J.W.W. Birch (1826-1875)
1880
Malaya: two seated Malay dignatories, Tengku Zia Uddin and Raja Ismail, surrounded by their staff and Klang Police

Albumen print
18.2 x 23.2 cm
 
Wellcome Collection
Wellcome Library no. 32344i
 
The seated dignatories shown are, on the left, Raja Ismail, who had been given control of Klang by Sultan Muhammad in 1849/50, and, on the right, Tengku Zia Uddin Sultan Zainal Halim of Kedah, who administered Langat. On the left of Tengku Zia Uddin is his secretary, probably Syed Zin bin Mohammed Puteh al-Habshi, a Penang Malay of Arab descent. The two Europeans standing behind are the Colonial Secretary, Straits Settlement 1870-74, James Birch, and a Singapore lawyer with financial interests in the Malayan mainland and a founder in 1873 of the Malayan Tin Mining Company, James Guthrie Davidson. The photograph was taken at Klang in Selangor on 3 April 1874. (Identification of the sitters was provided by John Falconer of the Historic Photographs Section at the National Maritime Museum, August 1987)
 
LL/97050