Captain Francis Light (1740 – 25 October 1794)^[1][2][3][4] was the founder of the British colony of Penang (in modern-day Malaysia) and its capital George Town in 1786.

He was baptised in Dallinghoo, Suffolk, England on 15 December 1740. His mother was given as Mary Light, and no father is named. He was taken in by a relative, William Negus, and educated in elementary school with the Negus children: but was apprenticed early to a Naval Surgeon. He served as a Royal Navy midshipman from 1759 to 1763, but went out to seek his fortune in the colonies. From 1765, he worked as a private country trader. For about ten years he had his headquarters in Salang, Thailand, near Phuket, reviving a failed French trading post. While living there he learned to speak and write several languages, including Malay and Siamese. In 1785, he warned the Thais on Phuket Island of an imminent Burmese attack. Light's warning enabled the islanders to prepare for Phuket's defence and subsequently repel the Burmese invasion. For the British East India Company, he leased the island of Penang from the Sultan of Kedah, where many others had failed. The multicultural colony became extraordinarily successful from its inception. Light served as the Superintendent of the colony until his death.

Light died from malaria on 21 October 1794 and was buried at the Protestant Cemetery on Northam Road (now Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah) in George Town. A statue which bears his name but has the facial features of his son William stands at Penang State Museum in George Town.

Light had four daughters and two sons with Martina Rozells, who was said to be of Portuguese and Siamese lineage. If they were legally married he did not declare it. However, it was against East India Company rules to marry a Catholic and, as Martina was Catholic, Light may have tried to avoid dismissal by never declaring his marriage. He did leave her his considerable property. Their son, Colonel William Light, was the founder of Adelaide in Australia.

Tomb of Francis Light in Penang's Protestant Cemetery

[edit] See also

• Suffolk House, Penang
• Governor of Penang

[edit] References

• Kernial Singh Sandhu, (1969). Indians in Malaya-immigration and settlement, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
• Sinnappah, Anasanatnam, (1979). Indians in Malaysia and Singapore. Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur.
• A. Francis Steuart, (1901). A Short Sketch of the Lives of Francis and William Light. Sampson Low, Marston & Company, London.

[edit] External links

• Biography of Francis Light
• 360 degree panorama including grave