Crown Colony of Labuan Pulau Labuan
1848–1946
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Anthem: God Save the Queen (1848–1901) God Save the King (1901–1946)
Map of Labuan, 1888
Status	British colony
Capital	Victoria
Common languages	English,Malay and Chinese etc.
Monarch
• 1848–1890	Queen Victoria (first)
• 1936–1946	George VI (last)
Governor
• 1848–1852	James Brooke (first)
• 1945–1946	Shenton Thomas (last)
Historical era	British Empire
• Establishment of thecrown colony	1848
• Transferred toNorth Borneo	1890
• British government rule	1904
• Incorporated intoStraits Settlements	1 January 1907
• Japanese invasion	3 January 1942
• Allied liberation	10 June 1945
• Labuan toNorth Borneo Crown	15 July 1946
Population
• 1864[1]	2,000
• 1890[2]	5,853
• 1911[3]	6,545
• 1941[4]	8,963
Currency	North Borneo dollar (1890–1907) Straits dollar (1907–1939) Malayan dollar (1939–1946)
Preceded by Succeeded by Bruneian Empire North Borneo Straits Settlements North Borneo Straits Settlements Japanese occupation of British Borneo Crown Colony of North Borneo
Today part of	Malaysia  ∟Labuan

TheCrown Colony of Labuan was aCrown colony off the northwestern shore of the island ofBorneo established in 1848 after the acquisition of the island ofLabuan from theSultanate of Brunei in 1846. Apart from the main island, Labuan consists of six smaller islands; Burung,Daat,Kuraman, Papan, Rusukan Kecil, and Rusukan Besar.

Labuan was expected by the British to be a secondSingapore, but it did not fulfill its promise especially after the failure of itscoal production that did not become fruitful, causing investors to withdraw their money, leaving all machinery equipment andChinese workers that had entered the colony previously. The Chinese workers then began involving themselves in other businesses with many becoming chief traders of the island's produce ofedible bird's nest,pearl,sago andcamphor, with the main successful production later being thecoconut,rubber and sago.

World War II brought the invasion ofJapanese forces which abruptly ended British administration. Subsequently, Labuan became the place where the Japanese commander in Borneo surrendered to theAllied forces, with the territory placed under a military administration before merging into theCrown Colony of North Borneo.

Since 1841, whenJames Brooke had successfully established a solid presence in northwesternBorneo with the establishment of theRaj of Sarawak and began to assist in the suppression ofpiracy along the island coast, he had persistently promoted the island of Labuan to theBritish government.^[5] Brooke urged the British to establish anaval station, colony orprotectorate along the northern coast to prevent other European powers from doing so which being responded by theAdmiralty with the arrival of AdmiralDrinkwater Bethune to look for a site for a naval station and specifically to investigate Labuan in November 1844,^[6] along with AdmiralEdward Belcher with hisHMS Samarang to survey the island.^[7][8]

The BritishForeign Office then appointed Brooke as a diplomat toBrunei in 1845 and asked him to co-operate with Bethune. At the same time, LordAberdeen who was the British Foreign Minister at the time sent a letter to the Sultan of Brunei requesting the Sultan to not enter any treaties with other foreign powers while the island was under consideration as a British base.^[6] On 24 February 1845, Admiral Bethune with hisHMS Driver and several other political commissions leftHong Kong to survey the island more. The crews found that it was the most suitable for inhabitants than any other island in the coast of Borneo especially with itscoal deposits.^[9] The British also saw the potential the island could be the nextSingapore.^[10] Brooke acquired the island forBritain through theTreaty of Labuan with the Sultan of Brunei,Omar Ali Saifuddin II on 18 December 1846.^[11]

CaptainRodney Mundy visited Brunei with his shipHMS Iris to keep the Sultan in line until the British government made a final decision to take the island and he tookPengiran Mumin to witness the island's accession to theBritish Crown on 24 December 1846.^[12][13] Brooke supervised the transferring process and by 1848, the island was made acrown colony andfree port with him appointed as the first Governor.^[14][15][16] From 1890, Labuan came to be administered by theNorth Borneo Chartered Company before been reverted to British government rule in 1904.^[17][18] By 30 October 1906, the British government proposed to extend the boundaries of theStraits Settlements to include Labuan. The proposal took effect from 1 January 1907, with the administration area being taken directly from Singapore, the capital of the Straits Settlements.^[3][19]

Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Army

Additional Japanese forces landing on the coast of Labuan on 14 January 1942

As part of the World War II, theJapanese navy anchored at Labuan on 3 January 1942 without being met by any strong resistance.^[20] Most treasury notes on the island had been burned and destroyed by the British to prevent them from falling into Japanese hands.^[21] The remaining Japanese forces then proceeded to Mempakul in the western coast of neighbouringNorth Borneo to strengthen their main forces there.^[22] Following the complete takeover of the rest of Borneo island, Labuan was ruled as part of theEmpire of Japan and garrisoned by units of theJapanese 37th Army, which controlled northern Borneo. The island was renamed Maeda Island (前田島,Maeda-shima) after MarquisToshinari Maeda, the first commander of Japanese forces in northern Borneo.^[23][24] The Japanese planned to construct two airfields on the island with eleven others to be located in different parts of Borneo.^[25][26][27] To achieve this, the Japanese brought approximately one hundred thousandJavaneseforced labourers fromJava to work for them.^[26][28]

The liberation of the whole of Borneo began on 10 June 1945 when the Allied forces under the command of GeneralDouglas MacArthur and Lieutenant-GeneralLeslie Morshead landed at Labuan with a convoy of 100 ships.^[29] The9th Australian Division launched an attack, with its24th Brigade landing two battalions at the island southeast protrudance and the north side of Victoria Harbour on Brown Beach while being supported by massive air and sea bombardments.^[30][31] The landings were witnessed by MacArthur on board theUSS Boise (CL-47) when he decided to proceed further south from the southernPhilippines to Labuan.^[32] Following thesurrender of Japan on 15 August 1945, Lieutenant GeneralMasao Baba who was the last commander of the Japanese army in northern Borneo surrendered at the island's Layang-layang beach on 9 September 1945. He was then brought to the 9th Division headquarters on the island to sign the surrender document in front of the commander of the 9th Division, Major GeneralGeorge Wootten.^[33] The official surrender ceremony was held on the next day on 10 September at Surrender Point.^[34] The town ofVictoria had been damaged by Allied bombings but was rebuilt after the war. The island assumed its former name and was underBritish Military Administration (BMA) along with the rest of the British territories in Borneo before joining theCrown Colony of North Borneo on 15 July 1946.^[4][17]

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History ofMalaysia
Prehistoric period Paleolithic  Lenggong Valley c. 2,000,0000 BCE Mesolithic  Niah cultures 65,000–40,000 BCE Neolithic  Bewah man/woman 16,000 BCE  Perak man/woman 11,000–200 BCE  Neolithic Klang 500 – 200 BCE
Early kingdoms Ancient Kedah <100 BCE Chi Tu 100 BCE–642 CE Langkasuka 100 BCE–1474 CE Gangga Negara c. 100 CE–1025 Pan Pan 424–775 Old Kedah 170–1135 Old Pahang 449–1454 Srivijaya 700s–1025 Majapahit 1300s
Rise of Muslim states Kedah Sultanate 1136–present Samudera Pasai Sultanate 1267–1521 Brunei Sultanate 1368–present Malacca Sultanate 1402–1511 Sulu Sultanate 1450–1899 Pahang Sultanate 1470–1623 Aceh Sultanate 1496–1903 Pattani Sultanate 1516– 1902 Johor Sultanate 1528–present Perak Sultanate 1528–present Sarawak Sultanate 1599–1641 Selangor Sultanate 1766–present Besut Kingdom 1780–1899 Setul Kingdom 1808–1916 Reman Kingdom 1810–1902 Kubang Pasu Kingdom 1839–1864
Colonial period Portuguese Malacca 1511–1641 Malay-Acehnese conflicts 1528–1629 Dutch–Portuguese War 1601–1661 Acehnese invasion of Johor 1613 Acehnese conquest of Perak 1620 Dutch Malacca 1641–1824 Pahang Kingdom 1770–1881 Straits Settlements 1786–1946 Siamese invasion of Kedah 1821–1826 Anglo-Dutch Treaty 1824 Burney Treaty 1826 Naning War 1831–1832 Kingdom of Sarawak 1841–1946 Separation of Perlis from Kedah 1843 Crown Colony of Labuan 1848–1946 Pahang Civil War 1857–1863 Larut Wars 1861–1874 Klang War 1867–1874 Pangkor Treaty 1874 Perak War 1875–1876 British Malaya /Borneo 1874–1946 Jementah Civil War 1879 North Borneo 1882–1946 Pahang Uprising 1891–1895 Mat Salleh Rebellion 1894–1905 Federated Malay States 1895–1946 Anglo-Siamese Treaty 1909 Unfederated Malay States 1909–1946 Battle of Penang 1914 Kelantan rebellion 1915
World War II Japanese occupation of Malaya / Borneo 1941–1945 Malayan campaign 1941–1942 Bornean Campaign 1941–1942 Battle of Muar 1942 Parit Sulong Massacre 1942 Battle of Singapore 1942 Sook Ching 1942 Syburi 1942 Sandakan Death Marches 1942–1945 Si Rat Malai 1943–1945 Jesselton revolt 1943–1944
Formative period BMA of Malaya/Borneo 1945–1946 Crown Colony of N. Borneo/Sarawak 1946–1963 Anti-cession movement 1946–1963 Malayan Union 1946–1948 Federation of Malaya 1948–1963 Malayan Emergency 1948–1960 Baling Talks 1955
Independence period Malayan Independence 1957 Singapore self-governance 1959 ISA 1960 1960–2012 Sarawak Insurgency 1962–1990 North Borneo self-governance 1963 Konfrontasi 1963–1966 Sarawak self-governance 1963 Formation of Malaysia 1963 Singapore in Malaysia 1963–1965 ASEAN Declaration 1967 Second communist insurgency 1968–1989
Modern period 1966 Sarawak constitutional crisis 1965–1966 13 May incident 1969 National Operations Council 1969–1971 Declaration of Rukun Negara 1970 New Economic Policy 1971–1990 Federal Territory of KL 1974 1977 Kelantan Emergency 1977 Pedra Branca dispute 1979–2008 South China Sea dispute(Spratly) 1980–present Dawn Raid 1981 Federal Territory of Labuan 1984 Memali incident 1985 Sabah Emergency 1986 Ming Court Affair 1987 Operation Lalang 1987 Constitutional crisis 1987–1988 Peace Agreement of Hat Yai 1989 Royal Immunity Amendments 1993 Asian financial crisis 1997–1998 Reformasi Movement 1998–2022 Federal Territory of Putrajaya 2001 2008 Malaysian Opposition Wave 2008 2009 Perak constitutional crisis 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic 2009–2010 Lahad Datu standoff 2013 Sedition Dragnet 2014 1MDB scandal 2015–present Pakatan Harapan takeover 2018 COVID-19 pandemic 2020–2022 Political crisis 2020–2022 Bornean Amendment 2021–2023 Green Wave 2022–present 2023 Sabah political crisis 2023
Incidents Brunei revolt 1962–1966 North Borneo dispute (Philippine militant attacks) 1962–present Singapore race riots 1964 Brunei's Limbang claim 1967–2009 Penang Hartal riot 1967 Ligitan and Sipadan dispute 1969–2002 Kuala Lumpur flash floods 1971 Malaysian haze crisis 1972–present AIA building hostage crisis 1975 National Monument bombing 1975 Campbell Shopping Complex fire 1976 Sabah Air GAF Nomad crash 1976 Japan Airlines Flight 715 incident 1977 MH653 incident 1977 1982 Bukit Merah radioactive pollution 1982 1985 Lahad Datu ambush 1985 Memali Incident 1985 Penang terminal bridge collapse 1988 Taufiqiah Al-Khairiah madrasa fire 1989 Kuala Lumpur–Karak Highway crash 1990 Bright Sparklers disaster 1991 Highland Towers collapse 1993 Genting landslide 1995 MH2133 incident 1995 Pos Dipang mudflow 1996 Tropical Storm Greg 1996 Nipah virus outbreak 1998–1999 2000 Sipadan kidnappings 2000 Al-Ma'unah incident 2000 Sauk Siege 2000 2001 Kampung Medan riots 2001 2002 Taman Hillview landslide 2002 Indian Ocean tsunami 2004 2006–2007 Southeast Asian floods 2006–2007 Bukit Antarabangsa landslide 2008 Attacks against places of worship 2010 2010 Cameron Highlands bus crash 2010 Hulu Langat landslide 2011 2013 Genting Highlands bus crash 2013 MH370 incident 2014 MH17 incident 2014 2014–15 Malaysia floods 2014–2015 Sabah earthquake 2015 2015 Plaza Low Yat riot 2015 Movida Bar grenade attack 2016 Kim Jong-nam's Assassination 2017 Darul Quran madrasa fire 2017 2018 Subang Temple riot 2018 2019 Kim Kim River toxic pollution 2019 2020-21 Malaysia floods 2021 LRT train collision 2021 2021-22 Malaysia floods 2021–2022 2022 Batang Kali landslide 2022 2023 Elmina plane crash 2023 2024 Lumut helicopters crash 2024 2024 Ulu Tiram police station attack 2024 2025 Putra Heights pipeline fire 2025 2025 Gerik bus crash 2025
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Following the acquisition of Labuan, it was made acrown colony and governed by a Governor. Governor John Fitzpatrick imported a group ofDublin policemen to clean up the island and enforce health regulations during his term.^[35] From the 1880s, there had been a wide disenchantment over the position of Labuan as a crown colony among British administrators after the failure of coal production,^[36] causing the administration to be passed twice toNorth Borneo and theStraits Settlements.^[37] From the last years of British rule, the authorities encouraged the involvement of indigenous natives in the island to participate in politics although it was still controlled based on the interests of the British government.^[38]

Since its discovery by the British,coal has been found on the main island.^[7] Other economic resources includeedible bird's nest,pearl,sago, andcamphor.^[1] The British hoped that the island's capital would grow into a city to rivalSingapore andHong Kong, but the dream was never realised. In particular the decline of coal production caused most investors to withdraw their investment.^[36][39][40] As a replacement,coconut,rubber, and sago production became the main resources of the Labuan economy.^[17] Under the administration of North Borneo, its revenue was$20,000 in 1889, increasing to $56,000 in 1902. Imports in 1902 were $1,948,742, while exports reached $1,198,945.^[2]

The island had a population of about 2,000 in 1864,^[1] 5,853 in 1890,^[2] 6,545 in 1911,^[3] and 8,963 in 1941.^[4] The population is mainlyMalays (mostlyBruneian andKedayan) andChinese, with a remainder ofEuropean and Eurasian. The Europeans were mainly government officials and staff of companies, the Chinese were the chief traders with most of the industries in the island in their hands, while the Malays were mostly fishermen.^[2][39]

Atelegraph line was established from Labuan toSandakan on neighbouringNorth Borneo in 1894.^[41] Postal services were also available throughout the administration, with a post office operating on the island by 1864 and used a circular date stamp as apostmark. The postage stamps ofIndia and Hong Kong were used on some mail, but they were probably carried there by individuals rather than being on sale in Labuan. Mail was routed through Singapore. From 1867, Labuan officially used the postage stamps of the Straits Settlements but began issuing its own in May 1879.^[42][43]

• Keppel, Henry; Brooke, James; WalterKeating, Kelly (1847)."The expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido for the suppression of piracy : with extracts from the journal of James Brooke, Esq., of Sarawak".University of California Libraries. London : Chapman and Hall. p. 347.
• Brooke, James; Mundy, Rodney George (1848)."Narrative of events in Borneo and Celebes, down to the occupation of Labuan : from the journals of James Brooke esq., rajah of Sarāwak, and governor of Labuan. Together with a narrative of the operations of H. M. S. Iris".Harvard University. London : J. Murray. p. 441.
• Motley, James; Dillwyn, Lewis Llewellyn (1855)."Contributions to the natural history of Labuan, and the adjacent coasts of Borneo".Smithsonian Libraries. London : J. Van Voorst. p. 118.
• Treacher, W. H (1891)."British Borneo: sketches of Brunai, Sarawak, Labuan, and North Borneo".University of California Libraries. Singapore, Govt. print. dept. p. 190.

• North Borneo
• Former British colonies and protectorates in Asia
• Former countries in Bruneian history
• Former countries in Malaysian history
• History of Borneo
• History of North Borneo
• History of Sabah
• Japanese military occupations
• Labuan
• 1848 establishments in Asia
• 1848 establishments in the British Empire
• 1840s establishments in Southeast Asia
• 1946 disestablishments in British Malaya
• States and territories established in 1848
• States and territories disestablished in 1946

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