Kenneth Murchison (1794 - 1 August 1854) was the Resident Councillor of Penang and Resident Councillor of Singapore, as well as the third Governor of the Straits Settlements.

Early life

Murchison was born in Scotland in 1794 to Barbara (née Mackenzie) and Kenneth Murchison. His elder brother was geologist

Roderick Murchison Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet (19 February 1792 – 22 October 1871) was a Scottish geologist who served as director-general of the British Geological Survey from 1855 until his death in 1871. He is noted for investigating and desc ...

. The family moved from

Ross-shire Ross-shire (; ), or the County of Ross, was a county in the Scottish Highlands. It bordered Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south, as well as having a complex border with Cromartyshire, a county consisting of numerous enc ...

in Scotland to

Bathampton Bathampton () is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, England on the south bank of the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon. The parish has a population of 1,603. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes thro ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

England for his father to recuperate from an illness, but he would die there in 1796. His mother then took the family to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and remarried.

Career

He began his working career with 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 ...

. He was appointed the Resident Councillor of Penang on 29 November 1827, he was also appointed the Resident Councillor of Singapore. While he was Resident in Penang, he conducted a geological survey of Penang on behalf of his brother Roderick Murchison, who was President of the Geological Society. He became the Governor of the Straits Settlements on 7 December 1833, however, he spent much of his time as Governor outside of Southeast Asia, and the administrative duty was performed by his deputy

George Bonham Sir Samuel George Bonham, 1st Baronet (Chinese Translated Name 般咸, 文咸 or 文翰) (7 September 1803 – 8 October 1863) was a British colonial governor, who became the 4th Governor of the Straits Settlements and the 3rd Governor of Hon ...

. Bonham took over as Governor on 18 November 1836.

Personal life

Murchison was married to Charlotte Pryce in 1815 and had a daughter Charlotte. His first wife died in 1816, and he married Anne Nesham in 1826 with whom he had two surviving sons, Kenneth-Robert and Roderick. He died on 1 August 1854.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murchison, Kenneth 1794 births 1854 deaths History of Penang Governors of Penang Administrators in British Penang Governors of the Straits Settlements Administrators in British Singapore Chief secretaries of Singapore