Labuan:a Colony Created to Fight Pirates

Labuan - A Colony to Fight Priates

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Throughout much of the 19th century the waters of North Borneo were home to Malay and Dayak pirate fleets. So dangerous were these predators to the commerce between Singapore and Hong Kong that the British set up sea patrols in the area. Guarding the mouth of Brunei Bay was an uninhabited island known as Labuan. With the pirates a threat to his own trade, the sultan of Brunei ceded the 38 square mile island to the British for the purpose of setting up a patrolling station. In 1848, the island was made a British colony and then went through several changes in status under the Raj. The stamps of this little piece of British real estate reflect those changes.

When a post office was set up on the island about 1867, stamps of India and the Straits Settlements were overprinted with the island's name. In 1869, colorful stamps with Queen Victoria's portrait were issued.

About 1890, however, British North Borneo took charge of Labuan and that colony's stamps, overprinted, were used. Their use continued until Labuan became a crown colony in 1902.

In 1906, the heyday of the buccaneers long gone, Labuan joined the Straits Settlements (comprising the commercial centers of Malacca, Singapore, and Penang).

Following World War II and the break-up of the Straits Settlements, Labuan, along with what had been British North Borneo, and Sarawak, became part of modern Malaysia.

The island's most famous inhabitant during the years of British control was Sir Hugh Low, (1824-1905), a civil servant and amateur naturalist who was among the first to classify species native to North Borneo. After some thirty years on Labuan, Low went on to become of the governor of the Malay state of Perak, where he set up a model for enlightened civil administration that was widely emulated by other British residents. The term British Resident denoted a political agent of the crown charged with administrative duties.

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	Throughout much of the 19th century the waters of North Borneo were home to Malay and Dayak pirate fleets. So dangerous were these predators to the commerce between Singapore and Hong Kong that the British set up sea patrols in the area. Guarding the mouth of Brunei Bay was an uninhabited island known as Labuan. With the pirates a threat to his own trade, the sultan of Brunei ceded the 38 square mile island to the British for the purpose of setting up a patrolling station. In 1848, the island was made a British colony and then went through several changes in status under the Raj. The stamps of this little piece of British real estate reflect those changes.
	When a post office was set up on the island about 1867, stamps of India and the Straits Settlements were overprinted with the island's name. In 1869, colorful stamps with Queen Victoria's portrait were issued.
	About 1890, however, British North Borneo took charge of Labuan and that colony's stamps, overprinted, were used. Their use continued until Labuan became a crown colony in 1902.
	In 1906, the heyday of the buccaneers long gone, Labuan joined the Straits Settlements (comprising the commercial centers of Malacca, Singapore, and Penang).
	Following World War II and the break-up of the Straits Settlements, Labuan, along with what had been British North Borneo, and Sarawak, became part of modern Malaysia. The island's most famous inhabitant during the years of British control was Sir Hugh Low, (1824-1905), a civil servant and amateur naturalist who was among the first to classify species native to North Borneo. After some thirty years on Labuan, Low went on to become of the governor of the Malay state of Perak, where he set up a model for enlightened civil administration that was widely emulated by other British residents. The term British Resident denoted a political agent of the crown charged with administrative duties.