1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,600 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 1: I'm debling a chokerate boarding and I'm Fara Down and 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: we have another unusual royal story here. This past March, 5 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: a guy named Anthony Brook passed away in New Zealand 6 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: and this got a little bit of media attention. The 7 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: Telegraph had a political obituary on him, and a couple 8 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: other newspapers wrote him up, I think, and Brooke was 9 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: sort of an independent ambassador for world peace in the 10 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: nineties seventies. He and his wife had founded a charitable 11 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: trust called Operation Peace through Unity that's accredited by the 12 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,159 Speaker 1: u N. But that wasn't really the reason for this 13 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: media coverage. Yeah, news outlets who wrote about Brooke and 14 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: about his passing did so because he had been the 15 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: heir to the throne of Sarawak on Borneo, and had 16 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: even ruled there as heir apparent for about six months 17 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: back in nineteen thirty nine. He never got a chance, though, 18 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 1: to rule completely on his own, to take over that 19 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,559 Speaker 1: role that he had been groomed for, though, because Sarah 20 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:13,479 Speaker 1: Walk became Britain's last colonial acquisition in ninety six. Still 21 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: though his family had pretty deep roots there. His English 22 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: born family had been the absolute rulers of this area 23 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:25,199 Speaker 1: for one hundred years. And they were no ordinary kings either. 24 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: They were known as the White Rajas, and they had 25 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: their own currency, stamps, flags, and police force, and they 26 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: were independent from Britain. But how did these white men 27 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: with English roots, and Sarah mentioned with very close ties 28 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: to England, most of them were born and educated there, 29 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: how did they end up on Borneo in the first place. Yeah, 30 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: so that's what we're going to be looking into today. Yeah, 31 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: it's a story of exploration. We love those adventure and 32 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: of course colonialism involving Brooks great great uncle, Sir James 33 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: brook And he was a man who, according to a 34 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: piece by Alex Middleton and Historical Journal quote, captured the 35 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 1: imagination of the British political and intellectual elite more powerfully 36 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: than any other imperial adventurer before David Livingstone. So we're 37 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: going to start with him. Yeah, that's a pretty good 38 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: start at Livingstone, one of our favorite guys. So starting 39 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: with this ancestor though, James Brooke, he was born April 40 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: twenty nine, eighteen oh three, in the European quarter of 41 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: the Naris India and his father was sort of a 42 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: high up figure in the East India Company. His name 43 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,240 Speaker 1: was Thomas Brooke and he was a wealthy judge there. 44 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 1: So as a result, James had a pretty cushy early life, 45 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: a pampered, privileged sort of existence as a as a 46 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: kid in India and he was really doated on by 47 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: women and his family and not even sent back to 48 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: England for his education until he was twelve, which was 49 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: much older than was common at the time. Yeah, but 50 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: James did go to England and he attended Norwich Grammar School, 51 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: but he hated it so much that he ran away 52 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: and didn't go back. But luckily his parents returned around 53 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,519 Speaker 1: that time to retire in Bath and they had young 54 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,360 Speaker 1: James tutored at home instead. But then at sixteen, James 55 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: ended up back in India, having taken a commission in 56 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: the East India Company's army in May of eighteen nineteen. 57 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: So for a time he had a good time there. 58 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: He was shooting big game, hunting for wild boar and 59 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 1: basically getting up to all kinds of shenanigan's, having a 60 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:26,559 Speaker 1: good time with his fellows. The other guys in the army. 61 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: But he was in the army after all. So in 62 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty five, James saw action in the First Anglo 63 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: Burmese War, And though he showed bravery during this conflict, 64 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: he was actually only involved in about two significant engagements 65 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: before he was very severely wounded. Yeah, and that's the 66 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: first sort of unclear area of our story. They're differing 67 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: accounts on what sort of injury he had. Some said 68 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: it was a lung injury. Others said that he was 69 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: wounded in the genitals. And there's an article for History 70 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: Today by Richard Cavendish and he writes that the long 71 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: wound is probably true, but it's some biographers like to 72 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: perpetuate the other injury because it helps explain certain things 73 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: about James, namely his apparent lack of interest in women. 74 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: And there's a good quote from Cavendish actually that thumbs 75 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: all of this up. He said, it would hardly do 76 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:19,479 Speaker 1: for one of the most daring, romantic and ostentatiously high 77 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: minded gentleman adventures of Victorian England to have been a homosexual. Right. 78 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,359 Speaker 1: But regardless of what kind of injury injury, this was 79 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: exactly the incident caused James to have to return home 80 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: to England in for what's called a long period of convalescence. 81 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: During that time, he probably got a little more than dejected. 82 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: We can imagine. I mean, you're laid up with an injury, 83 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 1: You're thinking of all the things you wanted to do, 84 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: all the dreams young man. Right. So A Middleton writes 85 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: that James quote dreamed ironically of conquests hardly one rank 86 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: and ultimately greatness, but lamented that they would remain beyond 87 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: his reach. So he's sitting there dreaming thinking, I don't know, 88 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: gonna wear out. I love that word. But he ended 89 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: up having to resign his military commission five years after 90 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: returning home. But even though James didn't return to East 91 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: India's service, he still seemed intent on having some kind 92 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: of adventure in the East. So during the eighteen thirties 93 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,279 Speaker 1: he made two trips to China, during which he made 94 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 1: stops at the Straight settlements, including Singapore, and there he 95 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: was really influenced by Sir Stanford Raffles vision of a 96 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:28,040 Speaker 1: greater role for Britain in the Malay Archipelago. Yeah, but 97 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,960 Speaker 1: he also picked up some important intelligence while he was 98 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: there too. According to n STP research. While James was 99 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: in Singapore, he started to hear rumors of a rebellion 100 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:45,799 Speaker 1: in Borneo in which the Malay Prince Peneran Muda Hassim 101 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,239 Speaker 1: was helpless to do anything. So he had a few 102 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: potential desires going on here. One might have been the 103 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: desire to extend Britain's influence in the East. But he 104 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: also had that personal adventurous spirit and here was a 105 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,359 Speaker 1: window of opportunity for really going out and having a 106 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: big adventure. So James used his inheritance to buy an outfit, 107 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: an armed schooner, maybe a hundred forty two tons maybe 108 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: two nine tons um and cources seemed to differ on that. Yeah, 109 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,280 Speaker 1: so a boat. He equipped the boat, and he called 110 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: at the royalists and he sailed east on a geographical 111 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: and scientific mission of discovery. Yeah. So he's off now 112 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:28,840 Speaker 1: on that adventure that he was looking for, and he 113 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: reaches Coaching Sorrow Walk in August eighteen thirty nine, which 114 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 1: was located in an area of tropical rainforest in northwestern 115 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:40,280 Speaker 1: Borneo along the coast of the South China Sea. Is located, 116 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: I should say not was located, and Coaching had a 117 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: population of about seven thousand. Well, the rest of the 118 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:49,280 Speaker 1: state was mostly jungle and home to various tribes, some 119 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,520 Speaker 1: of whom were pirates. You might remember the Dragon Lady 120 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: podcast where we talk about the South China Sea and 121 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: all the pirates that were there kind of during this 122 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: period late seventeen hundreds through the eighteen hundreds, um. So 123 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: some of them were pirates, headhunters, and slavers. And there 124 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: weren't a lot of natural resources here, which is probably 125 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: among some of the main reasons that it hadn't been 126 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: colonized by European power already. So it sounds like a 127 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: dangerous place to set out for with your personal armed ship, 128 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: or at least a difficult place to go and think, hey, 129 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: I'm going to put down roots here. But when James 130 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: arrived there was in fact a rebellion going on. So 131 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 1: the rumors he had heard when he was in Singapore 132 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: were true. Diet tribesmen were rebelling against unfair taxation, and 133 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: they weren't really the kind of people that you wanted 134 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: to mess around with. The Diets are the indigenous people 135 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: of Borneo, and they've engaged for years in inter tribal 136 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: warfare and the somewhat unsavory practice of head hunting. So 137 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: again it sounds like kind of a dangerous and difficult 138 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: place to land. But James gained the confidence of Muda Hassim, 139 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: who offered to make him the sovereign of Sarah lock 140 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: control over both the government and the revenues if he 141 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: could suppress the uprising. So he not only was he 142 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: right about the tip that there was a rebellion, it 143 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: seems like if he can put this thing down, he's 144 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: he's really going to make it happen and be in 145 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: control of this land. So James agreed and he helped 146 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: crush the rebellion and on September eighteen forty one, James 147 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: Brooke became governor of Sarawak and on August eighteen forty 148 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: two he was proclaimed Rajah. So it worked. Yeah, it 149 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: turned out to be a good deal for him, and 150 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: that he is in charge, he's in the seat of power. 151 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: But we've already alluded to piracy here into tribal wars 152 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,959 Speaker 1: and lack of infrastructure, lack of natural resources, so it 153 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: should be no surprise when we tell you now that 154 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: James faced a lot of challenges as Raji wasn't an 155 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: easy transition for him, but in general he thought to 156 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: have done a pretty good job with what he had. 157 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: He made a lot of reforms. He established a secure 158 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: government and made a new code of laws, made expeditions 159 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 1: into the interior of Sarah Walk, managed to decrease the 160 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: prevalence of head hunting. Part of that new that was 161 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:06,959 Speaker 1: part of that new code of laws that we mentioned, 162 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,719 Speaker 1: head hunting was outlawed. And he also suppressed piracy in 163 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:11,200 Speaker 1: the region, which we're going to talk about a little 164 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: more because that's a little bit controversial. So he tried 165 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: on one hand to civilize Sara Walk according to British standards, 166 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,960 Speaker 1: that is, civilize it. But he also really emphasized the 167 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: protection of native interests and promoting their welfare too. He 168 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: really went out with his people a lot too, went 169 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 1: out and talked to them. He spent time with the Malay, 170 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 1: with Chinese, with the diet people he governed, and he 171 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: was known even for taking walks with them, talking to them, 172 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,319 Speaker 1: letting them come and visit him personally at his bungalow. 173 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: And Um Daily Mail did a story about the White 174 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:48,439 Speaker 1: Rajah's in March, and the writer David Leaf even mentioned 175 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:51,839 Speaker 1: how he was so hands on. Sometimes he would act 176 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: as self appointed judge and hold court hearings at home 177 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: that people could come and watch see their government in action. 178 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: And one of the crazier cases here, a crocodile was 179 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 1: even put on trial for killing a court translator who 180 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: got drunk and fell in the river and devil and 181 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 1: I'm going to have to let you read what James 182 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 1: wrote in his journal. He wrote, quote, I decided that 183 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: he should be instantly killed without honors, and he was 184 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: dispatched accordingly, his head severed from his trunk and the 185 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: body left exposed as a warning to all the other 186 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: crocodiles that may inhabit these waters. So that was just 187 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: a little sorry of the judgment. Yeah, they actually did 188 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 1: a trial and there were arguments on both sides before 189 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 1: he came to this decision. So definitely, as you say, 190 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:42,079 Speaker 1: tough justice, crocodile had been allowed to represent himself, there 191 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:46,679 Speaker 1: might have been a different outcome. That's probably so. As 192 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: we know from the Livingston podcast, right, we were talking 193 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:50,959 Speaker 1: about that before there was a crocodile involved in that too, 194 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,199 Speaker 1: were So there are a few things in common that 195 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: these guys had in common besides um just being charismatic Victorians. 196 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: But despite this accent behavior, or maybe because of behavior 197 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: like this, he won a really devoted following in Sarawak, 198 00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: and he was pretty popular in England too, especially in 199 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,679 Speaker 1: the beginning, I guess because he is this almost romantic figure. 200 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,320 Speaker 1: James visited England in eighteen forty seven eighteen forty eight, 201 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: and though Sarawak was not expressly recognized, he was knighted 202 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 1: by Queen Victoria. He was made a Knight in Commander 203 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: of Bath. He became the Commissioner and Consul General to 204 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 1: the Sultan of Berne I and the Governor of the 205 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 1: Colony of Labuan off burn I. So a lot of 206 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,720 Speaker 1: pretty prestigious honors. There some other accolades he received. He 207 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,640 Speaker 1: was also awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical 208 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:45,080 Speaker 1: Society and an honorary degree at Oxford, in addition to 209 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 1: some other appointments and groups that he was invited into. 210 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: He also dined with our recent podcast subjects Victorian Albert, 211 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: and attended a lot of high society parties. And finally, 212 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: another source of his notoriety, he also had published his 213 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: journals in eighteen forties SI, so that got his name 214 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: out there as well. But we mentioned that his popularity 215 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: was high in the beginning, suggesting that eventually it did 216 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 1: go downhill, and and that did happen. In eighteen forty nine, 217 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 1: his popularity really took a nose dive when he renewed 218 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: his efforts against pirates around Sarawas coastline. So those diect 219 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: pirates that we mentioned had kicked things up a notch 220 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,199 Speaker 1: on their end, and with the help of the Royal Navy, 221 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:30,559 Speaker 1: James set out to stop them. But things really escalated 222 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 1: until July thirty one, when the Royal Navy, combined with 223 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: Brooks forces, used a lot of firepower on the pirate 224 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: fleet and ended up killing somewhere between five hundred and 225 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: eight hundred of the pirates, and some reports inflated this 226 00:12:45,120 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: number even more to around fifteen hundred to two thousand pirates. 227 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 1: And it didn't get a good response in England at all, No, 228 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: not at all. It led to an outcry in England 229 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: on behalf of the indigenous people and then an official 230 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:01,600 Speaker 1: commission of inquiry in eighteen fifty four. In eighteen fifty five, 231 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,960 Speaker 1: and after that investigation, James was vindicated, but his reputation 232 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: was damaged at that point, and he lost some of 233 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 1: his official appointments. The British government also withdrew naval support 234 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,199 Speaker 1: from Sara Walk, and they refused to offer protection when 235 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:17,319 Speaker 1: James's rule was threatened by a Chinese uprising in eighteen 236 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:22,760 Speaker 1: fifty seven. So, increasingly disillusioned, James is ready to return 237 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: to England for good in eighteen sixty three, and he 238 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: does that. He died of a stroke in eighteen sixty 239 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: eight and was eventually buried under a you tree in 240 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 1: a churchyard in Dartmoor. But what about Sarawak, Because we 241 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: know from our introduction that somehow this family manages to 242 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: to hold on for a few more generations. So James 243 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: Brook had no legitimate air. Some sources suggest that he 244 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 1: had an illegitimate son around eighteen thirty three, but he 245 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:53,319 Speaker 1: never married, and as we said earlier, some biographers believed 246 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,240 Speaker 1: that he was homosexual. So for a while before he 247 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: moved back to England, James was just toying with the 248 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: idea of turning Sarawak over to the Dutch, just getting 249 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,199 Speaker 1: it out of the family. But he had a nephew, Charles, 250 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 1: and Charles would not hear of losing this prize Brooke 251 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: family possession right, and it didn't really seem like that's 252 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: what James wanted either. Charles Anthony Johnson, his nephew, had 253 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: entered the Sarawak service in eighteen fifty two when he 254 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: was around twenty three, and he did that at his 255 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: uncle's request, and also officially changed his name at that 256 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 1: time to Charles Anthony Johnson Brook kind of like an 257 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: air would do exactly, and Charles stepped in. He helped 258 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: James out for many years. He led the forces actually 259 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 1: that defeated the Chinese Uprising and governed after James left 260 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 1: the country for England. So before he died, James did 261 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,840 Speaker 1: in fact name Charles his heir, and Charles ruled for 262 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:48,360 Speaker 1: forty nine years. He was actually the longest reigning Raja Brooke. 263 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: He was also very eccentric, just like his uncle. For example, 264 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 1: he had a glass eye that he lost his eye 265 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: while he was hunting, so he replaced it with a 266 00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: glass eye that he had taken out of a stuffed albatross. 267 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 1: Imagine there'd be some size discrepancy there. I'm gonna have 268 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: to go google a picture of an albatross after this, 269 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: trying to figure out how big the glass. I would 270 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:10,600 Speaker 1: be good luck with that kind of imagining in a 271 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:13,520 Speaker 1: mad Eye Moody situation. But despite the fact that he 272 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 1: was eccentric, he was generally loved by the people and 273 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 1: he made a lot of reforms to just like James 274 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: did um maybe even more. He extended Sarawalk's boundaries, clarified 275 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 1: its international status, secured trade, developed infrastructure in many ways, 276 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 1: including building a railway, and when he died in nineteen seventeen, 277 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 1: his son took over for him. His son, named Viner 278 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: or Charles Viner de wint Brooke, took over as the 279 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: third and last White Raja, and Viner effectively shared power 280 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,760 Speaker 1: with his brother Bertram until Bertram eventually had a nervous breakdown. 281 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: That is, but Bertram was the father of Anthony Brook, 282 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 1: the man we mentioned in the intro to this podcast, 283 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: so he's our connection here. Because Viner didn't have any funds, 284 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:58,600 Speaker 1: Anthony was next in line to become Raja, but Wiiner 285 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: grew increasingly disinterested in ruling, and in nineteen instead of 286 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: passing things on to his nephew, he agreed to seed 287 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: Sarawak to the British Crown in return for a pretty 288 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: hefty financial settlement, so he basically cashed out and Anthony 289 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 1: tried to contest this and there was this long legal 290 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 1: battle that he didn't win, and after that he officially 291 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: renounced his claim to the throne in nineteen fifty one, 292 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: probably trying to move on with his life and started 293 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: his campaign for peace and basically just faded into relative obscurity, 294 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 1: at least until his death. It seems he lived in 295 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:38,080 Speaker 1: a New Age commune in Scotland for a while and 296 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 1: adopted their belief that flying saucers were going to bring peace, 297 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: and eventually moved to New Zealand and founded the Operation 298 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: Piece through Unity. So a strange, surprising career, I'd say 299 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: for this would be Rajah. Yeah, an interesting journey for 300 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 1: this entire family. I think that seemed to have fairly 301 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 1: traditional roots. A judge for the East India Company. Yeah, 302 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,680 Speaker 1: from a from a standpoint of looking at the British Empire, 303 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,960 Speaker 1: I guess that's a fairly traditional or good beginning. But 304 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:10,879 Speaker 1: it all started with the adventures of James Brooke, and 305 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:14,320 Speaker 1: his story actually influenced literature of the Victorian period. It 306 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 1: really inspired Victorian imaginations. For example, He's referenced in Conrad's 307 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 1: Lord Jim. Lord Jim is actually a Conrad book that's 308 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 1: been on my reading list for a while. Yeah, I 309 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 1: think I read it a long time ago. But I 310 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: think you can see the influence of this particular character 311 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,680 Speaker 1: in History James Brooke and some other works as well. 312 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:35,640 Speaker 1: So if anyone out there can think of any other 313 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:38,600 Speaker 1: examples where this comes up, or just any other stories 314 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:40,360 Speaker 1: about the Brooke family that you know that you want 315 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: to share, please write us at History Podcast at how 316 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:45,479 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. You can also look us up 317 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,919 Speaker 1: on Twitter at myston History or on Facebook. And if 318 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,680 Speaker 1: you want to learn a little bit more about pirates 319 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,159 Speaker 1: from all over the world, we have a great article 320 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,200 Speaker 1: called how Pirates Work. You can find it by searching 321 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: for pirates on our homepage at www dot how stuff 322 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 1: where dot com. Be sure to check out our new 323 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,679 Speaker 1: video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join houst Works staff 324 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 1: as we explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. 325 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 1: The houstepp Works iPhone app has a ride. Download it 326 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 1: today on iTunes.