JAMES BROOKE, FIRST RAJAH OF SARAWAK

Index

1803 April 29: born in Benares, India

1815 Sent to England; attends Norwich Grammar School

1817 Runs away from school; parents return to England; family settles in Bath.

1819 May: receives commission in 6th Native Infantry regiment

1822 Appointed Sub-Assistant Commissary General

1824 Burmese War; Brooke organizes troop of volunteers

1825 Jan/Feb: Brooke's troop ambushed; Brooke severely injured; treated in Calcutta; August: leaves for England

1829 June: Charles (2nd Rajah) born

1830 July 18: arrives in Madras to late to rejoin service; visits China

1831 June: arrives in England

1833 Gets engaged; engagement broken; illegitimate son (Reuben Walker) born

1834 attempts trading mission in Findlay

1835 Autumn: father dies leaving Brooke 30,000 pounds

1837 visits Mediterranean; Reuben moved

1838 December: sails for Singapore in Royalist

1839 August 15: arrives in Kuching; December: visits Celebes

1840 August: returns to Kuching; October: visits scene of civil war

1841 September 24: becomes "governor" of Sarawak

1842 agent Gardner replaced by Henry Wise; July 14: Brooke leaves for Brunei; August 18: declaration of rajahship

1843 January: Wise interviewed by Peel; February: Brooke visits Singapore, Penang; June/July: Dido attacks Seribas; June: Sir Edward Belcher visits; August: Sarawak ceded in perpetuity

1844 Visits Singapore, Penang; February 12: Battle of Murdu; Spring: mother dies; August: Dido attacks Sakarang; Autumn: Hassim removed to Brunei

1845 February 17: Wise visits Sarawak; Brooke appointed Confidential Agent in Borneo; offers Wise profit participation; August: Sir Thomas Cochrane attacks Pengeran Usup

1846 Thomas Williamson (interpreter) drowned; massacre of Hassim and his brothers; Keppel Dido published; September: Wise leases antium ore to Melville & Street; December 24: Britain signs treaty with Brunei, acquires Labuan; Brooke gets Brunei coal grant

1847 Brunei coal grant given to Wise; Eastern Archipelago Co. gets charter; May: Brooke returns to Sarawak; visits Brunei; October 1: arrives in England; October 25: meets Queen Victoria; chooses missionary; portrait painted

1848 In England. Mundy Narrative published; January 24: Spenser St. John appointed as Brooke's secretary; February 1: leave for Borneo; May 20: arrive in Singapore; July: Francis McDougall (missionary) arrives in Sarawak; August 22: Brooke knighted; September 4: arrives in Kuching; names Brooke Johnson Brooke (Capt. Brooke) heir apparent; new Sarawak flag; September 24: leaves for Labuan; October: visits Brunei; splits with Wise; December: visits Sulu

1849 January, February: visits Sulu, Labuan; March: HEICS Nemesis attacks pirates; May: visits Labuan, Sulu (negotiates treaty for Britain); July 1: Battle of Batang Marau; December 14: arrives in Labuan

1850 [?]Jan 5/Feb 23: suspends Napier (Lieut.-Governor, Labuan); February, March: visits Penang, Singapore; August: visits Siam; October 24: returns to Sarawak; December: visits Labuan

1851 January 17: leaves for England; May: arrives in England

1852 Wins lawsuit against Eastern Archipelago Co.; Sultan Omar Ali dies; replaced by Mumein; July 21: Charles arrives in Sarawak; November: dismissed as Governor of Labuan

1853 Eastern Archipelago Co. charter withdrawn; Templer Letters published; April: leaves England; in Singapore learns that commission has been called against him; May: arrives in Kuching, smallpox attack; August: visits Labuan, Brunei; acquires 6 districts from Brunei;

1854 The Patinggi plots to kill Brooke; May: campaigns against Sakarrang, Seribas, and Kanawit rivers; commission held in Singapore; St John becomes Commissioner to the Independent Princes in Brooke's place

1855 asks nephew to locate Reuben; October: St. John appointed Consul-General of Brunei in Brooke's place; McDougall named Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak; Brooke visits Labuan, Brunei - settles unrest; St. John and Fox visit Chinese gold-workings at Bau

1856 August: St. John moves to Brunei; Brooke visits Singapore; Borneo Company's first Steamer, Sir James Brooke, arrives; Kungsi fined for troublemaking

1857 February 18: Chinese insurrection; Capt. Brooke arrives; Brooke visits Seribas, Sadong, and Brunei; pardons Sirib Musahor and Datu Haji; travels to England - meets Reuben in Gibraltar; wins lawsuitagainst Wise; Borneo Co. established

1858 In England. Demands payment from British government; begins correspondence with Angela Burdett-Coutts February 21: meets the Queen; October 21: suffers 1st stroke, Manchester; trouble in sago rivers. November: Makota killed

1859 In England. March: Fairbairn's Memorial Fund raises 9,000 pounds. March: Burdett-Coutts makes loan to pay Borneo Co. debt ; June: murder of Fox and Steele (Kanowit officers) ; buys Burrator (Devon)

1860 In England. Burdett-Coutts buys steamer Rainbow; conflict between Sarawak and Labuan (British); November 28: leaves for Sarawak

1861 Visits Brunei; disarms Muka fort; acquires sago districts from Brunei; Capt. Brooke formally named heir; returns to England

1862 In England. May: Life in the Forests of the Far East published

1863 Arrives in Sarawak; Capt. Brooke, in England, criticizes Brooke; Brooke deposes Capt. Brooke; returns to England

1864 In England. Britain recognizes Sarawak; July: US consul in Borneo

1865 In England. Charles Brooke (Johnson) named Brooke's heir

1866 In England. Concerned about Sarawak's finances; December 24: suffers 2nd stroke

1867 In England. February: moves to Burdett-Coutts' house

1868 In England. May: returns to Burrator; June: suffers 3rd stroke; dies

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Created September 1997; last updated: March 2004
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