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Charles George Ogilvie
Around 1883, aged 20, Charles George Ogilvie, left his home in the north eastern Scotland to make his way to British Malaya.
Formerly an inspector of Mines, Charles G. Ogilvie was also known as the Tin Prince for being one of the luckiest men in the Peninsula for applying for a concession in Sorakai in the early 1890s. Bearing nearly 60 feet of tin and of the very richest quality, it wasn't surprising Ogilvie was called the "Sorakai Millionaire" as his monthly profit came between $5000 and $10,000.
The "Tin Prince" started the Chendai-Meru mines in 1902 which was later incorporated as the Meru Tin Mines Ltd in 1928. He was also named the director in the Kramat Pulai Mines in 1907.
He was also part of the Tin Mining Regulations Committee in 1901, where the members include;
1) W. P. Hume (Chairman)
2) Charles Alma Baker
3) John Addis
4) M. G. Cumming
5) Pearse
6) Thamboosamy Pillai
7) Chow Thye
8) Wickett
9) Foo Choo Choon
The Committee were split into several sub-committees where C. G. Ogilvie was part of the Hydraulic mining and dredging committee working alongside Mr. Hume and Charles Alma Baker.
Ogilvie was also involved in the plantations as he owned 360 acres of coconut and coffee plantations along Ipoh - Gopeng Road. A tin recession in the mid 1890's acted as a stimulus for diversification, and the first direction that some of the miners, including Ogilvie, turned was towards coffee. A collapse in international coffee prices, combined with the invasion of a pesky caterpillar, brought these ventures to an end as fast as they had begun, and this is the time that investors were to turn to rubber. At the same time as coffee proved a poor investment, burgeoning international demand was pushing rubber prices up, and Ogilvie, among others, decided to invest. He named one of his plantations Strathisla, for his home in Scotland.
in 1897, C. G. Ogilvie and G. J. Penny, manager of the Straits Trading Company in Batu Gajah, raised funds for the acquisition of a public recreational ground in Ipoh to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. He was also mentioned as the incoming president of the Ipoh club that same year. Apart from being the president of the Ipoh Club, Charles was also the director of the Ipoh Golf Club and an active participant in the Ipoh Gymkhana Club, as a race horse owner, a presenter of prizes and when he fell off his pony, Flea, and broke his collarbone while riding the course.
Ogilvie was also a sportsman and his sport of choice was cricket. He went on to captain the cricket team. Read more about Ogilvie via clicking the pdf link.
To read more about Charles Alma Baker, click here.