Chartered Company Memorial
The Chartered Company Memorial in the Malaysian city of Sandakan is a memorial that the North Borneo Chartered Company had erected for its employees who died or were killed in service in the late 19th century. The memorial is part of the Sandakan Heritage Trail , a "memorial trail " that connects the historical sights of Sandakan.
Description of the monument
The monument has the shape of a Celtic cross on a quadruple stepped rectangular base. The front panels as well as the side panels bear inscriptions with the names of deceased officials of the Chartered Company. The front was renovated by adding matt stone panels. The typeface was slightly modernized. The memorial inscription on the front reads:
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In Memory Of |
The monument was erected between 1885 and 1890.
A mistake crept in during the renovation of the memorial inscription. The year "1883" for the murder of Dr. Manson Fraser and Asa Sing Jemadhar is incorrect. Rather, the fatal attack in Kawang took place on May 12, 1885.
history
To commemorate Frank Hatton , who died on an expedition on Sungai Segama in March 1883 , the North Borneo Chartered Company announced the erection of a memorial stone shortly after his death. In addition to Hatton's merits as the company's explorer and geologist, the plan may also have been due to the fact that, contrary to the family's wishes, Hatton's body was not transferred to England. Franz Xavier Witti, another pioneer and discoverer of the Chartered Company, who was killed by a Murut tribe on the Sungai Sibuko in June 1882 , should also be honored on the memorial.
Shortly before completing his book North Borneo - Explorations and Adventures on the Equator in 1885, Frank Hatton's father learned that the Society's plans had changed:
"Since those closing notes were written and before and this memorial column is finished, the subscribing officials of the Company have ordered three other names to be engraved upon the pedestal [...]"
According to the will of the officials, Dr. D. Manson Fraser, Captain AM de Fontaine and Jemadhar Asa Singh find their place on the plaque under the stone cross. From this point in time at the latest, the function of the Celtic cross as a memorial for the men who died in the service of the Chartered Company was determined. William Hood Treacher, the governor of North Borneo, noted in his memoirs published in 1891: "A memorial cross was erected in Sandakan for Witti, Hatton, de Fontaine and the Sikh officers and soldiers who lost their lives in the service of the government" .
Installation site
Old pictures of the government building show the Celtic cross in a prominent place in front of the district office. The memorial in front of the government building along the street can also be seen in images from the estate of the American documentary filmmakers Osa Johnson and Martin Johnson. Pictures from the 1960s show that the square hadn't changed since then. The monument was stored during the construction of the new municipal administration building. The monument found its present place on "MPS Square" together with the William Pryer Memorial after the redesign of the former hockey field.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Joseph Hatton: North Borneo - Explorations and Adventures on the Equator , Scribner & Welford, New York, 1886, pp. 334-335
- ^ A b W. H. Treacher: "British Borneo - Sketches of Brunai, Sarawak, Labuan and North Borneo" , Singapore, Government print department, 1891, p. 159
- ^ The Evening Post (PDF; 1.8 MB), July 21, 1883, New York
- ↑ Will Koh: Down Memory Lane Sandakan ; Accessed September 10, 2012
Coordinates: 5 ° 50 '25.9 " N , 118 ° 6' 58.7" E