Robert Townsend Farquhar
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Sir Robert Townsend Farquhar, 1st Baronet (1776 – 16 March 1830) was an influential British merchant of the early nineteenth century who served as a colonial governor and Member of Parliament. During his lengthy service for both the East India Company and the British government, Farquhar gained a reputation as an efficient and ambitious administrator and he notably served as
Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...
of Prince of Wales Island (
Penang Island Penang Island is the main constituent island of the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located off the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Malacca Strait, with the Penang Strait separating the island from Seberang Perai on the mainla ...
) from January 1804 to 1805 and as governor of Île de Bourbon, now known as
Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...
from 1810 to 1811. He was the 1st Governor of Mauritius from 4 December 1810 to 20 May 1823. During his tenure on Mauritius, Farquhar became well known for his operations against French slave traders, having previously investigated the possibility of replacing slaves with paid Chinese labourers. After returning to Britain, Farquhar, who was made a baronet in 1821, sat in Parliament for Newton and later for Hythe.


Early life

In 1787, at the age of 11, Farquhar joined
Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...
. He then took up the study of book-keeping under James Pierson of Castle Street. After this he joined 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 ...
.


Career Summary

*1795 – 1796: E.I.C.: Writer at Madras *1796 – 1797: E.I.C: Assistant Under-Accountant to the Board of Revenue *1797 – 1798: E.I.C: Assistant Under-Resident, Amboyna and Banda, and Dutch Translator to the Expedition under Admiral Eamier *1798 – 1798: E.I.C.: Deputy Commercial Resident, Amboyna and Banda, and Dutch Interpreter *1798 – 1802: E.I.C.: Commercial Resident, Amboyna and Banda *1802 – 1804: Commissioner for Adjusting British Claims at Moluccas *1804 – 1805: E.I.C.: Lieutenant-Governor, Prince of Wales' Island (Penang) *1806 – 1806: Departed Penang, returned to England *1807 – 1807: Stood for Canterbury during the General Election (lost); published 'Suggestions for supplying the West Indian colonies with labourers from China; failed attempt to re-secure the Governorship of Penang *1810 – 1811: E.I.C.: Interim Administrator of (Bourbon, 8 Jul. '10) and Mauritius (6 Dec. '10) *1811 – 1817: E.I.C.: Governor of Mauritius (18 March onwards) *1817 – 1820: Leave of absence (from November 1817) *1820 – 1823: E.I.C.: Governor of Mauritius (arrived London Sep. '23) *1823 – 1823: Declared Candidacy for Vacant E.I.C. Dir. chair (failed) *1825 – 1826: M.P. for Newton *1826 – 1828: Director of the Hon. the East India Company *1826 – 1830: M.P. for Hythe (Kent)


E. I. C. Amboyna

Farquhar rose rapidly in the company and by the late 1790s was the commercial resident in Amboyna, a former Dutch colony seized during the
French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...
. Farquhar concluded treaties of Alliance and Commerce with the Sultans of Tidore (12 November 1801), Ternate (23 November 1801) and Batchian (30 January 1802), all of which the Madras Government dissolved. None of them are mentioned in Aitchison's "A Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sanads relating to India and neighbouring Countries," and can only be found at the National Archives (U.K., Ref. No. IOR/H/635). In 1802, at the
Peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France, the Spanish Empire, and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it set t ...
, Farquhar was charged with assessing British claims on the colony as it was returned to the
Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic (; ) was the Succession of states, successor state to the Dutch Republic, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 after the Batavian Revolution and ended on 5 June 1806, with the acce ...
.Farquhar, Sir Robert Townsend
''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...
'', (subscription required), G. B. Smith, Retrieved 20 January 2009
During his time at Amboyna, Farquhar earned the Governor of Madras' displeasure by exceeding his brief in initiating a successful attack on the Dutch settlement of
Ternate Ternate (), also known as the City of Ternate (; ), is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It was the ''de facto'' provi ...
after the outbreak of the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
. Demoted and sent back to
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, Farquhar submitted his resignation together with a strongly worded letter of vindication to the
Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
, Lord Wellesley. Impressed with Farquhar's initiative and direct approach, Wellesley offered him the governorship of Penang.


E. I.C. Lieutenant-Governor, Penang

During his administration at Penang, Farquhar began public works activities to improve roads, water supply and the fortification of the settlement. Farquhar Street in Penang is named after him. Farquhar was responsible for the reconstruction of Fort Cornwallis at a cost of $80,000. On 1 January 1804, Farquhar succeeded Sir George Alexander William Leith, as Lieutenant-Governor of
Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...
. Almost immediately upon assuming his new role, Farquhar began submitting a great many schemes for the improvement of the island, to his
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 ...
superiors in
Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
, which some have said, were near-impossible. These included turning Pulau Jerejak into a dock for building and refitting ships, buying a great deal of timber from
Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
for that purpose; and a highly involved, complex and detailed plan to supply George Town with water from the waterfall gardens using a long brick channel, employing a hundred convicts to cut the canal, construct the aqueduct, lay earthenware pipes through the streets and tin pipes to conduct water to houses.Davies, Donald. "Historical Corner: 'The age of humbug' in Penang." The Straits Times ingapore19 June 1955: 12. Print. Farquhar worked out and submitted a long report ending with an estimate of $648,000 profit against an initial expenditure of $28,000, derived from taxing the public and shipping representatives for the use of the water, and from a 'money-exchange' revenue farm, at $4,000 a year. His plan to bring good, clean water into town was approved but the Board of Directors cautioned that the aqueduct would be better if made of clay to avoid disorganising the entire system in the event a brick or two became dislodged. The idea of taxing the company's own ships, it was felt, was unusual and it was noted that these had always enjoyed free water in the past, and instructed this to be removed from the revenue estimates. They further noted that it was unlikely for Malays, Chinese and other inhabitants of George Town to avail themselves of the channelled water owing to the presence of a good well in town, sufficient to their needs. The final nail in the coffin came when they asserted that taxation ought to be kept as low as it could to encourage settlers to come to the island. It was said that no other governor of Penang had deluded the Government of India into incurring the expense of practically worthless project than Farquhar, aided as he was, by what has been referred to as "his extraordinary system of book-keeping," that resulted in his short term being referred to as "The Age of Humbug." In one instance, the return of trade showed 2,000 tons of black pepper exported without any drain on the Island, and the settlement's daily increase in "population and elegance", apparently bringing Penang neck-and-neck with the Acheen in the pepper trade race. Buoyed by this and other indicators of prosperity he provided to them, the Court of Directors in London decided to promote Penang to become India's 4th
Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...
(after Bengal, Madras and Bombay). Philip Dundas was appointed to succeed Farquhar, and arrived with a large staff including three Council members, a Secretary, a Deputy Secretary (
Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British Colonial Office, colonial official who served as the List of governors of the Dutch East Indies, governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieut ...
), a staff of writers, with their wives and dependants, aboard the
Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
, on 18 September 1805. Not having been consulted, the residents, surprised, wondered where the revenue would come from to pay for all of this additional overhead. He has been called reckless.Jones, David, (Dr.). "Garden & Landscape Heritage: A Crisis of Tangible & Intangible Comprehension and Curatorship." Garden & Landscape Heritage: A Crisis of Tangible & Intangible Comprehension and Curatorship 1 (n.d.): n. pag. Asian Studies Association of Australia. Asian Studies Association of Australia, 2010. Web. 29 April 2015: 7-8. Print. . This paper was presented to the 18th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia in Adelaide, 5–8 July 2010. It has been peer reviewed via a double referee process and appears on the Conference Proceedings Website by the permission of the author who retains copyright. This paper may be downloaded for fair use under the Copyright Act (1954), its later amendments and other relevant legislation. Christopher Smith, originally appointed as Botanist to explore the spice market (p 7/34), was in 1805, appointed Superintendent of the Botanic Gardens (1805–1806). He accumulated 71,266 nutmeg plants, 55,263 clove plants, as well as Canary Nut and Sugar Palm specimens, all of which Farquhar sold for $9,656, immediately upon the sudden death of Smith, shortly after his appointment to the Gardens.


Denouncing slavery

Farquhar became interested in the labour problems that rose from the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, and published a scheme to replace African slaves with paid Chinese labourers entitled "Suggestions for counteracting any injurious effects upon the population of the West India colonies from the abolition of the slave trade", although the idea did not gain widespread support.


Bourbon and Mauritius

In July 1810, Farquhar was ordered to accompany the fleet under Commodore Josias Rowley that was to invade the French colony of Île Bonaparte, known today as
Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...
. The attack was successful and Farquhar remained on the island as
governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
, moving to
Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
in December 1810 after a successful invasion of the island under Admiral Albemarle Bertie During his time as governor of the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
islands, Farquhar had extensive maritime charts made of the region and encouraged trade with
Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
and
Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
, occasionally with disastrous results for the traders involved. He also made significant military and diplomatic efforts to end the East African slave trade, aggressively deploying naval units against the French ships that carried the slaves and conducting treaties with
Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
and
Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...
. Farquhar remained Governor on Mauritius for 13 years (although he took a leave of absence between 1817 and 1820) He resigned from the post in 1823 and returned to Britain.


Parliamentarian

On 11 February 1825, Farquhar became Member of Parliament for Newton.Fisher, David R. "History of Parliament Online." The History of Parliament: Newton Borough. The History of Parliament Trust, Institute of Historical Research (UK), n.d. Web. 28 April 2015. . Originally published as Fisher, D. R. (ed). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820–1832, ed. 2009. Print."Crown Office, February 15, 1825. MEMBER returned to serve in this present Parliament. Borough of Newton." The London Gazette Issue 18108, 15 Feb 1825: 266. Print He was Member for Hythe from 1826 (9 June) till his death in 1830 (succeeded by John Lock on 26 March).Fisher, David R. "History of Parliament Online." The History of Parliament: Hythe Borough. The History of Parliament Trust, Institute of Historical Research (U.K.), n.d. Web. 28 April 2015. . Originally published as Fisher, D. R. (ed). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820–1832, ed. 2009. Print.


Baronetcy

From letters patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Robert Townsend Farquhar (Governor and Commander in Chief in and over the Island of Mauritius) and his lawful male heirs, were granted the dignity of Baronet on 27 July 1821.


Family

Farquhar was born Robert Farquhar, on 14 October 1776, the second son of Walter Farquhar (1738 – 1819), an eminent Scottish physician, and his wife Anne Harvie. He took for himself the name of Townsend, to be placed before Farquhar, on 19 July 1824,Fisher, David R. "History of Parliament Online." The History of Parliament: TOWNSEND FARQUHAR, Sir Robert Townsend, 1st Bt. (1776–1830), of 13 Bruton Street and 2 Richmond Terrace, Whitehall, Mdx. The History of Parliament Trust, Institute of Historical Research (U.K.), n.d. Web. 28 April 2015. . Originally published as Fisher, D. R. (ed). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820–1832, ed. 2009. Print. although he had begun using that name (Townsend) earlier on.The London Gazette Issue 177730, 28 Jul. 1821: 1555. Print. His elder brother was Sir Thomas Harvie Farquhar, 2nd bart. (1775–1836), and his younger, Walter Farquhar. He had four sisters who survived him. On 10 January 1809, he married Maria Frances Geslip de Lautour. His only legitimate son was Sir Walter Townsend-Farquhar, 2nd Baronet (1809–66). His bastard son was Walter Farquhar Fullerton. In his will, he provided £500 for one George Harrison, ‘whom I have taken under my protection and educated’.


Demise

Robert Townsend Farquhar died at his home, Richmond Terrace,
Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...
, London, on 16 March 1830, seven months shy of his 54th birthday. At the time of his death he was a member of the board of directors of the East India Company, on which he had served on and off, by rotation, through the years since 1 March 1826;The London Gazette Issue 18234, 1 Apr. 1826. the Alliance British and Foreign Life and Fire Assurance Company; and member of Parliament for Hythe. He had been a director of the Australian Agricultural Company, a member of the Royal Society, and was an Honorary Life Governor of the African Institution.Sixteenth Report of the Directors of the African Institution, read at the annual general meeting held on the 10th day of May 1822. London: Ellerton and Henderson. 1822: 397. Print.


Legacy


Places

Farquhar Street, a major thoroughfare in the city of George Town in
Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...
, is named after him, as are the Farquhar Islands, which are part of The Seychelles and are situated 100 miles north of Mauritius.


In Fiction

He was depicted by
Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series. These sea novels are set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and ...
in the Mauritius Command as a competent political man, working well with the British military (army and navy) as well as with the local people being taken over by Britain.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farquhar, Robert Townsend 1776 births 1830 deaths Younger sons of baronets People educated at Westminster School, London History of Penang Governors of Penang Governors of British Mauritius Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 Straits Settlements Administrators in British Penang Directors of the British East India Company Fellows of the Royal Society 1