Francis Light

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Francis Light

Captain Francis Light (1740 – 25 October 1794) was the founder of the British

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
colony of Penang

Penang

Penang is a States of Malaysia in Malaysia, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. Penang is the second smallest state in Malaysia after Perlis, and the eighth most populous....
(in modern-day Malaysia

Malaysia

Malaysia is a federation that consists of States of Malaysia in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government....
) and its capital George Town

George Town, Penang

Georgetown is the capital city of the state of Penang in Malaysia. Named after United Kingdom's George III of the United Kingdom, the city is located on the north-east corner of Penang Island and has about 220,000 inhabitants, or about 400,000 including the suburbs....
in 1786.

He was baptised in Dallinghoo

Dallinghoo

Dallinghoo is a village some 4.5 miles north of Woodbridge, Suffolk, Suffolk, England. Its Church was originally a large building with a central tower but the chancel has since been destroyed....
, Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a Non-metropolitan counties of England of Historic counties of England in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south....
, England

England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
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.

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Encyclopedia

Captain Francis Light (1740 – 25 October 1794) was the founder of the British

British Empire

Penang

Malaysia

George Town, Penang

Dallinghoo

Suffolk

England

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
midshipman

Midshipman

A midshipman is a subordinate officer, an officer cadet, or alternatively a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the navy of several English-speaking countries....
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

Bamar

The Bamar , are the dominant ethnic group of Burma, constituting approximately 68% of the population. However, there is some speculation that the government has slightly inflated this figure....
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

British East India Company

The East India Company was an early England joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the Indies, but that ended up trading with the Indian subcontinent and China....
, 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

Malaria

Malaria is a Vector -borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is widespread in Tropics and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa....
on 21 October 1794 and was buried at the Penang graveyard in Northam Road (now Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah). 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

William Light

Colonel William Light, was a United Kingdom military officer and first Surveyor-General of the South Australia. He is famous for choosing the site of the colony's capital, Adelaide and designing the layout of its streets....
, was the founder of Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the List of Australian capital cities and most populous city of the Australian States and territories of Australia of South Australia, and is the fifth-largest city in Australia, with a population of more than 1.1 million....
in Australia

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
.

Francis Light

See also

External links