Because of the political controversy stirred up in England by his “Protest” to the Netherlands authorities and by his other unauthorised activities in Sumatra, Raffles considered it advisable to remain quietly at Bengkulu pending a final decision on the retention of Singapore.
The situation changed at the end of September 1819, when the brig Favourite (under J. Lambert) arrived at Bengkulu from Calcutta with news of the death in Pinang of the Governor, John Alexander Bannerman, and that of his son-in-law, William Edward Phillips, the senior member of the Prince of Wales Island Council.192 Though the news arrived at an inconvenient time, it was more than welcome to Raffles, who had been told by Hastings in Calcutta that he thought the administration of Pinang, Bengkulu and Singapore should be placed under a single head, and that as no one was better qualified for the situation than Raffles, he would recommend the measure on the removal or departure of Bannerman.193 Raffles therefore wrote immediately to Hastings, soliciting his support for his “pretensions to the Government of Pinang”, at the same time pointing out the advantages which would result from uniting all British interests to the Eastward under a single authority:194
Letter 19
Raffles to Hastings
29 September 1819
Private
Bencoolen 29th. Sept 1819
My Lord,
I have just received authentic intelligence of the death of Colonel Bannerman on the 8th. of last month, and also a Report that Mr Phillips who provisionally succeeded to the Government died some days after.
This unexpected change induces me most respectfully to solicit your Lordship’s favorable consideration of my pretensions to the Government of Pinang, and the advantages which must result from uniting the charge of all our Interests to the Eastward under one authority.
Should the Report of the death of Mr Phillips prove true, I am by my standing in the Service and the terms of my appointment in 1805, the next in succession and entitled to claim the provisional charge, Mr Erskine195 being absent and altogether incompetent from debility of body and mind – this circumstance I take the liberty of mentioning, not with the view of preferring any right to the succession, but simply to place your Lordship in possession of the arguments which may be used in my favor.
Had not Colonel Bannerman, a Director of the East India Company, stood in my way, I have every reason to believe that on Mr. Petrie’s Death196 my claims & services would have been attended to by the Court above all others – and it was under this conviction and knowledge of your Lordship’s favorable disposition and general views, that while in Bengal, on the advice of Mr. Ricketts I lost no time in pointing out to my friends at home the importance of my obtaining the succession even some years hence when it might be vacated by Colonel Bannerman.
What may have been the result of this application I know not, my reliance was mainly on the influence of Mr. Ricketts and the favorable opinion of your Lordship –
The vacancy in the Government of Pinang at this moment, offers so favorable an opportunity for uniting the two Establishments, and for adopting some more consistent and advantageous plan for the management of our more Eastern Possessions, that I am led to hope considerations of economy and policy will favor my pretensions – But it is to your Lordship’s kindness – to your Lordship’s patronage that I alone look for the accomplishment of my wishes – Whatever may be your decision I shall be satisfied and gratified for the confidence already reposed in me –
I have succeeded in reducing and simplifying the Establishment at Bencoolen so far that without risk or inconvenience to the Public Interests I can quit the place at any time and be responsible for the due performance of the duties under a more general superintendence197 – The immediate departure of the Vessel which will convey this Letter does not admit of my preparing official despatches in time, but I am anxious to apprize your Lordship that it is my intention to forward by an early opportunity a full and detailed Report of the result of the changes which have been effected and the actual state and value of Bencoolen – The information which this Report will afford will only serve to confirm the sentiments already entertained by your Lordship, of the comparative insignificance of the place and the uselessness of maintaining for its management any but a very limited Establishment.
From the full and unreserved communications with which Mr Ricketts honoured me while in Bengal and the confidence your Lordship was pleased to place in me I am inclined to hope that I have rightly conceived the views and principles on which your Lordship is desirous, that in the event of my succeeding to the Government of Pinang, our Settlements to the Eastward should be administered – They have hitherto been a burden & in many instances defeated the object of their Establishment, and their proper regulation on some fixed principle must form an important epoch in the general administration of our Indian Possessions – fortunately the subject has attracted your Lordship’s attention, and I shall be proud if I can be rendered the humble Instrument in effecting the improvements your Lordship’s wisdom may suggest. If further personal communication is deemed advisable I will not lose a moment in proceeding to Bengal – or otherwise, should it be agreeable to your Lordship, I will take the liberty of submitting such details for consideration as I conceive to be most consonant with the just and enlightened principles of your Lordship’s Government.
I have the satisfaction to add that by the latest accounts from Sincapore every thing was going on well – the Enclosed Extract from a Letter I have just received from Batavia will shew that however unfortunate I may have been in my discussions and proceedings with the Dutch, it seems probable that I shall have it in my power by a trifling concession in point of courtesy, whenever good policy may recommend it, to bring about a reconciliation and good understanding – I shall not fail to cultivate the feeling which exists on the part of Baron Van De Capellen, and in the event of your Lordship being disposed to acquiesce in the advantage of my proceeding to Batavia, I shall not hesitate to do so in the confidence that the personal influence which I may exert will tend to restore that harmony which, it must be confessed, I have been the means of disturbing –
I have not yet received any communications from Bengal on the result of the Acheen Mission – I need not however point out the advantage which may result to our Interests in that quarter from my succession to the Government of Pinang –
I have the honor to remain with,
the highest respect and consideration
your Lordship’s
obliged and very
faithful humble Servt
T S Raffles
His Excellency
The most noble the Marquess of Hastings
KG. KGCB &c &c &c
Raffles appears to have had doubts about the accuracy of the report of Phillips’s death, which indeed had been confused with that of John Lyon Phipps, Accountant and Auditor of Prince of Wales Island,198 and with the prospect of his old enemy having already succeeded to the temporary charge of Pinang, he was inclined to wait upon events at Bengkulu.
However, his aide-de-camp, Captain Thomas Otho Travers, pointed out to him that it would require “the exertion of much interest” to remove Phillips, and that as Raffles had few friends in Calcutta, his only chance of success was to press his claim directly with the Governor-General in person.199 Raffles accepted this advice and wrote to Hastings on 5 October 1819, stating his intention to proceed immediately to Calcutta on the brig Favourite:200
Fig. 27
William Edward Phillips (1769–1862), Lieutenant-Governor of Prince of Wales Island 1820–24.
Fig. 28
Captain Thomas Otho Travers (1785–1844), Raffles’s aide-decamp in Java and West Sumatra.
Miniature portrait c 1817.
Letter 20
Raffles to Hastings
5 October 1819
Bencoolen 5th. October 1819
My Lord,
An opportunity of proceeding direct to Calcutta having offered since I had the honor of addressing your Lordship on the subject of Colonel Bannerman’s death, I have resolved to profit by it and it is my intention to embark for this purpose on the Brig Favorite in the course of tomorrow.
In adopting this measure I have been influenced, not only by a consideration of the immediate measures which may become necessary at Penang, but the probability that by the period of my reaching Bengal, your Lordship may be apprized of the views and disposition of the Authorities at home with regard to our more Eastern Interests generally –
The possibility that further information and explanation may be required respecting Sincapore and Acheen, has also had its weight, and the advantage of personal communication may also be felt on some of the leading subjects of reference from Bencoolen.
Under these circumstances and considering that in the present settled state of Bencoolen no inconvenience is likely to arise from my absence, I trust that the measure will be approved.
I have the honor to be, with the
highest consideration and respect,
your Lordship’s
most devoted and
obedient humble servant
T S Raffles
His Excellency
The Most Noble the Marquess of Hastings
KG. KGCB &c &c &c
The Favourite was a small ship, but as there was no prospect of another vessel appearing on the west coast of Sumatra so late in the season, Raffles had to make do with what available space there was.201 No accommodation could be provided for Lady Raffles, but he took with him his secretary, Dr. William Jack, and his former aide-de-camp, Thomas Watson, who was proceeding to India on private business.202 Despite the cramped conditions, Raffles and Jack spent six weeks on board writing official papers and reports, Jack in particular completing an important report on the local population of Bengkulu203 which, he informed his parents, Raffles was “well pleased with”, and had forwarded it to Calcutta “with a very high recommendation”.204 He also told them that he and Raffles had been employed during the voyage in drawing up papers for Lord Hastings “on the future government of the Eastern Islands, proposing great reforms and alterations”, as well as suggesting “the propriety of establishing a native college at Singapore”.205
The first of the papers, which was later printed privately in London as Substance of a Memoir on the Administration of the Eastern Islands,206 was handed to Hastings by Raffles shortly after his arrival at Calcutta on 17 November 1819. It proposed, among other things, a reduction in the burdensome and costly administrative structures of Pinang and Bengkulu and their replacement by “commercial stations, similar in principle to what has lately been adopted at Singapore”.
Fig. 29
Suffolk House, Pinang, built by W.E. Phillips in 1809, served as the residence of several early Governors.
Aquatint by William Daniell after a painting by Captain Robert Smith.
The reforms had been proposed on the assumption that both Bannerman and Phillips were dead, but by the time of his meeting with Hastings, Raffles knew that Phillips had assumed temporary charge of Prince of Wales Island and that his appointment as Governor was likely to be confirmed by the Supreme Government. Raffles wrote privately to Hastings on 25 November stating that while he understood these arrangements would be an obstacle to the immediate and full implementation of the proposals made in his paper, especially with respect to Pinang, his own personal wish was “to secure the eventual succession to the general charge of our interests to the Eastwards” rather than the immediate appointment to Pinang on its present footing, and he therefore wondered if the interests of all parties might be resolved if a date were fixed for the introduction of the reforms and Phillips permitted to remain in charge of Pinang until then:207
Letter 21
Raffles to Hastings
25 November 1819
Private
Calcutta 25th. November 1819
My Lord,
When I had the honor to submit to your Lordship the suggestions which had occurred to me on the subject of the future management of our Eastern Establishments, I took the liberty of stating that the paper was drawn up under an impression that the death of both the parties immediately interested in the continuance of the present System had created at Penang an emergency which called for the interference of your Lordship’s Government.
Since my arrival however, I have found that the information on which I proceeded was in part incorrect, and that the obstacles which I did not then suppose to exist may in consequence be in the way of the immediate and full adoption of the plan suggested, at least with reference to Penang.
In making these propositions I trust it is unnecessary to assure your Lordship, that I was not actuated by personal motives – A natural ambition to render myself instrumental in carrying into effect a plan which appeared to be calculated to promote the public interest, and extend the sphere and influence of your Lordship’s enlightened administration was the principal and I may add the only inducement – I was not aware that I should interfere or come in competition with the personal interest of any person whatever, or that by advancing my Claims, they would have clashed with the pretensions of any other Individual.
If the general principles of the plan suggested, should coincide with your Lordship’s views, it may perhaps remove embarrassment and tend to its ultimate accomplishment, to shew that the public advantage and private interests of all parties are not incompatible – I beg to state candidly and fairly to your Lordship that my object is rather to secure the eventual succession to the general charge of our interests to the Eastward, than to obtain the Government of Penang on its present footing. The more extensive and important charge which your Lordship has already confided to me, renders that in some measure a secondary object. The interference of your Lordship’s Government seems indispensable and in that portion of the Eastward which is more directly under your Lordship’s control, no obstacle of moment appears to oppose the immediate adoption and declaration of the principles on which the changes at Bencoolen and its dependencies have been made – A decision at this moment is called for, and if those principles are approved and assumed as the basis of a general plan such as I have had the honor to propose, Penang must and will sooner or later fall naturally into the general arrangement – If on the contrary, the present emergency is allowed to pass without an opinion being expressed as to the line of policy advisable, it may be apprehended, that in ignorance of the true nature and objects of our connection with the Eastern Islands, the continuance and extension of the Government of Penang on its present footing may be authorized at home, and the present System, so universally condemned, be accidentally perpetuated, to the possible prevention of your Lordship’s arrangements.
Whatever may be the decision of the Authorities in Europe on the questions which have arisen with the Dutch Government, I am not aware that they can in any way interfere with the consideration of the nature and principle of our own Establishments, and it is essential to the economy efficiency and due administration of these, that some defined principle be adopted and acted upon. If that which I have taken the liberty to submit is assumed, Bencoolen and Tappanooly may forthwith be placed on the same footing as Singapore, and the economy of these arrangements eventually extended to Penang whenever the concurrence of the Authorities at home and the personal interests of individuals may admit – Under any circumstances it might not perhaps have suited your Lordship’s views to enter on the immediate reform proposed at Penang, but the necessity of the change being pointed out by your Lordship and elsewhere acted upon would naturally ensure its eventual adoption – With regard to Mr. Phillips, the gentleman now in temporary charge of Penang, it is understood that it is by no means his intention to remain in this Country beyond a definite period, and perhaps, the interests of all parties might be sufficiently consulted, if a date were fixed at which the reform might be acted upon, and until which he might retain the Government on its present footing. By such an arrangement, the danger which might arise to the public welfare by the clashing of personal interests at home might possibly be in a good measure avoided.208
I have to offer an apology to your Lordship for this intrusion; I am actuated by a desire to relieve your Lordship from any embarrassment which might arise on the question, and I have conceived that a communication in this form might be more convenient to your Lordship than to have requested a personal interview, knowing the numerous and important demands on your Lordship’s time.
I have the honor to remain,
with the highest respect,
your Lordship’s most
obedient & faithful
humble Servant
T S Raffles
His Excellency
The Marquess of Hastings KG. KGCB
&c &c &c
Hastings replied two days later, on 27 November 1819, and without committing himself to the details of Raffles’s letter, expressed his general approval of the proposal to amalgamate Pinang, Singapore, Bengkulu and Tapanuli. At the same time, he pointed out that the matter could not proceed until the conclusion of negotiations in Europe between the British and Netherlands governments:209
Letter 22
Hastings to Raffles
27 November 1819
Calcutta, November 27th, 1819.
My Dear Sir,
The consolidation of our Eastern possessions into one government, subordinate to the supreme authority, would unquestionably be a desirable arrangement. I think it likely to strike the Court of Directors, in consequence of the various documents which have within the last two years been transmitted to them. Their judgment possibly may not determine the point, for the consideration of the subject will be complicated with the result of discussions between the Courts of London and Brussels. I fear we shall have put a patched determination. Till a decision shall be signified to us, it would be premature to fashion, even provisionally, any plan; but it is always expedient to scrutinize, in the interval, all particulars, so as to be prepared to act upon the principle which may be dictated to us.
I am, &c. [Hastings]
