North Borneo Part of Sabah Became Federal Territory 1: Covers the three territories.

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Coordinates: 1°22′N 103°48′E / 1.367°N 103.800°E / 1.367; 103.800