List of governors of Penang explained

Post:Governor
Body:Penang
Insignia:Coat of arms of Penang.svg
Insigniasize:100px
Insigniacaption:Coat of arms of Penang
Incumbent:Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak
Incumbentsince:1 May 2021
Style:Tuan Yang Terutama
Residence:Seri Mutiara
Appointer:Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Inaugural:Raja Uda Raja Muhammad

The governor of Penang (Malay: Yang di-Pertua Negeri Pulau Pinang) is the head of state of the Malaysian state of Penang. The role of governor is largely ceremonial with the power vested in the executive branch of the state government led by the chief minister.

Until the 18th century, the island of Penang was part of the Sultanate of Kedah. In 1786, the island was ceded by the sultan of Kedah to the East India Company, Francis Light representing the company.[1] Light renamed the island Prince of Wales Island. In 1790, after suffering a military defeat at the hands of Light, Sultan Abdullah formally handed over the island to the British. Light was appointed Superintendent of Prince of Wales Island.[1] From 1800 to 1805, the island was led by a lieutenant governor.[1]

In 1805, Prince of Wales Island became a residency, led by a governor.[1] In 1826, the island, along with Malacca and Singapore, were consolidated into the Straits Settlements. Thereafter, Penang was administered by a British resident councillor subordinate to the governor of the Straits Settlements.

Penang was occupied by the Japanese from 1941 to 1945.[1] After the surrender of the Japanese, the British returned and briefly imposed military rule on Malaya before forming the Malayan Union in 1946. During the Malayan Union and the pre-independence Federation of Malaya period, Penang was administered by British resident commissioners.

Since independence, the head of state of Penang, the governor (Malay: Yang di-Pertua Negeri|links=no), has been appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (king of Malaysia) after consultation with the chief minister of Penang.[2] [3] The governor retains only ceremonial functions, including opening and dissolving the State Assembly, conferring state awards and appointing the chief minister after elections.[4] The chief minister is the head of the executive branch of the state government.

Superintendents of Prince of Wales Island

SuperintendentTook officeLeft officeNotes
1Captain Francis LightSuperintendent
Captain John GlassActing Superintendent
Captain Francis LightSuperintendent, resumed. Died in office. "The inscription to his memory at St. George's Church by a contemporary Penang ResidentRobert Scottadds to the favourable impression made by the public records a warm testimony to his worth:- "In Memory of Francis light Esq. who first established this Island as an English Settlement, and was many years Governor. "[5]
Philip ManingtonActing Superintendent
Thomas PigouActing Superintendent
John BeanlandActing Superintendent
2Major Forbes Ross MacDonaldSuperintendent
George CaunterActing Superintendent, first period
2Major Forbes Ross MacDonaldSuperintendent, resumed
George CaunterActing Superintendent, second period

Lieutenant governors of Prince of Wales Island

Lieutenant GovernorTook officeLeft officeNotes
1Sir George Alexander William Leith1804
2Sir Robert Townsend Farquhar18041805

Governors of Prince of Wales Island

NameEndedNotes
5 December 1804Philip Dundas8 April 1807 Died in office
8 April 1807Henry Shepherd Pearson2 March 1808 Acting
2 March 1808Norman MacalisterMarch 1810
24 Mar.1810Charles Andrew BruceDecember 1810 Died in office.
December 1810William Edward Phillips1811 Acting.
1811Archibald Seton1812
1811William Petrie1812 Acting while Seton in Java
29 January 1812William Petrie27 October 1816 Died in office
27 October 1816William Edward Phillips18 March 1817Acting
18 March 1817John Alexander Bannerman8 August 1819Died in office
1 March 1820William Edward PhillipsAug. 1824.
4 February 1824 Robert Fullerton.12 November 1829[6] Governor of the Straits Settlements (1826–1830)

Resident councillors of Prince of Wales Island

width=10% Portraitwidth=40% Namewidth = 20%Period in officewidth = 10% Notes
William Clubley1825–1826
Robert Ibbetson1826–1 May 1830

Residents and governors of the Residency of Prince of Wales Island, Singapore and Malacca (at George Town & Singapore)

width=10% Portraitwidth=40% Namewidth = 20%Period in officewidth = 10% Notes
Robert Fullerton (Resident)1 May 1830 – 12 November 1830
Robert Ibbetson (Initially Resident)12 November 1830 – 7 December 1833[7] [8] [9] [10]
Kenneth Murchison7 December 1833 – 18 November 1836
Sir Samuel George Bonham, Bt18 November 1836–January 1843

Deputy residents and resident councillors, Prince of Wales Island

width=10% Portraitwidth=40% Namewidth = 20%Period in officewidth = 10% Notes
Robert Ibbetson (Deputy Resident)1 May 1830 – 12 November 1830
Kenneth Murchison (Initially Deputy Resident)12 November 1830 – 7 December 1833
James William Salmond22 September 1834 – 1836[11]
Captain James Low (acting)1838
Edmund Augustus Blundell1849–1855

In 1851 the Straits Settlements, while still remaining a residency, was transferred from the authority of the governor of the Presidency of Bengal and put under direct control of the governor-general of India. The powers previously invested in the governor of Bengal were now vested in the governor of the Straits Settlements.

Colonial Office, United Kingdom

Lieutenant-governors, Penang

On 1 April 1867 the Straits Settlements were transferred from the control of the Indian government to that of the secretary of state for the colonies in London (Colonial Office).

Resident Councillors, Penang

Japanese occupation

Japanese governors of Penang

British military administration

Military governors of the Settlement of Penang

Malayan Union and Federation of Malaya

Resident commissioners of the Settlement of Penang

Independent Federation of Malaya and Malaysia

List of Yang di-Pertua of the State of Penang

No.Portrait Governor[24] [25] Term of office
Took office Left officeTime in office
1
Raja Uda Raja Muhammad
2
Syed Sheh Shahabudin
3
Syed Sheh Hassan Barakbah
4
Sardon Jubir
5
Awang Hassan
6
Hamdan Sheikh Tahir
7
Abdul Rahman Abbas
8
Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak
Incumbent

See also

References

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: History of Penang . Visit Penang . 17 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160102075051/http://www.visitpenang.gov.my/portal3/about-penang/history.html . 2 January 2016 . dead .
  2. Web site: Article 1.(1), Constitution of the State of Penang . 29 February 2020.
  3. Web site: Appointment Of Persons To Important Posts . Yang di-Pertuan Agong . 17 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120402004239/http://www.malaysianmonarchy.org.my/malaysianmonarchy/?q=en%2Fappointment . 2 April 2012 . dead .
  4. Web site: Role . Penang State Government . 17 July 2011.
  5. Memoir of Captain Francis light by Allan Maclean Skinner. 1895. Print. Page 17.
  6. Governor Fullerton moved the seat of the Straits Government from Penang to Singapore (12 November 1829), after which time Ibbetson assumed the role of governor of Penang, as the sole survivor of the officials appointed to the new Penang Presidency in 1805. The departure of the last Governor is also recorded in the Gazette. The issue of 29 August 1829 carries the following notification:"The Honorable the Governor, being about to proceed to Singapore and Malacca, NOTICE is hereby given that this station will cease to be the seat of Government from the date of his departure, and the charge of the settlement will devolve upon the Honorable Robert Ibbetson, Resident Councillor; to whom all local references will be made." -- New Ways of Knowing: The Prince of Wales Island Gazette—Penang’s First Newspaper by Geoff Wade, University of Hong Kong; Email gwade@hkucc.hku.hk, Presented at The Penang Story – International Conference 2002 18–21 April 2002, The City Bayview Hotel, Penang, Malaysia organised by The Penang Heritage Trust & STAR Publications
  7. 1831: Ibbetson signed the British Treaty with Rumbowe, 30 November 1831 as the Resident of Singapore, Prince of Wales' Island, Malacca and its dependencies. (See Newbold, 1839)
  8. 1832: Robert Ibbetson, Governor of Penang, Malacca and Singapore.
  9. Boundary Treaty with Johore,15 June 1833.
  10. https://books.google.com/books?id=RMcNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA459 Political and Statistical account of the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca
  11. https://books.google.com/books/pdf/The_Bengal_directory_and_annual_register.pdf?id=O94NAAAAQAAJ&output=pdf&sig=ACfU3U3_Db0KeBszW-5t_2TLxP75MQ0yPw&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0 The Bengal directory and annual register Published by Samuel Smith & Co., 1838
  12. The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australia Published by Parbury, Allen, and Co., 1838; Item notes: n.s. 25 (January–April 1838); p. 264
  13. The Western Malay States, 1850–1873: the effects of commercial development on Malay politics By Kay Kim Khoo Published by Oxford University Press, 1972; p. 90, 91, 113
  14. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society By Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Malayan Branch Published by The Branch, 1923; Item notes: v.56–58 1983–1985; p. 119
  15. The Complete Journal of Townsend Harris: First American Consul and Minister to Japan By Townsend Harris, Japan Society (New York, N.Y.), Mario Emilio Cosenza Published by Published for Japan Society, New York, by Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1930; p. 48, 75
  16. The British in West Sumatra (1685-1825).: A Selection of Documents, Mainly from the East India Company Records Preserved in the India Office Library, Commonwealth Relations Office, London By John Sturgus Bastin, John Bastin, India Office Library, East India Company Compiled by John Sturgus Bastin Published by University of Malaya Press, 1965; p. 178
  17. JMBRAS XXXIII L. A. Mills
  18. ANSON, ARCHIBALD EDWARD HARBORD About Others and Myself, London, John Murray. 1920
  19. News: Death of Mr C. W. S. Kynnersley, C.M.G.. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly). 21 July 1904. 37.
  20. Web site: Kynnersley, Charles Walter Sneyd-, (1849–11 July 1904), Resident Councillor at Penang, Straits Settlements, from 1897. ukwhoswho. 1 December 2007.
  21. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/subjectView.asp?ID=P37241 Evans, William (b 1860) Resident Councillor, Penang
  22. Book: Frost, Captain Meadows, (18 April 1875–28 Aug. 1954). 1 December 2007. 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U237467.
  23. Web site: Gilman, Edward Wilmot Francis, (16 Aug. 1876–13 March 1955). ukwhoswho. 1 December 2007.
  24. Web site: Portal Rasmi Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang - Governor. Siti Fairuz. Mustafa. www.penang.gov.my.
  25. Web site: Malaysia: States . Rulers . 13 April 2011.
  26. [India Office Records]