Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak
The White Raj's fight against slavery and piracy
Charles, the nephew of James Brooke, the first White Rajah, took a deep interest in the welfare of the people of Sarawak by fighting slavery and abolishing headhunting.
For one hundred years the White Rajahs ruled Sarawak. The second of the three successive rajahs, Charles became the builder and led Sarawak along the trail to civilization.
Early Life
Charles Anthoni Brooke was born on June 3, 1829, at Berrow Vicarage near Burnham, Somerset, England. His father was The Rev. Francis Charles Johnson and his mother Emma Frances, younger sister of Sir James Brooke.
Charles was educated at Crewkeme Grammar School and entered the Royal Navy on January 18, 1842. He served in HMS Wolverine where he was promoted to Midshipman in 1844 and transferred to HMS Dido where he was commissioned sub-lieutenant in 1847. By 1852 he had risen to the rank of lieutenant and made a career change when he adopted the name of Brooke and entered the service of his Uncle James, then Rajah of Sarawak. He served as Resident of Lundu and in 1855 was granted the title Tuan Muda. At about the same time his older brother John, a Captain in the Royal Navy, also entered the service of the Rajah. James recognized John as his successor in 1861. However, while John was in England in 1863 he made the mistake of criticizing his uncle and when word got back to Sarawak, Charles deposed his nephew and named Charles his successor.
The New Rajah
Now the Administrator of the Raj, Charles received the title Raj Muda in September 1863 and was proclaimed Rajah with the death of his uncle in 1868.
Charles Brooke returned to England in 1869 and married Margaret Alice Lili de Windt, only daughter of Captain Joseph de Windt of the 15th Hussars, in Highworth, Wiltshire on October 28. The couple returned to Sarawak where his new bride was raised to the title of Her Highness the Ranee of Sarawak. A year later Charles built Astana, their new official residence, as a bridal gift for Margaret.
The monarchs were to have six children, a daughter, Dayang Ghita, born in 1870, and twin boys, James and Charles born in February 1872. The three children contracted cholera and died while on a voyage in the Red Sea in 1873 aboard HMS Hydaspes. Tragedy struck again in May 1873 when a fourth and unnamed child was stillborn in Kuching. To improve the odds of the next child’s survival, the Ranee went to England to deliver the next son, Charles Vyner in 1874. Bertram was born in 1876 and Harry in 1879.
Charles followed in the able footsteps of his uncle, encouraged the parliamentary government, continued the war on slavery and piracy, abolished head-hunting, encouraged trade, oversaw the development of a railroad and delighted in the discovery of oil. He raised and became Colonel of the Sarawak Rangers in 1872 basing the para-military organization on the fortmen who had defended Kuching.
In 1888 Sarawak became a British Protectorate and the Rajah was granted the honour of a 21-gun salute. By 1917 Charles, now in his late eighties, returned to England and died in Chesterton House, Cirencester, Gloucestershire on May 17. He was buried in Sheepstor Churchyard, Devonshire with his uncle. Charles was succeeded by his eldest son Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke.
Bibliography:
Barley, Nigel. White Rajah. London:Time Warner, 2002
Pybus, Cassandra, The White Rajahs of Sarawak, Douglas McIntyre 1997
Reece, R.H.W., The Name of Brooke: The End of White Rajah Rule in Sarawak, 1993
Reece, R.H.W., The White Rajahs of Sarawak: A Borneo Journey, Archipelago Press 2004
Runciman, Steven, The White Rajahs: A History of Sarawak from 1841 to 1946,Cambridge University Press, 1960
Encyclopedia Britannica
Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia
