James Brooke
| James of Sarawak | ||
|---|---|---|
| The Rajah of Sarawak | ||
| ||
| Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak | ||
| Reign | Rajah of Sarawak - August 18 1841 - 11 June 1868 | |
| Coronation | August 18 1841 | |
| Born | 29 April 1803 | |
| Secrore, Benares, India | ||
| Died | 11 June 1868 | |
| London, United Kingdom | ||
| Predecessor | none (post created) | |
| Rajah Muda | Charles Brooke | |
| Successor | Charles Brooke | |
| Consort | Pengiran Anak Fatima (unconfirmed) | |
| Father | Thomas Brooke | |
The Rajah of Sarawak, Sir James Brooke, KCB, LL.D (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868) was a British statesman. His father Thomas Brooke was English; his mother Anna Maria was born in Hertfordshire, England, the daughter of Scottish peer Colonel William Stuart, 9th Lord Blantyre, by his mistress Harriott Teasdale. James Brooke was born in Secrore, a suburb of Benares, India.
Early career
Sir James was educated at Norwich School, England and became the first White Rajah of Sarawak. Brooke travelled to Burma with the army of the British East India Company in 1825, was wounded, and sent to England for recovery. In 1830, he arrived back in Madras too late to rejoin the service.
Sarawak
He attempted to trade in the Far East, but was not successful. In 1833, Brooke inherited £10,000, which he used as capital to purchase a 142-ton schooner, the Royalist[1]. After setting sail for Borneo in 1838, he arrived in Kuching in August of the same year to find the settlement facing a Dayak uprising against the Sultan of Brunei. Offering his aid to the Sultan, he and his crew helped bring about a peaceful settlement and was granted the title of Rajah of Sarawak by the Sultan, having threatened the Sultan with military force (although the official declaration was not made until August 18 1841).
Brooke began to establish and cement his rule over Sarawak; reforming the administration, codifying laws and fighting piracy, which proved to be an ongoing issue throughout his rule. Brooke returned temporarily to England in 1847, where he was given the Freedom of the City of London, appointed governor and commander-in-chief of Labuan, British consul-general in Borneo and was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.
White Rajah
His Highness became the centre of controversy in 1851 when accusations of misconduct against him led to the appointment of a royal commission in Singapore. Its investigation did not confirm the charges, but the accusations continued to haunt Sir James.
Having officially no children, in 1861, he named Captain John Brooke Johnson-Brooke, his sister's oldest son, as his successor. Two years later, while John was in England, James deposed and banished John from Sarawak because John criticised him. He later named another nephew, Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke.
He ruled Sarawak until his death in 1868, following three strokes over a period of ten years. He is buried in Sheepstor church near Burrator, Plymouth. He was succeeded as Rajah by his nephew Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke.
During his rule, Brooke faced threats from Sarawak warriors like Syarif Masahor and Rentap, but remained in power.
Personal life
Throughout his life, Brooke's principal emotional bonds were with adolescent boys, while he exhibited a total lack of interest in women. Among his more notable relationships with boys was the one with Badruddin, a Sarawak prince, of whom he wrote, "my love for him was deeper than anyone I knew." Later, in 1848, Brooke fell in love with Charles Grant (grandson of the seventh Earl of Elgin), who had just been recruited, being sixteen at the time. His love was reciprocated by the boy.[2][3]
Brooke himself was influenced by the success of those British imperialists who had preceded him as well as the exploits of the British East India Company and others. His exploits in Sarawak were clearly directed to both expanding the British empire, assisting and benefitting the local natives and ultimately securing his own personal wealth. His own abilities, and that of his successors, provided Sarawak with excellent leadership and wealth generation during difficult times and resulted in both fame and notoriety in some circles. His appointment as Rajah by the then Sultan, and his subsequent Knighthood in London, is evidence that his efforts were widely applauded in both Sarawak and British society, and he should be remembered in that light.
Although he died unmarried, he did acknowledge one son. It has also been claimed that he married, by Muslim rites, Pengiran Anak Fatima, daughter of Pengiran Anak Abdul Kadir and granddaughter of Omar Ali Saifuddin II, Sultan of Brunei. It is further said that he too had a daughter. The identity of the son's mother is not clear. [citation needed]
The son, (Reuben) George Brooke, has been traced on a British census return for 1871 at the parish of Plumtree, Nottinghamshire, where he gave his name as 'George Brooke', age '40', birthplace 'Sarawak, Borneo.' George Brooke was married and had seven children, three of whom survived their infancy. He died in the wreck of the SS British Admiral while on a voyage to Australia, 23 May 1874. [1] As Rajah Robert Brooke died officially "unmarried and without issue", the title of Rajah passed to the son of his sister.
Fiction
A fictionalised account of Brooke's exploits in Sarawak is given in C. S. Godshalk's novel Kalimantaan. Brooke is also featured in Flashman's Lady, the 6th book in George MacDonald Fraser's meticulously researched Flashman novels; and in Sandokan: The Pirates of Malaysia (I pirati della Malesia), the second novel in Emilio Salgari's Sandokan series. Additionally, Brooke was a model for the hero of Joseph Conrad's novel Lord Jim.
Burial
All three White Rajahs are buried in St Leonard's Church in the village of Sheepstor on Dartmoor.
Honours
The tropical pitcher plant species Nepenthes rajah was named in Brooke's honour by Joseph Dalton Hooker and the tropical butterfly Raja Brooke, species Trogonoptera brookiana, was named after him by the naturalist Alfred R. Wallace.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Cavendish, Richard. "Birth of Sir James Brooke." History Today. April 2003, Vol. 53, Issue 4.
- Doering, Jonathan. "The Enigmatic Sir James Brooke." Contemporary Review, July, 2003. (Book review of White Rajah by Nigel Barley. Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-85920-6.)
- Jacob, Gertrude Le Grand. The Raja of Saráwak: An Account of Sir James Brooks. K. C. B., LL. D., Given Chiefly Through Letters and Journals. London: MacMillan, 1876.
- Wason, Charles William. The Annual Register: A Review of Public Events at Home and Abroad for the Year 1868. London: Rivingtons, Waterloo Place, 1869. pp. 162-163.
Notes
- ↑ James, Lawrence (1994). The Rise and Fall of the British Empire. 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010: St. Martin's Griffin, pp. 244-245. ISBN 0-312-16985.
- ↑ Empire and Sexuality: The British Experience, Ronald Hyam; pp.44-45
- ↑ WALKER, J.H., This peculiar acuteness of feeling: James Brooke and the enactment of desire, Borneo Research Bulletin, vol 29 (1998) pp 148- 189
| Brooke family Born: 29 April 1803; Died: 11 June 1868 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Regnal Titles
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| New Title | White Rajah of Sarawak 1841-1868 |
Succeeded by: Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke |
de:James Brooke et:James Brooke fr:James Brooke id:James Brooke ms:James Brooke nl:James Brooke ja:ジェームズ・ブルック ru:Брук, Джеймс th:เจมส์ บรุค zh:詹姆士·布魯克
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