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Dutch Melaka
The town of Melaka
was captured from the Portuguese in 1641 and owing its strategic position
soon became one of the most important Dutch possession in the Eastern Archipelago.
Administratively, Melaka was subject to the Hoge Regering (Supreme Government)
in Batavia (now Jakarta) but it had its own dependencies which include Andragiri
in Sumatra and the island of Riau (Bintan) at the tip of the Malay peninsula.
In 1795 when the Batavian Republic was set up in the Netherlands
under the aegis of France, the authorities in British India decided on the
conquest of most of the Dutch possessions in the East. On 26th August 1795
after only a token resistance, Melaka was captured by the combined naval and
military expedition under the joint command of Captian Henry Newcome and Major
Archibald Brown. The English in the East India Company imposed a military
garrison on the town. They appointed the Commandant of the garrison to act
ex officio as Resident, but allowed the Dutch civil administration to continue
more or less as before. Official records for the first period of British occupation
(1795 - 1818) still continued to be kept in Dutch whereas after the permanent
transfer to Great Britain (1825) they were written in English.
Melaka was made subject to the new Eastern Presidency of
Penang in 1805. By the terms of the London convention of 1814 provision was
made for handing back Melaka to the Netherlands but the actual restoration
only took place on 21st September 1818. The re-imposition of Dutch Rule however
was destined to be short-lived. A further treaty of 17th March 1824 which
effected an exchange of Dutch and British possessions in India and the East
Indies, re-assigned Melaka to Great Britain. The British occupied the town
at the beginning of April 1825 and the town was then placed under the direct
authority of the Bengal Government.
Governors/Residents of Melaka (1641 - 1835)
1641 - 1642 Jan Van Twist
1642 - 1645 Jeremias Van Vliet
1645 - 1646 Arnout De Vlamingh Van Oudtshoon
1646 - 1662 Jan Thyszoon Payart
1662 - 1665 Jan Anthonie Van Riebeeck
1665 - 1679 Balthasar Bort
1679 - 1680 Jacob Joriszoon Pits
1680 - 1684 Cornelis Van Quaelberg
1684 - 1686 Nikolaas Schaghen
1686 Dirk Komans
1686 - 1691 Thomas Slicher
1691 - 1692 Dirk Komans
1692 - 1697 Gelmer Vosburg
1697 - 1700 Govert Van Hoorn
1700 - 1704 Bernard Phoonsen
1704 Johan Grootenhuis
1704 - 1707 Karl Bolner
1707 - 1709 Pieter Rooselaar
1709 - 1711 Willem Six
1711 - 1717 Willem Moerman
1717 - 1726 Herman Van Suchtelen
1726 - 1730 Johan Frederik Gobius
1730 - 1735 Pieter Rochus Pasques De Chavonnes
1735 - 1741 Rogier De Lavez
1741 - 1748 Willem Bernard Albinus
1748 - 1753 Pieter Van Heemskerk
1753 - 1758 Willem Dekker
1758 - 1764 David Boelem
1764 - 1771 Thomas Schippers
1771 - 1775 Jan Crans
1775 - 1788 Pieter Gerardus De Bruijn
1788 - 1795 Abrahamus Couperus
British Commandants/Residents (1795 - 1818)
1795 Archibald Brown
1795 - 1796 Thomas Parr
1796 - 1797 Richard Tolson
1797 - 1798 David Campbell
1798 - 1803 Aldwell Taylor
1803 - 1818 William Farquhar
Dutch Governors/Residents of Melaka (1818 - 1825)
1818 - 1823 Jan Samuel Timmerman-Thijssen
1823 Adriaan
Koek (Acting)
1823 - 1825 Hendrik Stephanus Van Son
British Residents (1825 - 1835)
1825 Walter Sewell Cracroft (Acting)
1825 - 1826 Thomas Dolman Lloyd-Davies (Acting)
1826 Edward Presgrave (Acting)
1826 William Gordon Mackenzie
1826 - 1835 Samuel Garling
The Melaka Court of Justice
The Raad van Justitie (Court of Justice) exercised criminal
and civil jurisdiction in Melaka and its dependencies. In certain cases appeals
lay to the Hoge Raad (Supreme Court) in Batavia (now Jakarta), or during the
first period of British rule to the Privy Council in London. The Public Prosecutor
at Melaka, who had the title of Fiscal, had summary jurisdiction in petty
criminal cases.
Presidents of the Melaka Court of Justice (1780 - 1825)
1780 - 1783 Anthonij Abraham Werndij
1783 - 1784 Arnoldus Franciscus Lemker
1784 - 1788 Abrahamus Couperus
1788 - 1799 Francois Thierens
1799 - 1808 Charles Marinus De Groot
1808 - 1812 Jacob Frans Overree
1812 - 1824 Adriaan
Koek
1824 - 1825 Abraham Anthonij Velge (Acting)
The Melaka Orphan Chamber
The Weeskamer (Orphan Chamber) was already a familiar feature
of municipal life in the Netherlands when the Dutch embarked on their bid
for overseas empire around 1600. As the name indicates it originally served
as an educational purpose but in due course it acquired other equally important
functions. In Melaka its functions can be subsumed under educational, fiduciary
and financial.
Members of the Weeskamer, also called Weesmeesters (Orphan
Masters) were prominent citizens of the European and Eurasian community. Technically
they were unpaid but they enjoyed certain perquisites including the right
to borrow money from the Chamber at a lower interest rate. In 1825 on the
re-imposition of British Rule the Chiefs or 'Captains' of the three Asian
communities in Melaka (Malays, Chinese and Chulias or Tamils) were admitted
ex officio as Members of the Chamber.
Presidents of the Melaka Orphan Chamber (1758 - 1835)
1758 - 1764 Francois Tholozan
1764 - 1767 David Richard
1767 - 1775 Anthonij Abraham Werndij
1775 - 1781 Arnoldus Franciscus Lemker
1781 - 1783 Abrahamus Couperus
1783 - 1788 Francois Thierens
1788 - 1799 David Ruhde
1799 - 1803 Jacob Frans Overree
1803 - 1808 Jean David Rabinel
1808 - 1815 Johan Anthon Neubromer
1815 - 1821 Jan Hendrik Stecher
1821 - 1822 Johan Gustaaf Dieterich (Acting)
1822 - 1825 Sefridus Van Der Tuuk
1825 - 1827 Thomas Williamson
1827 - 1835 William Thomas Lewis
Source : Dutch Records From Malacca In The
India Office Records by Ian Baxter
