John Anderson (diplomatic writer)
Encyclopedia
John Anderson was a Scottish diplomatic agent and writer on questions of Eastern policy and commerce.
, in 1795. Receiving an appointment to the civil service of the East India Company
in 1813, he became a ‘writer’ in Pulo Penang, or Prince of Wales's Island. He was promoted in 1821, when he held the position of deputy-warehousekeeper and Malay translator to the government, to the rank of ‘factor,’ and to the discharge of the functions of deputy-accountant, deputy-auditor, accountant to the recorder's court, and commissioner to the Court of Requests; the duties of which offices were continued to him on his preferment, in 1823, to be ‘junior merchant.’ By various steps he had become, in 1826, accountant and auditor, accountant-general to the recorder's court, superintendent of lawsuits, and Malay translator, and in 1827 attained the dignity of ‘senior merchant,’ with the offices of secretary to government and Malay translator. Later in the same year he was made a justice of the peace for Penang
, Singapore
, and Malacca
.
His first publication was a work entitled ‘Political and Commercial Considerations relative to the Malayan Peninsula and the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca,’ Prince of Wales Island, 1824. This work consists of reflections on the Siamese conquest of Quedah and Perak; an exposition of the advantages likely to result from declaring Quedah and the whole of the Malayan states under the protection of the British government; and a descriptive sketch of the tin countries on the western coast of the peninsula of Malacca. In February and March 1823 Anderson had acted as agent to the governor of Pulo Penang for procuring engagements from native potentates in Sumatra
, the sultans of Delly and Siack, and the Rajah of Langkat (Sir C. U. Aitchison's Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sunnuds relating to India and neighbouring Countries, 8vo, Calcutta, revised edition, vol. i. 1876). Anderson's Sumatran employment bore fruit a few years later in his ‘Mission to the East Coast of Sumatra, in 1823, under the direction of the Government of Prince of Wales' Island: including historical and descriptive Sketches of the Country, an Account of the Commerce, Population, and the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants, and a Visit to the Batta Cannibal States in the Interior,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1826.
On his return to Britain in 1830, Anderson entered actively into mercantile and other duties in London
, in the course of which he produced a work entitled ‘Acheen, and the Ports on the North and East Coasts of Sumatra; with incidental Notices of the Trade in the Eastern Seas, and the Aggressions of the Dutch,’ 8vo, London, 1840. This volume attracted much attention to the state of British commerce in the parts of the world of which it treated. Anderson died, after a short illness, at his house, No. 1 Euston Place, Euston Square, on 2 December 1845, as correctly stated in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ for January 1846 (p. 104). In the first sentence of a more extended notice in the same periodical for the following month (p. 208), he is perplexingly described as ‘of Bond Court, Walbrook, and Prince's Place, Kennington,’ and as having died on 15 January 1846, at the age of 75; being unaccountably confounded with Mr. John Adamson, a London merchant of the two specified addresses, whose obituary occurs in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ for March 1846 (p. 329).
Biography
Ge was born in Scotland, and presumably in DumfriesshireDumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries is a registration county of Scotland. The lieutenancy area of Dumfries has similar boundaries.Until 1975 it was a county. Its county town was Dumfries...
, in 1795. Receiving an appointment to the civil service of the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
in 1813, he became a ‘writer’ in Pulo Penang, or Prince of Wales's Island. He was promoted in 1821, when he held the position of deputy-warehousekeeper and Malay translator to the government, to the rank of ‘factor,’ and to the discharge of the functions of deputy-accountant, deputy-auditor, accountant to the recorder's court, and commissioner to the Court of Requests; the duties of which offices were continued to him on his preferment, in 1823, to be ‘junior merchant.’ By various steps he had become, in 1826, accountant and auditor, accountant-general to the recorder's court, superintendent of lawsuits, and Malay translator, and in 1827 attained the dignity of ‘senior merchant,’ with the offices of secretary to government and Malay translator. Later in the same year he was made a justice of the peace for Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, and Malacca
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
.
His first publication was a work entitled ‘Political and Commercial Considerations relative to the Malayan Peninsula and the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca,’ Prince of Wales Island, 1824. This work consists of reflections on the Siamese conquest of Quedah and Perak; an exposition of the advantages likely to result from declaring Quedah and the whole of the Malayan states under the protection of the British government; and a descriptive sketch of the tin countries on the western coast of the peninsula of Malacca. In February and March 1823 Anderson had acted as agent to the governor of Pulo Penang for procuring engagements from native potentates in Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, the sultans of Delly and Siack, and the Rajah of Langkat (Sir C. U. Aitchison's Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sunnuds relating to India and neighbouring Countries, 8vo, Calcutta, revised edition, vol. i. 1876). Anderson's Sumatran employment bore fruit a few years later in his ‘Mission to the East Coast of Sumatra, in 1823, under the direction of the Government of Prince of Wales' Island: including historical and descriptive Sketches of the Country, an Account of the Commerce, Population, and the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants, and a Visit to the Batta Cannibal States in the Interior,’ 8vo, Edinburgh, 1826.
On his return to Britain in 1830, Anderson entered actively into mercantile and other duties in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, in the course of which he produced a work entitled ‘Acheen, and the Ports on the North and East Coasts of Sumatra; with incidental Notices of the Trade in the Eastern Seas, and the Aggressions of the Dutch,’ 8vo, London, 1840. This volume attracted much attention to the state of British commerce in the parts of the world of which it treated. Anderson died, after a short illness, at his house, No. 1 Euston Place, Euston Square, on 2 December 1845, as correctly stated in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ for January 1846 (p. 104). In the first sentence of a more extended notice in the same periodical for the following month (p. 208), he is perplexingly described as ‘of Bond Court, Walbrook, and Prince's Place, Kennington,’ and as having died on 15 January 1846, at the age of 75; being unaccountably confounded with Mr. John Adamson, a London merchant of the two specified addresses, whose obituary occurs in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ for March 1846 (p. 329).