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Auction: 16043 - Autographs, Historical Documents, Ephemera and Postal History
Lot: 145

(x) Documents
Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak
1839 (c.) single sheet A.L.S. to Popham Lethbridge. "My dear Popham, I will take a boy out of the upper school if you will pick me an active intelligent fellow that can navigate well. He shall be well cared for and I will give him a good fit out of clothes. Yours in haste J Brooke". Hand delivered, normal folding creases, signature on verso. Photo


Sir James Brooke, KCB (1803-68), was a British adventurer whose exploits in the Malay Archipelago made him the first White Rajah of Sarawak.


Born in India and briefly educated in England, he served in the Bengal Army, was wounded, and resigned his commission. He bought a ship and sailed out to the Malay Archipelago, where by helping to crush a rebellion, he became governor of Sarawak. He then vigorously suppressed piracy in the region, and in the ensuing turmoil, restored the Sultan of Brunei to his throne, for which the Sultan made Brooke the Rajah of Sarawak. He ruled until his death.

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