Crown Colony of Labuan Pulau Labuan
1848–1946
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Anthem: God Save the Queen (1848–1901) God Save the King (1901–1946)
Map of Labuan, 1888
Status	British colony
Capital	Victoria
Common languages	English, Malay and Chinese etc.
Monarch
• 1848–1876	Queen Victoria (first)
• 1936–1946	George VI (last)
Governor
• 1848–1852	James Brooke (first)
• 1945–1946	Shenton Thomas (last)
Historical era	British Empire
• Establishment of the crown colony	1848
• Transferred to North Borneo	1890
• British government rule	1904
• Incorporated into Straits Settlements	1 January 1907
• Japanese invasion	3 January 1942
• Allied liberation	10 June 1945
• Labuan to North Borneo Crown	15 July 1946
Population
• 1864[1]	2,000
• 1890[2]	5,853
• 1911[3]	6,545
• 1941[4]	8,963
Currency	North Borneo dollar (1890–1907) Straits dollar (1907–1939) Malayan dollar (1939–1946)
Preceded by Succeeded by Bruneian Empire North Borneo Straits Settlements North Borneo Straits Settlements Japanese occupation of British Borneo Crown Colony of North Borneo
Today part of	Malaysia  ∟ Labuan

The Crown Colony of Labuan was a Crown colony off the northwestern shore of the island of Borneo established in 1848 after the acquisition of the island of Labuan from the Sultanate of Brunei in 1846. Apart from the main island, Labuan consists of six smaller islands; Burung, Daat, Kuraman, Papan, Rusukan Kecil, and Rusukan Besar.

Labuan was expected by the British to be a second Singapore, but it did not fulfill its promise especially after the failure of its coal production that did not become fruitful, causing investors to withdraw their money, leaving all machinery equipment and Chinese workers that had entered the colony previously. The Chinese workers then began involving themselves in other businesses with many becoming chief traders of the island's produce of edible bird's nest, pearl, sago and camphor, with the main successful production later being the coconut, rubber and sago.

World War II brought the invasion of Japanese forces which abruptly ended British administration. Subsequently, Labuan became the place where the Japanese commander in Borneo surrendered to the Allied forces, with the territory placed under a military administration before merging into the Crown Colony of North Borneo.

Since 1841, when James Brooke had successfully established a solid presence in northwestern Borneo with the establishment of the Raj of Sarawak and began to assist in the suppression of piracy along the island coast, he had persistently promoted the island of Labuan to the British government.^[5] Brooke urged the British to establish a naval station, colony or protectorate along the northern coast to prevent other European powers from doing so which being responded by the Admiralty with the arrival of Admiral Drinkwater Bethune to look for a site for a naval station and specifically to investigate Labuan in November 1844,^[6] along with Admiral Edward Belcher with his HMS Samarang (1822) to survey the island.^[7][8]

The British Foreign Office then appointed Brooke as a diplomat to Brunei in 1845 and asked him to co-operate with Bethune. At the same time, Lord Aberdeen who was the British Foreign Minister at the time sent a letter to the Sultan of Brunei requesting the Sultan to not enter any treaties with other foreign powers while the island was under consideration as a British base.^[6] On 24 February 1845, Admiral Bethune with his HMS Driver and several other political commissions left Hong Kong to survey the island more. The crews found that it was the most suitable for inhabitants than any other island in the coast of Borneo especially with its coal deposits.^[9] The British also saw the potential the island could be the next Singapore.^[10] Brooke acquired the island for Britain through the Treaty of Labuan with the Sultan of Brunei, Omar Ali Saifuddin II on 18 December 1846.^[11]

Captain Rodney Mundy visited Brunei with his ship HMS Iris (1840) to keep the Sultan in line until the British government made a final decision to take the island and he took Pengiran Mumin to witness the island's accession to the British Crown on 24 December 1846.^[12][13] Brooke supervised the transferring process and by 1848, the island was made a crown colony and free port with him appointed as the first Governor.^[14][15][16] From 1890, Labuan came to be administered by the North Borneo Chartered Company before been reverted to British government rule in 1904.^[17][18] By 30 October 1906, the British government proposed to extend the boundaries of the Straits Settlements to include Labuan. The proposal took effect from 1 January 1907, with the administration area being taken directly from Singapore, the capital of the Straits Settlements.^[3][19]

Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Army

Additional Japanese forces landing on the coast of Labuan on 14 January 1942

As part of the World War II, the Japanese navy anchored at Labuan on 3 January 1942 without being met by any strong resistance.^[20] Most treasury notes on the island had been burned and destroyed by the British to prevent them from falling into Japanese hands.^[21] The remaining Japanese forces then proceeded to Mempakul in the western coast of neighbouring North Borneo to strengthen their main forces there.^[22] Following the complete takeover of the rest of Borneo island, Labuan was ruled as part of the Empire of Japan and garrisoned by units of the Japanese 37th Army, which controlled northern Borneo. The island was renamed Maeda Island (前田島, Maeda-shima) after Marquis Toshinari Maeda, the first commander of Japanese forces in northern Borneo.^[23][24] The Japanese planned to construct two airfields on the island with eleven others to be located in different parts of Borneo.^[25][26][27] To achieve this, the Japanese brought approximately one hundred thousand Javanese forced labourers from Java to work for them.^[26][28]

The liberation of the whole of Borneo began on 10 June 1945 when the Allied forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur and Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead landed at Labuan with a convoy of 100 ships.^[29] The 9th Australian Division launched an attack, with its 24th Brigade landing two battalions at the island southeast protrudance and the north side of Victoria Harbour on Brown Beach while being supported by massive air and sea bombardments.^[30][31] The landings were witnessed by MacArthur on board the USS Boise (CL-47) when he decided to proceed further south from the southern Philippines to Labuan.^[32] Following the surrender of Japan on 15 August 1945, Lieutenant General Masao Baba who was the last commander of the Japanese army in northern Borneo surrendered at the island's Layang-layang beach on 9 September 1945. He was then brought to the 9th Division headquarters on the island to sign the surrender document in front of the commander of the 9th Division, Major General George Wootten.^[33] The official surrender ceremony was held on the next day on 10 September at Surrender Point.^[34] The town of Victoria had been damaged by Allied bombings but was rebuilt after the war. The island assumed its former name and was under British Military Administration (BMA) along with the rest of the British territories in Borneo before joining the Crown Colony of North Borneo on 15 July 1946.^[17][4]

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Prehistoric period Paleolithic  Lenggong Valley c. 2,000,0000 BCE  Mansuli Valley 235,000 BCE Mesolithic  Niah cultures 65,000–40,000 BCE Neolithic  Bewah man/woman 16,000 BCE  Perak man/woman 11,000–200 BCE  Neolithic Klang 500 – 200 BCE
Early kingdoms Ancient Kedah <100 BCE Chi Tu 100 BCE–642 CE Langkasuka 100 BCE–1474 CE Gangga Negara c. 100 CE–1025 Pan Pan 424–775 Old Kedah 170–1135 Old Pahang 449–1454 Srivijaya 700s–1025 Majapahit 1300s
Rise of Muslim states Kedah Sultanate 1136–present Samudera Pasai Sultanate 1267–1521 Brunei Sultanate 1368–present Malacca Sultanate 1402–1511 Sulu Sultanate 1450–1899 Pahang Sultanate 1470–1623 Aceh Sultanate 1496–1903 Pattani Sultanate 1516– 1902 Johor Sultanate 1528–present Sarawak Sultanate 1599–1641 Selangor Sultanate 1766–present Besut Kingdom 1780–1899 Setul Kingdom 1808–1916 Reman Kingdom 1810–1902 Kubang Pasu Kingdom 1839–1864
Colonial period Portuguese Malacca 1511–1641 Dutch–Portuguese War 1601–1661 Dutch Malacca 1641–1824 Pahang Kingdom 1770–1881 Straits Settlements 1786–1946 Siamese invasion of Kedah 1821–1826 Anglo-Dutch Treaty 1824 Burney Treaty 1826 Naning War 1831–1832 Kingdom of Sarawak 1841–1946 Separation of Perlis from Kedah 1843 Crown Colony of Labuan 1848–1946 Pahang Civil War 1857–1863 Larut Wars 1861–1874 Klang War 1867–1874 Pangkor Treaty 1874 Perak War 1875–1876 British Malaya / Borneo 1874–1946 Jementah Civil War 1879 North Borneo 1882–1946 Pahang Uprising 1891–1895 Mat Salleh Rebellion 1894–1905 Federated Malay States 1895–1946 Anglo-Siamese Treaty 1909 Unfederated Malay States 1909–1946 Battle of Penang 1914 Kelantan rebellion 1915
World War II Japanese occupation of Malaya / Borneo 1941–1945 Malayan campaign 1941–1942 Bornean Campaign 1941–1942 Battle of Muar 1942 Parit Sulong Massacre 1942 Battle of Singapore 1942 Sook Ching 1942 Syburi 1942 Sandakan Death Marches 1942–1945 Si Rat Malai 1943–1945 Jesselton revolt 1943–1944
Formative period BMA of Malaya/Borneo 1945–1946 Crown Colony of N. Borneo/Sarawak 1946–1963 Anti-cession movement 1946–1963 Malayan Union 1946–1948 Federation of Malaya 1948–1963 Malayan Emergency 1948–1960 Baling Talks 1955
Independence period Malayan Independence 1957 Singapore self-governance 1959 ISA 1960 1960–2012 Sarawak Insurgency 1962–1990 North Borneo self-governance 1963 Konfrontasi 1963–1966 Sarawak self-governance 1963 Formation of Malaysia 1963 Singapore in Malaysia 1963–1965 ASEAN Declaration 1967 Second communist insurgency 1968–1989
Modern period 13 May incident 1969 National Operations Council 1969–1971 Declaration of Rukun Negara 1970 New Economic Policy 1971–1990 Federal Territory of KL 1974 1977 Kelantan Emergency 1977 Pedra Branca dispute 1979–2008 South China Sea dispute (Spratly) 1980–present Federal Territory of Labuan 1984 Memali incident 1985 Operation Lalang 1987 Constitutional crisis 1987–1988 Peace Agreement of Hat Yai 1989 Royal Immunity Amendments 1993 Asian financial crisis 1997–1998 Reformasi Movement 1998–2022 H1N1 flu pandemic 2009–2010 Sedition Dragnet 2014 1MDB scandal 2015–present Pakatan Harapan takeover 2018 COVID-19 pandemic 2020–2022 Political crisis 2020–2022 Bornean Amendment 2021–2023 Green Wave 2022–present
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Following the acquisition of Labuan, it was made a crown colony and governed by a Governor. Governor John Fitzpatrick imported a group of Dublin policemen to clean up the island and enforce health regulations during his term.^[35] From the 1880s, there had been a wide disenchantment over the position of Labuan as a crown colony among British administrators after the failure of coal production,^[36] causing the administration to be passed twice to North Borneo and the Straits Settlements.^[37] From the last years of British rule, the authorities encouraged the involvement of indigenous natives in the island to participate in politics although it was still controlled based on the interests of the British government.^[38]

Since its discovery by the British, coal has been found on the main island.^[7] Other economic resources include edible bird's nest, pearl, sago, and camphor.^[1] The British hoped that the island's capital would grow into a city to rival Singapore and Hong Kong, but the dream was never realised. In particular the decline of coal production caused most investors to withdraw their investment.^[36][39][40] As a replacement, coconut, rubber, and sago production became the main resources of the Labuan economy.^[17] Under the administration of North Borneo, its revenue was $20,000 in 1889, increasing to $56,000 in 1902. Imports in 1902 were $1,948,742, while exports reached $1,198,945.^[2]

The island had a population of about 2,000 in 1864,^[1] 5,853 in 1890,^[2] 6,545 in 1911,^[3] and 8,963 in 1941.^[4] The population is mainly Malays (mostly Bruneian and Kedayan) and Chinese, with a remainder of European and Eurasian. The Europeans were mainly government officials and staff of companies, the Chinese were the chief traders with most of the industries in the island in their hands, while the Malays were mostly fishermen.^[39][2]

A telegraph line was established from Labuan to Sandakan on neighbouring North Borneo in 1894.^[41] Postal services were also available throughout the administration, with a post office operating on the island by 1864 and used a circular date stamp as a postmark. The postage stamps of India and Hong Kong were used on some mail, but they were probably carried there by individuals rather than being on sale in Labuan. Mail was routed through Singapore. From 1867, Labuan officially used the postage stamps of the Straits Settlements but began issuing its own in May 1879.^[42][43]

• Keppel, Henry; Brooke, James; WalterKeating, Kelly (1847). "The expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido for the suppression of piracy : with extracts from the journal of James Brooke, Esq., of Sarawak". University of California Libraries. London : Chapman and Hall. p. 347.
• Brooke, James; Mundy, Rodney George (1848). "Narrative of events in Borneo and Celebes, down to the occupation of Labuan : from the journals of James Brooke esq., rajah of Sarāwak, and governor of Labuan. Together with a narrative of the operations of H. M. S. Iris". Harvard University. London : J. Murray. p. 441.
• Motley, James; Dillwyn, Lewis Llewellyn (1855). "Contributions to the natural history of Labuan, and the adjacent coasts of Borneo". Smithsonian Libraries. London : J. Van Voorst. p. 118.
• Treacher, W. H (1891). "British Borneo: sketches of Brunai, Sarawak, Labuan, and North Borneo". University of California Libraries. Singapore, Govt. print. dept. p. 190.