Malaysia

including the former British North Borneo.

Also see the Fibiwiki pages Straits Settlements and Malacca and Penang (Prince of Wales Island).

Records

• See General Register Office, UK. Also includes information about records such as British Consular Returns, including online sources. Includes details of a findmypast database "British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms". Note that within this database is a group of records "Sarawak Baptisms, 1844-1925" which are transcriptions provided by UK Genealogy Archives. There is however no further information about the source of these records.
• National Registration Department, Ministry of Home Affairs [Malaysia] is responsible for birth , marriage and death registration. The page Corporate Information/History advises “Birth and death records kept by the National Registration Department since nearly 150 years ago continue to be preserved to this day.” The email address appears to be pro@jpn.gov.my.

There has been some registration since 1859. Marriage registration has been in place in Malaysia since the late 1800s.

It seems likely that records may be divided according to the current states and federal terrorities, so you would probably need to know geographical location.

• Birth, marriage and death notices may have been published in Singapore newspapers. See Singapore - Newspapers for details of free online Singapore newspapers.
• Birth, marriage and death notices may have been published in other publications, such as The Directory & Chronicle for China etc or The London and China Telegraph, refer Historical books online below.
• BACSA have published the following books:
  • Ipoh and Taiping: War Graves and Graves of Europeans in the Cemeteries in Ipoh and Taiping, Perak, Malaysia by Justin Corfield, 2000. 108pp, 27 illustrations and plan
  • Kota Bharu (Malaysia): European Graves in the Jalan Hamzah Cemetery by Justin Corfield, 1999. 24pp, 23 illustrations and plan
  • Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia): St Mary's Cathedral and the Jalan Birch Cemetery by Justin Corfield, 2000. 24pp, 5 illustrations
  • Seremban, Malaysia: Graves in St Mark's Churchyard, and the Anglican Section of the Seremban Cemetery by E Beavington and Justin Corfield, 2000. 56pp, 11 illustrations
  • Teluk Anson (Malaysia): European Graves in the Jalan Anderson Cemetery by Justin Corfield, 2000. 20pp, 14 illustrations and plan

Some cemetery books are still available, see BACSA Books and select Cemetery Record Books.

BACSA have put indexes to the majority of their cemetery books online and these indexes are free to browse. If an indexed name is of interest then application can be made to BACSA for details of the relevant burial inscription - charges apply for this service.

• British & Indian Armies in the East Indies (1685-1935) by Alan Harfield 1984 is available at the British Library. History of British and Indian Armies in Sumatra, Java, Sarawak, Malaya and Singapore from 1685-1935. Includes names of officers and men buried in these areas. Also includes name lists of persons in some military units which served in these areas.
• See Malacca and Dutch for records for researching those with Dutch ancestry.
• Civil Service Lists are very useful if you are researching a government employee, but some may only contain more senior employees.

Some Colonial Office Lists are available online, refer Historical books online below.

Details of Government of Malaya Lists are set out in Government Lists page 30 Bibliography of Malaya (Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library). The best collection of these Lists available in the UK appears to be at Cambridge University Library which holds, according to its catalogue,

• Straits Settlements Civil Service List 1883-1884, 1888, 1890, 1893, 1896-1917, 1920-1921
• Federated Malay States Civil Service List 1904-1905, 1908-1916, 1918-1919
• The Malayan Civil List 1921-1940

The British Library also holds some editions, as does SOAS Library, University of London.

• There are Colonial Office files at the National Archives Kew relating to British Malaya. There is a finding aid, a published book (in thirteen volumes) Index to British Colonial Office files pertaining to British Malaya : 1838-1955 compiled by Paul H Kratoska 1990, available at the British Library UIN: BLL01006673270 (English language edition) (12 v. in 13).

Military Operations

• Perak War

Civil Service

For an account of the varied duties of a Civil Servant from the 1920s, see The Memoirs of a Malayan Official by Victor Purcell, 1965. Available online, refer Historical books online, below.

External links

• National Archives of Malaysia
• National Registration Department, Ministry of Home Affairs, Malaysia
• Malaysia Genealogy FamilySearch Wiki
• The Malayan Volunteer Forces by Rosemary Fell. cofepow.org.uk. Refers to A History of the Singapore Volunteer Corps, 1854-1937 : being also an historical outline of volunteering in Malaya by T.M. Winsley 1938. Available online in a Limited preview, and also in a reprint edition, which in turn is available to read online on the pay website fold3, refer below.

Singapore And Malaya Volunteer Corps Medals 10 March 2013 from “Singapore Volunteer Corps, Straits Settlements Volunteer Force, Malaya Volunteer Forces”

Malayan Volunteers Group Includes categories such as History, Stories, Malayan Volunteer Air Force, Evacuees, Armoured Cars, Sumatra etc.

• "The Malay States Guides in action at Hatum, Aden, 12th January 1916" by Harry Fecitt from Harry’s Sideshows kaiserscross.com. This regiment belonged to the Sultans of the Federated Malay States and was similar to an Indian Imperial Service unit.

"Nand Singh and Jangnamah Europe: Subaltern insights on the wars of Empire" by Raman Singh Chhina. lse.ac.uk. Havildar Nand Singh was a Sergeant in the Malay State Guides and also an Indian poet who wrote using a genre of Punjabi historical poetic writing. He composed the Janganamah Europe giving an empirical account of the First World War. On September 26 1915 the regiment left Taiping to join the Aden Field Force.

• Sejarah Melayu: A History of the Malay Peninsula includes a Digital Library and Gallery, including historical maps (mostly pre 1800) sabrizain.org
• Has Somerset Maugham promoted Malaysia more than Shahrukh Khan? by Oscar the Grouch. The short stories by W. Somerset Maugham set in Malaysia and Borneo, written during the 1920s and 1930s, were typically concerned with the lives of the British imperial colonist. Includes details of a murder in 1911 in Malaya on which one of the stories is thought to be based.
  • A list of the short stories by W. Somerset Maugham set in Malaysia and Borneo www.maleisie.be, now an archived webpage.

See Historical books online, below.

• “Obsession, isolation and the colonies” July 16, 2012 moncurdg.com. Retrieved 30 August 2014
• States and federal territories of Malaysia Wikipedia
  • Kedah Alternative name Quedah, it was visited by trading ships in the time of the East India Company. “In the hope that Great Britain would protect what remained of Kedah from Siam, the sultan handed over Penang and then Province Wellesley (Seberang Perai) to the British at the end of the 18th century. The Siamese nevertheless conquered Kedah in 1811, and it remained under Siamese control until transferred to the British by the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909”.
  • Perak was visited by trading ships in the time of the East India Company. There was a British Resident from 1874. The capital is Ipoh.
  • Terengganu Wikipedia. Alternative name Tringaney. Terengganu's location by the South China Sea ensured that it was on trade routes from ancient times , and it was visited by trading ships in the time of the East India Company. The terms of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 saw power over Terengganu transferred from Siam to Great Britain. A British advisor was appointed to the sultan in 1919, and Terengganu become one of the Unfederated Malay States.
• St. Mary's Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur, an Anglican Church consecrated 1895. Photograph by DBHKer 2008. Flickr.com. Originally called Church of St Mary the Virgin. History: The Anglican Church of St. Mary the virgin, now an archived webpage.
• "The Presbyterian Church in Malaysia" by John Roxborogh, from Christianity in Malaysia. A Denominational History, edited by Robert Hunt, Lee Kam Hing and John Roxborogh, Petaling Jaya, Pelanduk, 1992, pages 75-106.

Rich built heritage of 100-year-old St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Kuala Lumpur star2.com. Includes photographs. St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Kuala Lumpur. St Andrew's was historically known as the ‘Planters Church’ or the ‘Scottish Kirk’ as the planters of Selangor were mostly of Scottish stock. Includes a photograph

• "A Penang Kaddish: The Jewish Cemetery In Georgetown. A case study of the Jewish Diaspora in Penang (1830s-1970s)" by Raimy Ché-Ross 2002. ttc.edu.sg, now an archived webpage. The Penang Story-International Conference 18-21 April 2002. Includes some transcriptions from tombstones.
• "The Plantation Rubber Industry in Malaya up to 1922" by J. H. Drabble Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Vol. 40, No. 1 (211) (July, 1967), pp. 52-77. jstor.org. Register and read for free.

"Planters, Estate Health & Malaria in British Malaya (1900–1940)" by Liew Kai Khiun Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 83, Part 1, June 2010, No. 298, pp. 91-115 academia.edu

"Mad Ridley and the rubber boom" by Dr Loh Wei Leng and Khor Jin KeonG 2011. malaysiahistory.net. The history of rubber in Malaya.

Video: A Rubber Plantation in Malaya, 1911 / La Cultivation du Caoutchouc en Malaisie, 1911 You Tube video.

Video: Henrietta Estate Album. Album of photographs of a Rubber Estate in 1920's / 1930's Malaya. You Tube video.

• "Tobacco in Sabah" by Danny Wong Tze-Ken 2011. malaysiahistory.net. The industry commenced 1883, and was the main export from Sabah until 1914. However, estates shifted to rubber crops, which became the main crop in the State.
• Bibliography of travel accounts: Malay Peninsula and additional Secondary sources Cornell University Library.
• Food Culture in Colonial Asia: A Taste of Empire by Cecilia Y. Leong-Salobir, University of Wollongong 2011. Mainly in respect of India, but also includes Malaysia and Singapore.

"Spreading the word: using cookbooks and colonial memoirs to examine the foodways of British Colonials in Asia, 1850-1900" by Cecilia Y. Leong-Salobir, University of Wollongong. From The Routledge History of Food 2015 (pp. 131-155)

• "Malayan Cookery Books: The "Mem’s" Own Cookery Book" by Bonnie Tan, Senior Librarian at the National Library of Singapore. Originally in BiblioAsia, 7 (3), 30–34. 2011. academia.edu
  • For those in North America and some other countries, this cookery book by Mrs Kinsey, first published 1920, is available online at Hathi Trust Digital Library
  • "A Colonial Cookbook" by Irene Lim. BiblioAsia Volume 11 Issue 4 January-March 2016. National Library of Singapore. The “Mem’s” Own Cookery Book
  • "The Mrs Beeton of British Malaya who pioneered fusion cuisine" by Rosie Milne and Elizabeth Roberts 10 March 2016 The Telegraph
• "Review of the YWCA International Cookery Book of Malaya(1932-1964)" by Bonnie Tan, Senior Librarian at the National Library of Singapore. academia.edu

"Mrs Beeton in Malaya" by Janice Loo. BiblioAsia Volume 9 Issue. 3 October-December 2013. ywca.org.sg

• "A taste of the past: Uncovering food histories through Malayan newspapers" by Bonnie Tan, Senior Librarian at the National Library of Singapore. academia.edu
• The Dutch East India Company and the Straits of Malacca, 1700-1784 : trade and politics in the eighteenth century by Dianne Lewis 1970 PhD Thesis Australian National University. Link to a download ANU.
• Official website of the Malaysian Dutch Descendants Project, now archived, includes History of the Dutch and Dutch-Eurasians in Malaysia, now archived. A history has been published.
• "A brief history of Eurasians in Sarawak" by James Alexander Ritchie 3 January 2019. newsarawaktribune.com.my

Maps

• 1929 Motoring Map of Malaya Pages can be rotated if required. National Library of Malaysia.
• Also see some Maps in Historical books online, below.

Historical books online

• The Memoirs of a Malayan Official by Victor Purcell 1965 Archive.org Lending Library. (Before you can borrow this book, you must register. Only one person at a time is able to borrow the book, so you perhaps may need to wait until the book is returned). Purcell was a member of the Malayan Civil Service 1921-46. The initial chapters are about his WW1 service in the British Army on the Western Front.
• Repositori Digital Digital repository of the National Library of Malaysia. Book files are available as pdf downloads. Contains some books in English, although it does not appear possible to browse the English language books as a distinct category. For some books the “date of issue” appears to be the digitization date, rather than the date of publication. A number of the English language books are in the category Koleksi Peribadi. ASEAN Digital Library contains some content from the National Library of Malaysia, and can be searched by language.

Some downloads of books are sample pages only, but this may not be apparent from the catalogue entry. It is not known if this practice applies widely.

Books available from NLM include (and others are listed later):

• Notes from the Sarawak Gazette 1909-1915 by J C Moulton. Note some editions of the Sarawak Gazette are online from 1907, see below.
• Malaya and Singapore Survey Directory of Churches and Missions in the Federation and Colony by V A Chelliah, No date in catalogue but c 1948
• Articles from Malaya in History including
  • "Kelantan During World War 1" by W E Pepys. An article from Malaya in History July 1960.
  • The Last of The Creepers: Memoirs of A Malayan Rubber Planter 1907-1917 by C R Harrison, 1961. This is an article from Malaya in History, Volume 7, No 1, September 1961. A Creeper is variously described as described as a very new junior assistant, a novice assistant or an assistant planter.
  • Untapped Historical Source: Rest House Register Books by Robin W Winks. Article from Malaya in History April 1964.

Note this website in the past was often unavailable, and possibly may only be available during office hours, Monday to Friday: 8.00 am - 5.00 pm (local time), being GMT 00.00 to 9.00am

• [Digital] Sejarah Melayu Library (abrizain.org) has an extensive collection of English language historical books to download as pdfs, with some to also read as text. Click on the titles for further details of the author and year published. If you prefer to read original images, look at the text version (if available), as for some books, it may be apparent they are available on websites such as Archive.org or Google Books. Books available include
  • An extensive collection of Journals of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (SBRAS) which became the Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (MBRAS). Click on individual journal issues, and the contents will be shown. These do not seem to be complete issues, but selected articles.
• The Colonial Office List for ... Includes a section on each country, and the Colonial Office List at the end of each volume. Google Books, HathiTrust Digital Library and Archive.org.

1862: First publication; 1867, 1877; 1878; 1879 pdf from Oxford University Library, may be slow to open, 1879 Google Books edition should become freely available 2020; 1881; 1889; 1901; 1902; 1903; 1904; HathiTrust Digital Library editions to 1922 viewable in restricted areas such as North America: A and B

In addition, Colonial Office List, 1863 and Colonial Office List, 1870 are available in the findmypast (pay website) dataset "Britain, Directories & Almanacs" located in Newspapers, Directories & Social History/Directories & Almanacs.

FamilySearch has a catalogue entry for a series of microfiches of the Colonial Office List, (produced by Chadwyck-Healey, 1987), currently (2019/06) available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, with however the potential to be digitised in the next few years, and perhaps be more widely available, or at least searchable. The same microfiche series may also be available at some other libraries, or to a very limited extent at some other FamilySearch Centres.

Colonial Office List (to 1925) and the later title The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List are available at the British Library UIN: BLL01002841625 and UIN: BLL01007173533

• A History of the Singapore Volunteer Corps, 1854-1937 : being also an historical outline of volunteering in Malaya by T.M. Winsley 1938. A Limited preview of this book, including small copies of photographs is available online. eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Also available in a reprint edition, which in turn is available online on the pay website fold3, owned by Ancestry, as A History of the Singapore Volunteer Corps.
• The Journal of John Jourdain, 1608-1617 : describing his experiences in Arabia, India, and the Malay Archipelago edited by William Foster. Printed for the Hakluyt Society . Second Series, Volume XVI. 1905 Archive.org. The author was in the service of the East India Company.
• The Burney Papers. Cover the period 1825 to 1849. See Thailand.
• The Eastern Seas, or Voyages and adventures in the Indian Archipelago, in 1832, 33, 34 ... also an account of the present state of Singapore, etc. by George Windsor Earl 1837 Google Books
• "On the Ipoh or Upas Poison Used by the Jacoons and Other Aboriginal Tribes of the Malay Peninsula" by Lieut. T J Newbold, page 427 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Volume 127. 1837 Archive.org. The poison was administered by a blow-pipe.
• Travels in south-eastern Asia: embracing Hindustan, Malaya, Siam, and China with notices of numerous missionary stations and a full account of the Burman Empire by Howard Malcom

Volume I,Volume II 2nd edition, 1839 (2 Volumes in 1) Google Books. Tenth American edition [with deletions] c 1855 Archive.org

• Six months among the Malays, and a year in China by Dr Yvan, Physician to the scientific mission sent by France to China, 1855 Archive.org. The book appears to be translations of extracts from the book De France en Chine by Melchior Yvan 1855 Archive.org. This expedition departed France December 1843.
• Letters from Sarawak : addressed to a child. Embracing the manners, customs and religion of the inhabitants of Borneo… by Mrs McDougall. Fourth Thousand. 1854 Archive.org

Sketches of our life at Sarawak by Harriette McDougall [1882?] Archive.org. Incorporates (some of/all?) the previous book.

• Our Tropical Possessions in Malayan India: Being a Descriptive Account of Singapore, Penang, Province Wellesley, and Malacca: Their Peoples, Products, Commerce and Government by John Cameron. 1865 Google Books. Reprint edition 1965 with an Introduction by Wang Gungwu. Archive.org Lending Library.
• The Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia. Published at Singapore Volumes 1-9 1847-1855; New Series Volumes 1-4 1856-59/63.
  • Volume III, 1849, Volume IV 1850, 1862 Volume IV, New Series 1862 Google Books
  • Reprint editions Hathi Trust Digital Library A and B for all years of publication
• Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 1878-1922. Multiple volumes: Archive.org. Restricted access Hathi Trust Digital Library may be available to viewers in North America and some other countries A, B and C, including index volumes.
• Index To All The Journals Nos.1-86 Of The Straits Branch Of The Royal Asiatic Society Vol.5 Pt.4 1927 Archive.org.
• Journal Of The Malayan Branch Of The Royal Asiatic Society' Archive.org
• Navigation
  • The China Sea Directory by the Hydrographic Office, Admiralty, London.
    • The China Sea Directory Volume I. Containing directions for the approaches to the China Sea and to Singapore, by the straits of Sunda, Banka, Gaspar, Carimata, Rhio, Varella, Durian, and Singapore by J. W. Reed , R N and J. W. King, R N. 1867 Google Books. 3rd edition 1886 Archive.org.
    • The China Sea Directory Volume II. Containing directions for the navigation of the China Sea, between Singapore and Hong Kong by J. W. Reed , R N and J. W. King, R N. 1868. British Library Digital Collection.
  • A directory for the navigation of the Indian Archipelago, China, and Japan, from the straits of Malacca and Sunda, and the passages east of Java. To Canton, Shanghai, the Yellow Sea, and Japan, with descriptions of the winds, monsoons, and currents, and general instructions for the various channels, harbours, etc by Alexander George Findlay 2nd edition 1878 Archive.org
  • Malacca Strait Pilot : comprising strait and its northern approaches, Singapore Strait, and the West Coast of Sumatra 1946 Pdf download, Repositori Digital, National Library of Malaysia.
• Straits of Malacca, Indo-China, and China; or Ten Years Travels, Adventures and Residence Abroad by J Thomson 1875 Archive.org
• A Narrative of Travel and Sport in Burmah, Siam and the Malay Peninsula by John Bradley 1876 Archive.org
• The Golden Chersonese and the way thither by Isabella L Bird 1883 Archive.org. The map which is mentioned on the title page has either not been filmed , or may not have appeared in this edition, but is available at Map: digital.library.upenn part of its digital book version
• The Chersonese with the Gilding Off by Emily Innes 1885. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org. The author’s husband was Collector and Magistrate at Langat, in the Malay Native States. Golden Chersonese (Khersonese) meaning the Golden Peninsula, was the name used for the Malay Peninsula in classical antiquity.
• Two Years in the Jungle : the Experiences of a Hunter and Naturalist in India, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula and Borneo by William T Hornaday, Chief Taxidermist, US National Museum 1885 Archive.org.
• Play and Politics: Recollections of Malaya by an Old Resident (Attributed to William Henry McLeod Read) 1901 Archive.org. William Henry Macleod Read Wikipedia. The author was in Singapore 1841-1887.
• To Siam and Malaya in the Duke of Sutherland's Yacht 'Sans Peur' by Florence Caddy 1889 Archive.org.
• Précis of information concerning the Straits Settlements and the Native States of the Malay Peninsula. Prepared in the Intelligence Division, Horse Guards, War Office, etc. 1891. With a Map of Town of Singapore (which can be rotated). British Library Digital Collection.
• About Ceylon and Borneo : being an account of two visits to Ceylon, one to Borneo, and how we fell out on our homeward journey by Walter J Clutterbuck 1891 with Map of British North Borneo Archive.org. Also available British Library Digital Collection with rotatable images.
• The British North Borneo Herald. Monthly Record. Vol. X, no. 8 1st August 1892 Archive.org
• About Perak by Frank Athelstane Swettenham 1893 Archive.org

Malay Sketches by Sir Frank Althelstane Swettenham 5th edition 1921. First published 1895 Archive.org

British Malaya; an account of the origin and progress of British influence in Malaya by Sir Frank Swettenham, late Governor of the Straits Colony 1907 Archive.org, with a 1906 Map of the Malay Peninsula

• A Descriptive Dictionary of British Malaya by N B Dennys 1894 Archive.org
• A Trip across the Malay Peninsula with H.E. the Governor [Sir C. B. H. Mitchell] ... Reprinted from the "Singapore Free Press" by Major H E McCallum (Henry Edward) 1894. British Library Digital Collection.
• Through the Buffer State : a record of recent travels through Borneo, Siam and Cambodia by Surgeon-Major John MacGregor, Indian Medical Service. 1896 Archive.org.
• Five Years in Siam, from 1891 to 1896 by H Warington Smyth, formerly Director of the Department of Mines in Siam. 1898. With Maps and Illustrations by the author. Also includes the Malay Peninsula. Volume I Archive.org. Volume I, Volume II HathiTrust Digital Library. Volume I with General Index Map; Volume II with with Map of the Malay Peninsula (rotatable). British Library Digital Collection.
• Camping And Tramping In Malaya: Fifteen years' Pioneering in the Native States of the Malay Peninsula by Ambrose B Rathborne 1898 Archive.org.
• From the Himalayas to the Equator; letters, sketches. and addresses, giving some account of a tour in India and Malaysia by Cyrus D Foss , one of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 1899 Archive.org. With images. FamilySearch Digital book, where the images have been [correctly] rotated. May be slow to load.
• All About Rubber and Gutta-Percha : the Indiarubber Planter's Manual with the latest Statistics and Information by J Ferguson Colombo A.M. & J. Ferguson 1899 Archive.org

India Rubber, Gutta-Percha, and Balata: occurrence, geographical distribution, and cultivation of rubber plants; manner of obtaining and preparing the raw material, modes of working and utilizing them, and statistics of commerce by William T Brannt 1900 Archive.org

"The Rival of "Para" Rubber in the East" page 219 The India Rubber World April 1, 1903 Archive.org

"Rubber Planting in Ceylon and the Malay States" page 225 The India Rubber World April 1, 1904 Archive.org

• Siam in the Malay Peninsula: a short account of the position of Siam in the states of Kelantan, Patani, Legeh and Siam by R D Davies 1902 Archive.org
• Further India: being the story of exploration from the earliest times in Burma, Malaya, Siam and Indo-China by Hugh Clifford 1904 with Orographical Map and Political Map of Farther India and Index Archive.org
• Historical tombstones of Malacca, mostly of Portuguese origin, with the inscriptions in detail and illustrated by numerous photographs by Robert Norman Bland 1905 Archive.org
• Elephant & Seladang Hunting in the Federated Malay States By Theodore R Hubback 1905 Archive.org

Three Months in Pahang in Search of Big Game : A Reminiscence of Malaya by Theodore R Hubback 1912 Archive.org

• Malay Tin-fields; mining position broadly reviewed by Ralph S. G Stokes 1906 Archive.org Reprinted from the Straits Times
• "Gutta-Percha Trees of the Malay Peninsula" by J S Gamble, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Bulletin of Miscellaneoue Information No 4 1907. Archive.org
• In Malay Forests by George Maxwell 1907 Archive.org. 2nd edition 1911 Archive.org.
• Sarawak Gazette Broken range of editions from 1907 to 1993. First published 26 August 1870. Sarawak State Library. pustaka-sarawak.com.
• Twentieth century impressions of British Malaya: its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources by Arnold Wright 1908 Archive.org
• Kelantan [a State of the Malay Peninsula; a handbook of information by Walter Armstrong Graham] 1908 Archive.org with Map of Kelantan
• My Tour in Eastern Rubber Lands by Herbert Wright 1908 Archive.org Ceylon, Malaya, Java, Sumatra
• Rubber-Planter's Notebook by Frank Braham 1911. Pdf download KrishiKosh, Institutional Repository of Indian National Agricultural Research System. Full title: The Rubber Planter's Notebook : a handy book of reference on Para rubber planting with hints on the maintenance of health in the tropics and other general information of utility to the rubber planter : specially designed for use in the field. Review, page 242 Nature December 21, 1911 Archive.org.
• The Far East revisited; essays on political, commercial, social, and general conditions in Malaya, China, Korea and Japan by A. Gorton Angier 1908 Archive.org
• Through the Malay Archipelago by Emily Richings 1909 Archive.org
• The Malay Peninsula : a Record of British Progress in the Middle East by Arnold Wright and Thomas H Reid 1912 with a 1912 Map of the Malay Peninsula Archive.org
• Bibliotheca Indosinica: Dictionnaire bibliographique des ouvrages relatifs à la péninsule indochinoise [Biblioteca Indosinica: Bibliographic dictionary of books on the Indochinese Peninsula] by Henri Cordier 1912 Archive.org. "Péninsule Malaise", Volume II [Malay Peninsula]. Includes English publications. Contents; Index of authors; Alphabetical Index for all volumes

Also see below for the 1959 Bibliography by H R Cheeseman.

• Federated Malay States Railways : pamphlet of information for travellers : tours in the Malay Peninsula 1914 Archive.org. Includes
  • Map of Penang
  • Map of Taiping area, showing Estates
  • Map of Ipoh area showing Estates
  • Map of Town of Kuala Lumpur
  • Map of Malacca Town
  • Map of Singapore Town
  • Map of the Malay Peninsula

An illustrated guide to the Federated Malay States edited by Cuthbert Woodville Harrison, Malayan Civil Service. 3rd edition 1920. Archive.org. Missing the Map. 1923 edition Pdf download, National Library of Malaysia

Malaysia and Indo-China : Information for Visitors to British Malaya, Dutch-Indies (Java, Bali, Sumatra etc.) Siam, French Ind0-China. Published by Thos. Cook & Son, Singapore 1926. Pdf download, National Library of Malaysia.

• Rural sanitation in the tropics : being notes and observations in the Malay Archipelago, Panama and other lands by Sir Malcolm Watson 1915 Archive.org. There are two chapters on Malaya relating to malaria.
• Lauterbach of the China Sea : the Escapes and Adventures of a Seagoing Falstaff by Lowell Thomas, 1930 Archive.org. During WW1 Julius Lauterbach was navigator on the German SMS Emden and subsequently was a prisoner in Singapore at Tangling prison camp page 95, and helped ferment dissatisfaction which led to the 1915 Singapore Mutiny, during which he escaped and fled, initially to Sumatra.
• Malay Peninsula Page 263 Incidents in the life of a mining engineer by E T McCarthy 2nd edition 1919, first published 1918 Archive.org.

Federated Malay States from page 159 c 1900? and British North Borneo, page 378 Further incidents in the life of a mining engineer by E T McCarthy 1920 Archive.org.

• Tapioca and its many uses : a rice substitute for Malaya by Leopold Es Chasseriau, 1919. Archive.org. A reprint from the Pinang Gazette
• Trapping Wild Animals in Malay Jungles by Charles Mayer 1921 Archive.org
• In Rubber Lands : an account of the work of the church in Malaya by C E Ferguson-Davie, 1921 Archive.org
• British North Borneo : an Account of its History, Resources, and Native Tribes by Owen Rutter 1922 Archive.org

The Origins of British Borneo by Leigh R. Wright 1970. FamilySearch Digital Library. Requires signing in to FamilySearch to view the text.

• Netherlands East Indies and British Malaya: a Commercial and Industrial Handbook by John A Fowler [USA] Trade Commissioner 1923 Archive.org
• Tide Marks, Being Some Records of a Journey to the Beaches of the Moluccas and the Forest of Malaya in 1923 by H. M. Tomlinson 1924 Archive.org
• Malay Poisons and Charm Cures by John D Gimlette, Residency Surgeon of Kelantan, 2nd revised edition 1923, first edition 1915. Archive.org.
• The Empire at War edited for the Royal Colonial Institute by Sir Charles Lucas, in five volumes, with a catalogue contents description. (Volume 1 British Library Digital file) Volume 5, 1926, covers WW1 The Mediterranean colonies ; Egypt and Palestine ; Aden ; India ; Ceylon ; Malaya ; China. Volume 5, British Library Digital file, Contents. Also available as a pdf download from the Digital Library of India Vol-vth, Archive.org version.
• The Agricultural Zoology of the Malay Archipelago : the animals injurious and beneficial to agriculture, horticulture and forestry in the Malay Peninsula, the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines by Karel Willem Dammerman 1929. Pdf download, Repositori Digital, digital repository of the National Library of Malaysia.
• Diseases And Pests Of The Rubber Tree by Arnold Sharples 1936 Archive.org
• Books on rubber Scroll down letter R. Pdf downloads, Repositori Digital, National Library of Malaysia.
• Malayan Agricultural Journal Archive.org. A limited number of editions are also available on Krishikosh Institutional Repository of Indian National Agricultural Research System, as pdf downloads. Also Malayan Agriculture 1924 Hand Book
• Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits and Federated Malay States, Multiple volumes, but at least from New Series Volume I 1902 to Volume X, 1911. For many editions, you need to look at the title page, as year is not otherwise catalogued. Archive.org.
• Planters and speculators : Chinese and European agricultural enterprise in Malaya, 1786-1921 by James Charles Jackson 1968. Pdf download, Repositori Digital, digital repository of the National Library of Malaysia.
• The following book appears to have been published under three slightly different titles: Memoirs Of A British Agent; Memoirs of a British agent : being an account of the author's early life in many lands and of his official mission to Moscow in 1918; and British Agent, by R H Bruce Lockhart 1932. The initial chapters cover his time in Malaya as a young man c 1908-1910 where his uncles were rubber planters. Archive.org version; two transcribed formats: gwpda.org and spyculture.com, now an archived webpage.

R. H. Bruce Lockhart Wikipedia.

Return to Malaya R.H.Bruce Lockhart 1936 Archive.org. The author had previously left Malaya c 1910, see previous book.

• Singapore Patrol by Alec Dixon, 1935. Pdf download, National Library of Malaysia. Note, sample pages only. The author who joined the Straits Settlements Police post WW1 was one of a small force of detectives, where riots, murders, and robberies, occurred with alarming frequency. Full title (perhaps only in some editions): Singapore Patrol: Experiences of a Detective Officer in Malaya. Review The Straits Times, 6 December 1935 gov.sg Review The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW) 14 Dec 1935
• Malayan Symphony : Being the Impressions Gathered During a Six Months' journey Through the Straits Settlements, Federated Malay States, Siam, Sumatera, Java and Bali by William Robert Foran 1935. Pdf download, Repositori Digital, National Library of Malaysia. Probably sample pages only.
• "Malaya 1938-1939" page 164 Memories of Malaya by June Meyer 2007. Description of a rubber estate in the north of Malaya. Google Books.
• Limited text from Malayan Landscape by Katharine Sim with an introduction by Sir Richard Winstedt. 1946. Includes the Introduction and Contents. From elsewhere, the author was in Malaya 1938 to 1942. Not included in this extract is a final chapter regarding the war situation ahead of the approaching Japanese, with the author’s eventual evacuation from Singapore, shortly before its fall. Pdf download, Repositori Digital, National Library of Malaysia.
• The War in Malaya by Lt-Gen A E Percival 1949. Available as a pdf download from Sejarah Melayu Library, refer above. Located under General. Scroll down the alphabetical list to T.
• Malaya and its History by Sir Richard Winstedt, formerly of the Malayan Civil Service and Reader in Malay, University of London. 2nd edition, revised 1951, first published 1947. Archive.org.

A History of Malaya by Sir Richard Winstedt. Revised and enlarged 1962. Archive.org Lending Library.

• Bibliography of Malaya, being a classified list of books wholly or partly in English relating to the Federation of Malaya and Singapore by H R Cheeseman 1959. Archive.org Lending Library. Includes a WW2 Bibliography.
• A History of Malaya, A.D. 1400-1959 by J Kennedy 1962. Archive.org Lending Library.

British civilians and the Japanese war in Malaya and Singapore, 1941-45 by Joseph Kennedy 1987. Archive.org Lending Library.

• British Intervention in Malaya, 1867-1877 by C. Northcote Parkinson 1964. Archive.org Lending Library.
• A History of Modern Sabah (North Borneo, 1881-1963) by K G Tregonning 1965. A revised second edition of the book first published in 1958 under the title Under Chartered Company Rule. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. The British North Borneo Company.

The British in Malaya : the first forty years, 1786-1826 by K G Tregonning 1965. Archive.org Lending Library.

A History of Modern Malaya by K G Tregonning 1967. Archive.org Lending Library.

• Pepper, Rice, and Elephants : a Southeast Asian journey from Celebes to Siam by Ruth Masters Rickover 1975. Contains one chapter on Malaya from page 101. Archive.org Lending Library.
• The British in Malaya, 1880-1941 : the social history of a European community in colonial South-East Asia by John G Butcher 1979. Archive.org Lending Library.
• Tales from the South China Seas : images of the British in South-East Asia in the twentieth century by Charles Allen 1984. Originally commissioned by, and broadcast on BBC Radio as oral history documentaries. Archive.org Lending Library.

The Savage Wars of Peace : Soldier's Voices, 1945-1989 by Charles Allen 1990. Archive.org Lending Library.

• Sunset of the Empire in Malaya: A New Zealander’s Life in the Colonial Education Service by T.K. Taylor 2007. He was appointed by the Colonial Office and worked in Malaya 1946-1960. Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library.
• The Directory & Chronicle for China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Netherlands India, Borneo, the Philippines, &c. For a range of editions to 1922, see China.
• The London and China Telegraph. Published weekly in London. Covers China, Hong Kong, Japan, Straits Settlements (Singapore, Penang), Batavia and perhaps a wider area. For editions 1860-1875 (missing 1862), see China.
• Kelly & Walsh's Handbook of the Malay Language for the use of Tourists and Residents Sixth edition 1919 Archiv.org
• An English-Malay Dictionary by Rev. W G Shellabear 1916 Archive.org
• Hilda's "Where is it?" of recipes : containing, amongst other practical and tried recipes, many old Cape, Indian, and Malay dishes and preserves: also directions for polishing furniture, cleaning silk, etc. and a collection of home remedies in case of sickness by Hildagonda J Duckitt 1908 edition Archive.org. First published 1891. The author lived at the Cape of Good Hope.

Fiction

• The Adventures of John Smith in Malaya, 1600-1605 by A Hale 1909. Archive.org. This book was classified as a novel in a review when issued, but it was stated “In the Malayan part of the book…[there] seems to be first hand knowledge of the legends, custom and intimate life of the Malayans”, and it was “written… with… learning”
• The Complete Short Stories of W. Somerset Maugham Volume I Archive.org Lending Library. Volume II, Volume III. Archive.org. The Volume III Preface indicates some of the stories are set in Malaya "written long before the Second World War"; there may be other Malayan stories in other volumes. (See External links, above.) Other Short Stories editions mainly from the Archive.org Lending Library. Far Eastern Tales Archive.org Lending Library. The short stories appear to have been written mainly in the 1920s-1930s.
• The Gun-Runners by W. Dingwall Fordyce c 1900 Archive.org. An adventure story for younger readers.

The Jewelled Lizard by W. Dingwall Fordyce c 1908 Archive.org. An adventure story for younger readers, with a Sumatra setting.

Dingwall Fordyce also wrote "The Adventures of Babi. A pet mongoose in Sumatra", a chapter in Wide World Magazine, 1911, and Our Secret Society c 1910. However, it is unknown if the setting for the latter is also Malaysia/Indonesia.

• The Black Parrot: a Tale of the Golden Chersonese by Harry Hervey 1923 Archive.org. Golden Chersonese (Khersonese) meaning the Golden Peninsula, was the name used for the Malay Peninsula in classical antiquity.