Borneo Company Limited, formed in 1856, was one of the oldest companies based in East Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah).
History
Brooke era
In 1840s, James Brooke (White Rajah of Sarawak) formed a relationship with Henry Wise, a merchant from London who sought to exploit the natural resources of Sarawak. In 1850, the British government established a trading company called the Eastern Archipelago Company (EAC) with Henry Wise as its principal shareholder. The company was given Royal Charter in 1851. EAC was given a trade monopoly between Sarawak and Britain. Plans were drawn to export antimony from Sarawak to Britain. Merchant houses in Britain, such as R&J Henderson agreed to finance the operations of EAC. However, the Hendersens pulled out from EAC before its incorporation. The commercial hub of the company was in Singapore, and it expanded its businesses to Thailand, and then Indonesia, and Hong Kong.
In 1855, Mr. George Acland of Borneo Company established a jute mill for spinning jute yarn at Rishra, West Bengal, India. In 1859, weaving machinery and power loom were imported and stationed at Baranagar, West Bengal. These actions forced the traditional jute cottage industry out of business in India.
The Borneo Company Limited (BCL) was registered in London on 6 May 1856 and MacEwan & Co. was appointed as the company's Singapore agent. The MacEwan company was established in 1852 and was managed by John Harvey. BCL London had taken over the MacEwan Company in 1854. By 30 April 1857, the MacEwan Company was dissolved by BCL. BCL Singapore was established on 31 July 1857 and all the assets from MacEwan Company were transferred to BCL, including wharves in Telok Blangah, Singapore, and its branches in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (today Jakarta, Indonesia) and Bangkok, Thailand. BCL also extended its operations to Calcutta, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. The initial capital of the Borneo Company was £60,000 and the office was at 25 Mincing Lane. Its directors, including some close associates of White Rajah James Brooke, were Robert Henderson (of R.& J.Henderson, Glasgow merchants), John Charles Templer (friend of James Brooke), James Dyce Nicol, John Smith, Francis Richardson, and John Harvey (the latter two of MacEwan & Co. in Singapore).
The company was given exclusive rights to all minerals found in Sarawak, including gold, and the rights to operate as a merchant, ship owner, miner, agriculturist, and planter. In Sarawak, its first manager was Ludvig Verner Helms, who had been a MacEwan & Co trading agent in Sarawak since 1852. Helms was tasked to "buy up the antimony ore, and generally to develop the trade of the country", with a Chinese, an Indian, and a Malay as his initial staff. Helms worked for the company for 20 years. Helms also doubled up his role in the court of law that dealt with civil and criminal cases. Since October 1856, The Borneo Company allocated £200 a year to build an Anglican school in Simunjan District in Sadong area (today part of Samarahan Division). During 1857 Chinese uprising in Bau, BCL employee R Wellington was killed while lodging in police inspector P. Middleton's house. The Sarawak treasury was ransacked, including $6350 belonging to BCL. During the uprising, Helms had ordered arms and supplies from Singapore. The supplies were transported back to Kuching using BCL's schooner named Water Lily. BCL was also instructed to give Rajah an advance payment of £5,000 to repair Rajah's residence, two government houses, and Malays' dwellings that were damaged during the uprising.