Francis Light

Francis Light

Infobox Person
name = Captain Francis Light


birth_date = 1740
birth_place =
death_date = 21 October 1794
death_place =
other_names =
known_for = Founding Penang
occupation = Colonial Official

Captain Francis Light (1740 – 25 October 1794) [The date on his tombstone in the Northam Road cemetery says he died on the 21st 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] 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 December 15, 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 October 21 1794 and was buried at the Penang graveyard in Northam Road (now Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah). 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.

See also

* Suffolk House, Penang]
*Governor of Penang

References

*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.

External links

* [http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=143&inst_id=19 Biography of Francis Light]
* [http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/asia/southeast-asia/malaysia/penang/protestant-cemetery-tomb-of-francis-light/sphere-quicktime.html 360 degree panorama including grave]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • LIGHT, William (c. 1786-1839) — founder of Adelaide was born about the year 1786 either on the island of Salang or in the territory of Kedah, and spent his first six years at Penang. His father, Captain Francis Light, traded in Siam and Malaya and married Martina Rozells in… …   Dictionary of Australian Biography

  • Francis Focer Brown — (1891 1971) was a well known American Impressionist painter, as well as professor and head of the Fine Arts Department at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana from 1925 1957, and Director of the Muncie Art Museum. His work was exhibited… …   Wikipedia

  • Francis Parkman — (September 16, 1823 ndash; November 8, 1893) was an American historian, best known as author of and his monumental seven volume France and England in North America. These works are still valued as history and especially as literature, although… …   Wikipedia

  • Francis Clive-Ross — Francis Fabian Clive Ross (1921 1981) was a publisher and author whose works focused on occultism, comparative religion, and the Traditionalist School. Clive Ross was also a Trustee of the World of Islam Festival (held in London in 1976), as well …   Wikipedia

  • Francis E. Dec — (January 6, 1926 – January 21, 1996) was an American from Hempstead, New York known for his social political tracts and conspiracy theories. He is classified by some as a kookcite web |url=http://www.pacifier.com/ dkossy/dec.html |title=Francis E …   Wikipedia

  • Francis Borgia —     St. Francis Borgia     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► St. Francis Borgia     (Span. FRANCISCO DE BORJA Y ARAGON )     Francis Borgia, born 28 October, 1510, was the son of Juan Borgia, third Duke of Gandia, and of Juana of Aragon; died 30… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Francis G. Slack — Francis Goddard Slack (November 1, 1897 in Superior, Wisconsin ndash; 1985) was an American physicist. He was a physics teacher, researcher, and administrator in academia who was renowned for placing equal emphasis on teaching and on… …   Wikipedia

  • Francis Cooke — (1583 ndash; 7 April 1663 Plymouth, Massachusetts) was one of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower. This early settler is one of the twenty six male Pilgrims known to have descendants. He is described in Leiden Walloon Church (Waalse Kerk)… …   Wikipedia

  • Francis Rimbert — (né le 3 octobre 1952 dans le Val d Oise) est un musicien et compositeur français. Peu connu en France, il bénéficie d une certaine notoriété en Europe dans le monde de la musique électronique savante. Sommaire 1 Biographie 2 Concerts 3… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Francis Schuckardt — Francis Konrad Schuckardt (July 10, 1937 ndash; November 5, 2006) was an American Traditionalist Catholic independent bishop and the first known bishop in the United States to take the position of sedevacantism, a theory which holds that Pope… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”