Francis Light
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| Captain Francis Light | |
| Born | 1740 Dallinghoo, Suffolk, England, Britain |
|---|---|
| Died | 25 October 1794[1] Penang, Malaya |
| Occupation | Colonial Official |
| Known for | Founding Penang |
Captain Francis Light (1740 β 25 October 1794)[1][2][3][4] was the founder of the British colony of Penang (in modern-day Malaysia) and its capital George Town in 1786.
He was baptised in Dallinghoo, Suffolk, England on 15 December 1740. His mother was given as Mary Light, and no father is named. He was taken in by a relative, William Negus, and educated in elementary school with the Negus children: but was apprenticed early to a Naval Surgeon. He served as a Royal Navy midshipman from 1759 to 1763, but went out to seek his fortune in the colonies. From 1765, he worked as a private country trader. For about ten years he had his headquarters in Salang, Thailand, near Phuket, reviving a failed French trading post. While living there he learned to speak and write several languages, including Malay and Siamese. In 1785, he warned the Thais on Phuket Island of an imminent Burmese attack. Light's warning enabled the islanders to prepare for Phuket's defence and subsequently repel the Burmese invasion. For the British East India Company, he leased the island of Penang from the Sultan of Kedah, where many others had failed. The multicultural colony became extraordinarily successful from its inception. Light served as the Superintendent of the colony until his death.
Light died from malaria on 21 October 1794 and was buried at the Protestant Cemetery on Northam Road (now Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah) in George Town. A statue which bears his name but has the facial features of his son William stands at Penang State Museum in George Town.
Light had four daughters and two sons with Martina Rozells, who was said to be of Portuguese and Siamese lineage. If they were legally married he did not declare it. However, it was against East India Company rules to marry a Catholic and, as Martina was Catholic, Light may have tried to avoid dismissal by never declaring his marriage. He did leave her his considerable property. Their son, Colonel William Light, was the founder of Adelaide in Australia.
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- ^ a b The date on his tombstone in the Northam Road cemetery says he died on 21 October 1794. But an official despatch sent by Philip Mannington, Light's successor, shows Francis Light as having died on "25 October 1794"
- ^ Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research By Society for Army Historical Research (London, England) Published by , 1982; Item notes: v.60 no.244 1982; p. 80
- ^ Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. By Malayan Branch, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Malayan Branch, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Published by The Branch, 1959; p. 22
- ^ British & Indian Armies in the East Indies, 1685-1935: 1685-1935 By A. G. Harfield Published by Picton Pub., 1984; ISBN 0902633953, ISBN 9780902633957; p. 58
- Kernial Singh Sandhu, (1969). Indians in Malaya-immigration and settlement, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
- Sinnappah, Anasanatnam, (1979). Indians in Malaysia and Singapore. Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur.
- A. Francis Steuart, (1901). A Short Sketch of the Lives of Francis and William Light. Sampson Low, Marston & Company, London.
