The Labuan entrepôt and the Borneo protectorate
The signing of the treaty for the cession of Labuan to the British. It was hoped that a lasting friendship would be established with Britain, and that joint Brunei-British efforts could rid the area of pirates.
In 1846, at James Brooke's instigation, Britain acquired from the sultan of Brunei the coal-rich island of Labuan. It served Brooke's own plans for the British navy to be close and provide support for his policy in Brunei. The coal deposits proved to be of inferior quality, but the island was retained as a base of operations against piracy. Commercial enterprises failed, and as Labuan was afinancial strain on Britain its administration was handed over to the British North Borneo Company in 1890. In 1905, it was returned to the Colonial Office and attached to the Straits Settlements government.
- Information in the full article includes
- The early years
- The British North Borneo Company
- The protectorates of 1888
- The interwar period
- The Sarawak constitution