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Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham GCMG, CH
Frank Athelstane Swettenham was born on 28 March 1850 and passed away on 11 June 1946, and we believe that, in the photo on the he was 43 years old.
The photo on the right, donated by Ipoh Remembered, shows him as a much younger man.
Swettenham was a highly influential British colonial official in British Malaya, who played a great part in the shaping British policy in the Malay Peninsula. The photograph is believed to show him as Perak Resident, British representative and 'adviser' to the Sultan.
First sent to Singapore (one of the Straits Settlements) as a cadet in the civil service, he learned the Malay language and used this skill in the British intervention of the Malay states in the 1870s.
He was a member of the Commission for the Pacification of Larut set up after the signing of the Pangkor Treaty in 1874 and with John McNair, Kapitan Chung Keng Quee and Chin Seng Yam was successful in getting stockades dismantled and setting free the women taken captive during the Larut Wars of 1862 to 1873. This allowed tin mining to recommence peacefully.
In 1882, he was appointed Selangor Resident (again an ‘adviser’ to the Sultan), promoted the development of coffee and tobacco estates and encouraged the construction of the Kuala Lumpur - Port Klang (later named Port Swettenham in his honour) railway to speed up shipments of tin.
In March 1893, one of his first actions as Perak Resident was to set up the Ipoh Sanitary Board, then in 1895, with the support of the Sultan of Perak, he persuaded, the Sultans of Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang to agree to forming the Federated Malay States (FMS). He was appointed the Resident-General FMS and in 1897 was knighted by Queen Victoria. He lived in Carcosa Mansion on a hilltop in Kuala Lumpur, specially built for him. In 1901 he reached the pinnacle of his career by being appointed High Commissioner of the Malay States and Governor of the Straits Settlements.
An accomplished author he wrote several books, one of which "The Real Malay" written in 1899 is in our library.
To read more about Frank Swettenham and his barge, click here.
To read more about Sir Frank Swettenham’s book ‘The Real Malay’, click here.
To read more about The Pangkor Treaty / Pangkor Engagement, click here.