The Eastern Archipelago Company was a company incorporated by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

in 1847. It was active on the island of

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...

off the coast of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

from its creation until its dissolution in 1858.

History

Henry Wise, an ex-officer of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

's maritime service turned London merchant acquired the rights to the coal of Labuan from the White Rajah of

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

James Brooke James Brooke (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajahs, White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Brooke was born and ra ...

who had in turn obtained the rights from the Sultan of

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

. Wise brought about the grant of a royal charter to incorporate this company in 1847:

"...for the purpose of purchasing and acquiring, holding, settling, improving, cultivating and planting, letting, farming, selling, granting, alienating, mortgaging, charging or otherwise dealing with and making a profit of land, tenements and heridatements, and of the produce thereof, in the Islands of Labuan and the lands adjacent, and of working therein all mines, pits and quarries, and getting and raising all coal, stones, earths, ores, minerals and metals, and of trading and trafficking therein and therewith, and also of trading and trafficking with any of the authorities or inhabitants of the said Island and the lands adjacent, and of exporting from the said island or lands adjacent the produce to arise from the premises, or any of them, and of importing therinto such articles as may by the said Company be deemed necessary or expedient for the furtherance of all or any of the purposes aforesaid, and of purchasing or hiring British or other ships for all or any of the purposes aforesaid...",

He then sold the coal rights to the company but his two initial partners resigned when its initial paid up capital had to be confirmed a year later. Operations began when James Motley was sent to Labuan in 1849. He was to take over the rudimentary coal workings and commence supplies to Royal Navy and East India Company steamers, for which a contract with the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...

was already in place. The company did not provide him with sufficient resources to develop underground works at the same time as supplying the navy and he had to apply for funds from the government. The governor, James Brooke, ruled that the price of coal should be raised temporarily, but omitted to tell the navy who refused to pay and even made deductions for transport to their ships although the contact did not require it. The company hoped to supply P&O China mail ships, but there were complaints about quality as well as quantity which were not helped by friction with the authorities. James Brooke commenced legal action in 1850 to have the charter revoked: the confirmation of the grant of the charter in 1848 was ruled fraudulent in 1852 but the company considered this a technicality. Several people were sent to enquire into Motley's work before Edmund Scott Barber arrived as Resident Director to manage him in 1853. As he appeared to be both less competent and much more highly remunerated, Motley soon left, penniless, but Barber died of fever soon afterwards. He was followed by John Radford, who died in 1856, and the company was wound up in 1858.

References

{{Authority control 19th century in Malaysia Chartered companies Companies established in 1847 Companies disestablished in 1858 Labuan 1847 in Southeast Asia 1858 in Southeast Asia 1847 establishments in the British Empire Trading companies established in the 19th century Trading companies of the United Kingdom Trading companies disestablished in the 19th century