Foundation and early years , the founder of North Borneo Provisional Association Ltd (later replaced by the
North Borneo Chartered Company) was the key player to the establishment of solid British presence in northern Borneo. North Borneo was founded in 1877–1878 through a series of land
concessions in northern Borneo from the
Sultanate of Brunei and
Sulu to an Austrian-German businessman and diplomat,
Gustav Overbeck. A former
American Trading Company of Borneo territory on the western coast of northern Borneo had already passed to Overbeck, requiring him to go to Brunei to renew the concession of the land he bought from Joseph William Torrey.
William Clark Cowie played an important role as a close friend of the Sultanate of Sulu in helping Overbeck to buy additional land on the eastern coast of Borneo. Meanwhile, the
Sultanate of Bulungan's influence also reached
Tawau on the south-eastern coast, but came under the influence of the more powerful Sultanate of Sulu. Following his success in leasing large tracts of land from both the western and eastern parts of northern Borneo, Overbeck went to Europe to promote the territory in
Austria-Hungary and
Italy as well as in his own country of
Germany, but none showed any real interest. Only
Great Britain, which had sought to control trade routes in the
Far East since the 18th century, responded. The interest of the British was strengthened by their presence in the
Crown Colony of Labuan since 1846. As a result, Overbeck received financial support from the British Dent brothers (
Alfred Dent and Edward Dent) and diplomatic and military support from the British government. Following the support from Britain, a clause was included in the treaties that the ceded territories could not be sold or given to another party without the permission of the British government. Unable to attract the interest of the governments of Austria, Italy and Germany, Overbeck withdrew in 1879; all his treaty rights with the Sultanates were transferred to Alfred Dent, who in 1881 formed the North Borneo Provisional Association Ltd with the support of countrymen
Rutherford Alcock, Admiral
Henry Keppel,
Richard Biddulph Martin, Admiral
Richard Mayne, and
William Henry Read. The Provisional Association then applied to
Queen Victoria for a
royal charter, which was granted on 1 November 1881.
William Hood Treacher was appointed as the first governor, and
Kudat at the northern tip of Borneo was chosen as the Provisional Association administration capital. The granting of the royal charter had worried both the
Dutch and the
Spanish, who feared that Britain might threaten the position of their colonies. In May 1882, the Provisional Association was replaced by the newly formed
North Borneo Chartered Company, with Alcock acting as the first President and Dent becoming the company managing director. The administration is not considered a British acquisition of the territory, but rather a private enterprise with government guidelines to protect the territory from being encroached upon by other European powers. Under Governor Treacher, the company gained more territories on the western coast from the Sultanate of Brunei. The company subsequently acquired further sovereign and territorial rights from the
Sultan of Brunei, expanding the territory under their control to the Putatan River (May 1884), the Padas district (November 1884), the Kawang River (February 1885), the
Mantanani Islands (April 1885) and additional minor Padas territories (March 1898). At the early stage of the administration, there was a claim in northern Borneo by the Spanish authorities in the Philippines, and an attempt to raise the
Spanish flag over
Sandakan was met with interference by a British warship. To prevent further conflict and to end the Spanish claim to northern Borneo, in 1885 an agreement known as the
Madrid Protocol was signed in
Madrid between the United Kingdom, Germany and
Spain, recognising the Spanish presence in the Philippine archipelago. As the company did not wish to be involved in further foreign affairs issues, North Borneo was made a
British Protectorate on 12 May 1888. In 1890, the Crown Colony of Labuan was incorporated into the administration of North Borneo, before returning to direct British rule in 1904. There were several local insurrections from 1894 to 1900 by
Mat Salleh and by
Antanum in 1915. The
First World War did not greatly affect the territory, and
logging business grew during the
interwar period.
World War II and decline from 1941 to 1942 During
World War II, the Japanese invasion of Borneo began with the unopposed landing of the
Japanese forces at Miri and Seria on 16 December 1941, with the objective of securing oil supplies. On 1 January 1942, the
Japanese navy landed unopposed in Labuan. The next day, the Japanese landed at Mempakul in North Borneo. After negotiations with the Officers-in-charge of Jesselton for its surrender, while they were waiting for troop reinforcements, Jesselton was occupied by the Japanese on 8 January. Another
Japanese army detachment arrived from
Mindanao and began to land on
Tarakan Island, before proceeding to Sandakan on 17 January. The Japanese arrival was met with no strong resistance, as the protectorate mainly relied on the
Royal Navy for defence. Although North Borneo had a police force –the
British North Borneo Constabulary– it never had its own army or navy. The British North Borneo Constabulary, had served these functions as the territory's military and marine patrol. However, they were heavily outnumbered by the Japanese, and most of the constabulary's leadership was captured and imprisoned, leading to those not captured becoming spies for the British. By the end of January, North Borneo was completely occupied by the Japanese. It was administered as part of the
Empire of Japan, with the officers of the chartered company being allowed to continued administration under Japanese supervision. The arrival of the Japanese forces to Borneo and the fall of
Anglo-Japanese Alliance had already been predicted by revelation through secret
telegrams that Japanese ships docked regularly at Jesselton were engaged in espionage. Many of the British and Australian soldiers captured after the
fall of Malaya and
Singapore were brought to North Borneo and held as
prisoners of wars (POWs) in
Sandakan camp where they were then forced to
march from Sandakan to
Ranau. Other POWs were also sent to
Batu Lintang camp in neighbouring Sarawak. The occupation drove residents in the coastal areas to the interior in search of food and to escape the brutality of the war period, which led to the creation of several resistance movements; one of the such movement known as the Kinabalu Guerrillas which was led by
Albert Kwok and supported by indigenous groups in North Borneo. As part of the
Allied Campaign to retake their possessions in the East, Allied forces deployed to Borneo under the
Borneo campaign to liberate the island. The
Australian Imperial Force (AIF) played a significant part in the mission, with the force being sent to Tarakan and Labuan islands to secure eastern and western Borneo. The Allied
Z Special Unit provided intelligence and other information from the Japanese that facilitated the AIF landings, while
US submarines were used to transport Australian commandos to Borneo. Most of the major towns of North Borneo were heavily bombed during this period. The war ended on 15 August 1945 following the
Japanese surrender and the administration of North Borneo was undertaken by the
British Military Administration (BMA) from September. The company official administration returned to administer the territory but, unable to finance the reconstruction cost after the war, ceded administration of the protectorate to the
crown colony government on 15 July 1946. == Government ==