1890 STRAITS SETTLEMENTS 1 Cent COPPER COIN (scarce)
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Price:RM10
The Straits Settlements were a collection of territories of the British East India Company in Southeast Asia, which were given collective administration in 1826 as a crown colony, as distinct from the native princely states, some of which later formed the Federated Malay States. Initially, the Straits Settlements consisted of Penang, sometimes officially named Prince of Wales Island, Singapore with about a score of islets of insignificant size lying in its immediate vicinity, the islands and territory of the Dinding, Province Wellesley, the town and territory of Malacca and the islands of Labuan.
The establishment of the Straits Settlements followed the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, by which the Malay archipelago was divided into a British zone in the north and a Dutch zone in the south. This resulted the exchange of the British settlement of Bencoolen (on Sumatra) for the Dutch colony of Malacca and undisputed control of Singapore. Its capital was moved from Penang to Singapore in 1832.
In 1867, the Settlements became a British crown colony, making the Settlements answerable directly to the Colonial Office in London instead of the Calcutta government based in India on April 1. Earlier on February 4, a "Letters Patent" granted the Settlements a colonial constitution. This allocated much power to the Settlements' Governor, who administered the colony of the Straits Settlements with the aid of an Executive Council, composed wholly of official (i.e. ex-officio) members, and a Legislative Council, composed partly of official and partly of nominated members, of which the former had a narrow permanent majority. The work of administration, both in the colony and in the Federated Malay States, was carried on by means of a civil service whose members were recruited by competitive examination held annually in London.
Penang and Malacca were administered, directly under the governor, by resident councillors.
