Malacca

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Malacca was ceded to the British in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 in exchange for Bencoolen on Sumatra. From 1826 to 1946 Malacca was governed, first by the British East India Company and then as a Crown Colony. It formed part of the Straits Settlements, together with Singapore and Penang (also known as Prince of Wales Island).

History

Malacca and the Spice Islands details military actions between the British and Dutch East India Companies at the end of the eighteenth century.

Battle of Soongei Pattye 1831
Battle of Kalama to Taboo 1832

Records

  • BACSA have published the book Malacca: Christian Cemeteries and Memorials by Alan Harfield, 2002 (revised edn). "From the Portuguese time in 1511, through the Dutch occupation 1641-1795 and from 1819-25 to the British period. Includes a short history with lists of churches and MIs; also an account of the local wars with lists of casualties in the Malayan Emergency. 214pp, 70 illustrations, 8 maps and plans"
For details including purchase, see BACSA Books - select Cemetery Record Books.
BACSA have put indexes to the majority of their cemetery books online and these indexes are free to search and browse, see the Fibiwiki page BACSA. 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.
  • FamilySearch have digitised the above BACSA book. Catalogue entry. However, the FS Digital Library catalogue entry says (at 2020/09/16) "Due to copyright restrictions, this book cannot be viewed online". Perhaps this restriction may change in some way in the future.
  • Ecclesiastical Returns: Baptisms, Marriages and Burials at the British Library. Prince of Wales Island [Penang], Malacca and Singapore 1799-1829 in IOR N/8. These records are included in the digitised records available on the commercial site findmypast
The LDS film number for these records is 498606, item 2.
Returns are continued in the Bengal returns 1830-1868, N/1. For Malacca marriages 1820-1824, see also IOR: R/9/39/3.
  • Malay documents in the Melaka Records in the British Library by Annabel Gallop
  • The National Archives of Malaysia (Arkib Negara Malaysia) in Kuala Lumpur holds the following records from Melaka (Malacca), held on microfilm at the National Archives.
    • Baptismal registers 1642-1825 of the Dutch Reformed Church.
      • These records are also available on FamilySearch microfilm, but most are only available at the main FamilySearch Library, known as the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. (Kerkelijke registers, 1642-1825: catalogue entry which also includes limited marriage and death records from Arkib Negra Malaysia). The Family History Library is understood to have access to a complete microfilm collection, even though microfilms can no longer be ordered, so these microfilms should still be available there. (Currently (2020/09), these records have not been digitised, see FamilySearch Centres for details.) Note however there is one film listed which has been digitised (DGS 8864996) and is viewable on your home computer, but you must be signed in to FamilySearch (including when viewing the catalogue entry). This film appears to be records from an archive in the Netherlands.
      If you are able to visit the Family History Library in person, there are specialists available to assist, see Family History Library Research Specialists
      Should you wish to hire a researcher to access these records at the Family History Library, you may wish to discuss this, preferably by telephone, with the Family History Library, noting they are early Dutch records, (see FamilySearch Centres for details) or try contact through the Family History Library Facebook page.
      For aids to assist you in reading Dutch handwritten records, see Dutch.
    • Marriage registers 1768-1838 and burial registers 1787-1827 from St Peter’s Roman Catholic Church[1]
  • Search the FamilySearch Catalog for FamilySearch records additional to those mentioned above. Be sure you are signed in to FamilySearch before you search, as currently (2020/09/16) you get different results depending on whether you are signed in or not.
  • Important Books and Internet Sources About Cemeteries in Malaysia and Singapore FamilySearch Wiki page.
  • The booklet An introduction to Christ Church Malacca, published by the Malacca Historical Society, is for sale at the church and contains details of the memorials in the church (2 examples [2] of memorials, one being the wife of a member of the Madras Medical Service). Possibly the same book, (so it may, or may not contain the memorials information) a book with the same title but a different publisher is available at the British Library with notes "Consists of material extracted from a pamphlet originally published in 1917 and reprinted in 1937" UIN: BLL01016033188. The book by MHS is also available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, catalogue entry. Note, probably these memorial inscriptions would also appear in the book by Alan Harfield Malacca: Christian Cemeteries and Memorials, see above.
  • The BACSA archive at the British Library contains some references to Malacca.
    • Mss Eur F370/829 "Malacca, Malaysia Fort Cemetery, Malacca: 1670-1682, 1816-1838 St Paul's Cemetery, Malacca: 1843-1860 St Paul's Hill, Malacca: 1568-1712 Christ Church, Malacca: 1774-1955 Sungei Ujong, Rasah New Village: 1875-6"
    • Mss Eur F370/1547 A History of Christ Church, Melaka of the Diocese of West Malaysia, by S Batumalai (Melaka, 2003)
  • Also see Dutch.

External links

Historical books online

For 1873, Contents; Civil Establishments , commencing with an Index page 177, Singapore page 187, Penang page 209, Malacca page 223.
Other editions of the Blue Books of Statistics are available at the National Archives, Kew record series CO 277 1867-1939, part of "Records of Local Bodies and Other Colonial Miscellanea" commencing with CO 277/1 for 1867.

References

  1. "Records in a Rival’s Repository: Archives of the Dutch East India Company" by Lennart Bes Itinerario, 31:3 (2007) pages 16-38, specifically page 31. Also see Arkib Negara Malaysia TANAP website.
  2. "Melaka’s World Heritage" rogersouthernresearch
  3. History of the Dutch in Malaysia by Dennis De Witt. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01015564894