TheStraits Settlements (Malay:Negeri-Negeri Selat) were a group ofBritish territories located inSoutheast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the BritishEast India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of theBritish Raj in 1858 and then under direct British control as aCrown colony in 1867. In 1946, following the end ofWorld War II and theJapanese occupation, the colony was dissolved as part of Britain's reorganisation of its Southeast Asian dependencies in the area.
The Straits Settlements originally consisted of the four individual settlements ofPenang,Singapore,Malacca andDinding.Christmas Island and theCocos (Keeling) Islands were added in 1886. The island ofLabuan, off the coast ofBorneo, 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 ofMalaysia, from which Singaporeseparated in 1965. The Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island were transferred fromSingapore to Australian control in 1955 and 1958, respectively. Their administrations were combined in 1996 to form theAustralian Indian Ocean Territories.
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TheDindings—named after theDinding River in present-dayManjung District—which comprisedPangkor Island and the town ofLumut on themainland, were ceded byPerak to the British government under thePangkor Treaty of 1874. It was hoped that its excellent natural harbour would prove to be valuable. This did not come to be with the territory being sparsely inhabited and altogether politically and financially unimportant.[3]: 981 It was returned to Perak in February 1935.[4]
The Dutchcolony of Malacca was ceded to the British in theAnglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 in exchange for the British possession ofBencoolen and for British rights inSumatra. Malacca's importance was in establishing an exclusive British zone of influence in the region, and was overshadowed as a trading post by Penang and, later, Singapore.
The first settlement was the Penang territory, in 1786. This originally comprisedPenang Island, then known as the'Prince of Wales Island'. This was later extended to encompass an area of the mainland, which became known asProvince Wellesley (nowSeberang Perai). The first grant was in 1800, followed by another in 1831. Further adjustments to Province Wellesley's border were made in 1859, in 1867 with a treaty with Siam and in 1874 with theTreaty of Pangkor. 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 a 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 then via Selangor and Negri Sembilan to Malacca, with an extension via Muar under the rule of the Sultan of Johor, and through Johor toJohor Bahru, opposite Singapore.[3]: 981
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Singapore became the site of a British trading post in 1819 after its founder,Stamford Raffles, successfully involved the East India Company in a dynastic struggle for the throne ofJohor. Thereafter the British came to control the entire island of Singapore, which was developed into a thriving colony and port. In 1824, the Dutch conceded any rights they had to the island in theAnglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, and from 1832, Singapore was the seat of government of the Straits Settlements for 114 years until its dissolution in 1946.[5]
The establishment of the Straits Settlements followed theAnglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, by which theMalay 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 ofBencoolen (on Sumatra) for the Dutch colony ofMalacca and undisputed control of Singapore. The population of the settlements were largely Chinese, with a tiny but importantEuropean minority.[6] Their capital was moved fromGeorge Town, the capital ofPenang, to Singapore in 1832. Their scattered nature proved to be difficult and, after the company lost its monopoly in thechina trade in 1833, expensive to administer.[7]
During their control by theEast India Company, the settlements were used aspenal settlements for Indian civilian and military prisoners,[8] earning them the title "Botany Bays of India".[9]: 29 There were minor uprisings by convicts in Singapore and Penang in 1852 and 1853.[10]: 91 Upset with East India Company rule, in 1857 the European population of the settlements sent a petition to the British Parliament[11] asking for direct rule; but the idea was overtaken by theIndian Rebellion of 1857.
When a "Gagging Act" was imposed to prevent the uprising in India from spreading, the settlements' press reacted with anger, classing it as something that subverted "every principle of liberty and free discussion".[12] 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.[13]: 6
| Straits Settlements Act 1866 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to provide for the Government of the "Straits Settlements." |
| Citation | 29 & 30 Vict. c. 115 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 10 August 1866 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by |
|
Status: Repealed | |
On 1 April 1867, the Straits Settlementswere transferred to theBritish Colonial Office and became aCrown colony, making the settlements answerable directly to the Colonial Office in London instead of the Government ofIndia in Calcutta. 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 anExecutive Council, composed wholly of official (i.e., ex-officio) members, and alegislative 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 theFederated Malay States, was carried on by means of a civil service whose members were recruited by competitive examination held annually in London.[3]: 980
Penang and Malacca were administered, directly under the governor, byresident councillors.[3]: 980
In 1886, theCocos (Keeling) Islands (which were settled and once owned by the ScottishClunies-Ross family) andChristmas Island, formerly attached toCeylon, were transferred to the care of the government of the Straits Settlements in Singapore. In 1907, the formerCrown Colony of Labuan, in Borneo, which for a period was vested in theBritish North Borneo Company, was resumed by the British government and was vested in the governor of the Straits Settlements.[3]: 980
The governor was alsoHigh Commissioner for the Federated Malay States on the peninsula, forBritish North Borneo, the sultanate ofBrunei andSarawak in Borneo. Britishresidents controlled the native states of Perak,Selangor,Negri Sembilan andPahang, but on 1 July 1896, when the federation of these states was effected, aresident-general, responsible to the high commissioner, was placed in charge of all the Britishprotectorates in the peninsula.[3]: 980
| Straits Settlements (Repeal) Act 1946 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to repeal the Straits Settlements Act, 1866, and to make further provision for the government of the territories heretofore known as the Straits Settlements. |
| Citation | 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 37 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 26 March 1946 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repeals/revokes | Straits Settlements Act 1866 |
| Repealed by | Malaysia Act 1963 |
Status: Repealed | |
DuringWorld War II (specifically thePacific War), theJapaneseinvaded Malaya and the Straits Settlements by landing onKelantan on 8 December 1941. On 16 December, Penang became the first Straits Settlement to fall into Japanese hands, followed by Malacca on 15 January 1942. Singapore was the last settlement to fall on 15 February, following theBattle of Singapore. The Straits Settlements, along with the rest of theMalay Peninsula,remained under Japanese occupation until the end of the war in August 1945.
After the war, the colony was dissolved with effect from 1 April 1946, withSingapore becoming a separate Crown colony (and ultimately anindependent republic), while Penang and Malacca joined the newMalayan Union (a predecessor of modern-dayMalaysia).Labuan was briefly annexed to Singapore, before being attached to the new colony ofNorth Borneo (and ultimately detached to become aFederal Territory).[14]
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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:[3]: 980
| Area in square miles | Population in 1891 | Population in 1901 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Europeans | Eurasians | Chinese | Malays | Indians | Other nationalities | |||
| Singapore | 206 | 184,554 | 228,555 | 3,824 | 4,120 | 164,041 | 36,080 | 17,823 | 2,667 |
| Penang, Province Wellesley and Dindings | 381 | 235,618 | 248,207 | 1,160 | 1,945 | 98,424 | 106,000 | 38,051 | 2,627 |
| Malacca | 659 | 92,170 | 95,487 | 74 | 1,598 | 19,468 | 72,978 | 1,276 | 93 |
| Total | 1,246 | 512,342 | 572,249 | 5,058 | 7,663 | 281,933 | 215,058 | 57,150 | 5,387 |
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, 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 1,000 of the population during 1896, 1897 and 1898, respectively, was 22–18, 20–82 and 21–57; while the number of registered deaths for 1896–1900 gave a ratio per 1,000 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 numbered 339,083, or over 59 per cent of the whole, was 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. Male Europeans also outnumbered females by about two to one. Among the Malays and Eurasians, who alone had a fair proportion of both sexes, infant mortality was excessive due to early marriages and other causes.[3]: 980
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, 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.[3]: 980
In 1939, the population reached 1,370,300.[15]
In the early nineteenth century, the most common currency used in the East Indies was theSpanish dollar, including issues both from Spain and from theNew World Spanish colonies, most significantly Mexico, due to market circulation from theSpanish East Indies (Spanish Philippines). Locally issued coinages included theKelantan andTrengganu keping, and thePenang dollar. In 1837, theIndian rupee was made the sole official currency in the Straits Settlements, as it was administered as part ofIndia. However, Spanish dollars continued to circulate and 1845 saw the introduction of coinage for the Straits Settlements using a system of 100 cents = 1Straits dollar, with the dollar equal to the Spanish dollar orMexican peso. In 1867, the administration of the Straits Settlements was separated from India and the dollar was made the standard currency.[citation needed]
The revenue of the colony in 1868 amounted to $1,301,843. In 1906 revenue was $9,512,132, exclusive of $106,180 received for land sales. Of this sum, $6,650,558 was derived from import duties onopium, 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.[3]: 981
Expenditures, which in 1868 amounted to $1,197,177, rose 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 per cent 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.[3]: 981
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Clifford, Hugh Charles (1911). "Straits Settlements". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 980–981. Works related toJournal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society at Wikisource (Singapore)
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