THE recently reopened Penang State Museum and Art Gallery is now displaying replicas of two historic letters written by Captain Francis Light, who is generally credited with establishing the first British settlement on Penang island in 1786.
It is the first time replicas of the letters have been displayed at the museum in George Town.
The two documents comprise Light’s letter to the Sultan of Kedah regarding the Penang occupation treaty dated April 21, 1791, and his last will and testament addressed to his wife Martina Rozells and their son William.
Penang tourism and creative economy committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said the documents gave visitors a deeper understanding of Penang’s early history, including its establishment and development as well as people and events that shaped it.
“Historical documents such as these allow us to look beyond textbook accounts and connect directly with the past.
“I hope more Penangites and visitors take the opportunity to visit the museum and discover these important pieces of Penang’s history,” he said.
Those wanting to learn more about Penang’s history can explore the Light Letters (1768-1794), a collection of about 1,200 manuscripts bound in 11 volumes, via Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) digital library website https://libdigital.usm.my/
The collection comprises correspondence, writings and notes involving Malay rulers and dignitaries from around the Malay Archipelago, business partners, wives of Malay aristocrats, Light and English traders.
The letters were written over 27 years, from 1768 to 1794.
USM, through its Centre for Policy Research and International Studies and USM Library, has sole rights to make the collection accessible to researchers, scholars and the public.
The collection has significant implications for historical scholarship and research into the period before the rise of imperialism and establishment of colonial rule in the Malay Archipelago.
It also provides a valuable source for writing and reinterpreting the history of Penang and Malaysia, while its digitised images contribute to digital humanities and Art-Science education.
The digitised images were provided by the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, to USM under a memorandum of agreement signed in September 2018.
USM Library has made the Light Letters Digital Collection available online, with its contents protected by copyright and accessible with attribution under a Creative Commons licence/fair use.
