13 Facts About Frank Swettenham

Frank Swettenham served from 1 July 1896 to 4 November 1901.

Frank Swettenham was an amateur painter, photographer and antique collector.

Frank Swettenham was born in Belper, Derbyshire, the son of attorney James Oldham Swettenham, and Charlotte Elizabeth Carr and was educated at the Dollar Academy in Scotland and St Peter's School, York.

Frank Swettenham was a descendant of Mathew Swetenham, Henry IV's bow bearer, and the younger brother of the colonial administrator Sir James Alexander Swettenham.

In 1871 Frank Swettenham was first sent to Singapore as a cadet in the civil service of the Straits Settlements.

Frank Swettenham learned the Malay language and played a major role as British-Malay intermediary in the events surrounding British intervention in the peninsular Malay states in the 1870s.

Frank Swettenham was a member of the Commission for the Pacification of Larut set up following the signing of the Pangkor Treaty of 1874 and he served alongside John Frederick Adolphus McNair, and Chinese Kapitan Chung Keng Quee and Chin Seng Yam.

Frank Swettenham acquired the title of Resident-General after he secured an agreement of federation from the states of Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang in 1895, when he was Resident of Perak state.

Frank Swettenham had long been critical of the influence of Siam in the northern Malay states of Kelantan and Trengganu, which had traditionally recognised the suzerainty of Siam by sending a tribute of a golden flower to the King of Siam every three years.

Frank Swettenham was disappointed in his ultimate goal of bringing the southern Thai region of Patani under British control.

Frank Swettenham was one of close to forty former British Empire officials to oppose the Malayan Union.

Frank Swettenham co-authored a A Dictionary of the Malay Language with Hugh Clifford.

Frank Swettenham became friends with Gertrude Bell when she visited Singapore in 1903 and maintained a correspondence with her until 1909.