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Letters from other relatives, 1854-1909; 1936

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Shelfmark: MSS. Pac. s. 90 Vol. 9, fols. 240-360
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Comprises:

(fols. 240-247) Letters from members of the Nicholetts family, 1854-1863:

  1. (fols. 240-241) letter from J.T. Nicholetts to Mr [F.C.?] Johnson about Lord Ellesmere's friendship with the Rajah, 15 Apr 1854
  2. (fols. 242-243) letter from Mary Anna (née Johnson, Mrs Gilbert Nicholetts), to her sister-in-law Annie Brooke, about her voyage from Sarawak to England with the Rajah, with a note added by him to John Brooke Brooke, 29 Nov 1857
  3. (fols. 244-245) letter from John Nicholetts, solicitor, to Mr [F.C.] Johnson, about the justice of John Brooke Brooke's claims and Sir James Brooke's 'derangement', 29 Jun 1863
  4. (fols. 246-247) letter from G[ilbert] Nicholetts to his brother-in-law John Brooke Brooke about 'the breach'; also about the deaths of John Brooke Brooke's uncle Willes [Captain John Willes Johnson de Windt] and [Captain Clayton Jennings] de Windt, 23 Sep 1863.

(fols. 248-294) Letters from Arthur C. Crookshank (nephew of Rev. F.C. Johnson), Police Magistrate in Sarawak; and one from his wife Bertha, 1862-1863:

  1. (fols. 248-249) letter to John Brooke Brooke [after his departure for Bintulu following the death of his wife Julia] about the baby [Agnes]; arrangements relating to John Brooke Brooke's bungalow and possessions; and Read's request for news of Bintulu coal and other minerals, 21 May 1862
  2. (fols. 250-252) depositions made at the Court House, Sarawak, signed by Crookshank, concerning the 'Treatment Received by the wretched Sufferers who were saved on the occasion of Capt. J. Brooke Brooke's attack on a Pirate Fleet on 23 and 24 May 1862.', 27 May 1862
  3. (fols. 253-259) letter to John Brooke Brooke about cargoes and trade; the transfer of the Straits; ships and crews; 'Head Money' for vessels destroying Pirates on the High Seas; proposals for a sago factory in Muka (Mukah); and reports on cattle and plantations, 17 Jun 1862
  4. (fols. 260-263) letter to John Brooke Brooke about activities of the Scout and the Beagle; news of the Rajah in Paris; the need of antimony for paint; the price of opium and rice; Low's visit and promise to further the interests of Sarawak in Brunei; and the satisfactory progress of sugar plantations, 2 Jul 1862
  5. (fols. 264-267) two letters to John Brooke Brooke, about the drunken conduct of A. Cruickshank; warnings against Serif Amal, heading for Bintulu; preparations for an expedition [to the Rejang?], 30 Jul [1862?] and n.d.
  6. (fols. 268-271) letter (and copy) to John Brooke Brooke, quoting the Rajah's speech when installing John Brooke Brooke as Rajah Muda, and giving his view that the government was then 'made over for good' into John Brooke Brooke's hands and that he was regarded as the Rajah, and Sir James being called Rajah Tuah, [26 Feb 1863]
  7. (fols. 272-273) letter from Bertha Crookshank to John Brooke Brooke, expressing her regret at his departure from Sarawak, and her wish that he might soon enjoy his own again, 6 Mar 1863
  8. (fols. 274-275) letter to John Brooke Brooke about supporting him against the Rajah [after the meeting in Singapore]; Charles Johnson's bitterness against John Brooke Brooke; sympathy felt for John Brooke Brooke by both European and indigenous people; and Crookshank's own resentment at having Charles Johnson placed over him, 9 Mar 1863
  9. (fols. 276-280) letter to John Brooke Brooke about the Sarawak Sugar Company, and the offer of shares (balance sheet and report attached); and the Rajah's determination to extirpate Pirates, 28 Mar 1863
  10. (fols. 281-282) letter to John Brooke Brooke (marked 'Private') about the change in Charles Johnson's attitude; the Rajah's speech to the Council about John Brooke Brooke's banishment for three years; the dismissal of Robert Hay; and sympathy felt for John Brooke Brooke by the Datu Bandar and La Touche, 28 Mar 1863
  11. (fols. 283-288) two letters (and an extract from the second) to Charles Grant about the situation in Sarawak following the breach between John Brooke Brooke and the Rajah, and the latter's orders concerning communications from John Brooke Brooke to any officer in the Sarawak Service, 23 Apr and 14 Jun 1863
  12. (fols. 289-291) letter to John Brooke Brooke, begging him not to take legal action, and asking what he wished done with his property in Sarawak; names of shareholders in the Sugar Company, and progress with sugar planting; and the Rajah's appointment of Crookshank as Resident of Sarawak, 28 May 1863
  13. (fols. 292-293) letter to John Brooke Brooke about having handed over letters received from him to Charles Johnson, as ordered by the Rajah on pain of dismissal; and the desire of all that he should obey the Rajah and return eventually to Sarawak, 14 Jun 1863
  14. (fol. 294) letter to John Brooke Brooke (marked 'Official'), asking him in future to address him only officially, 5 Sep 1863.

(fols. 295-302) Two letters from Mrs Margaret Savage (sister of Mrs F.C. Johnson) and one from her husband, Rev. Anthony Savage, to John Brooke Brooke about his 'Statement', protesting against his hostility to the Rajah and deploring his behaviour, 16-18 May [1863]; n.d.

(fols. 303-304) Letter from C. Stuart to John Brooke Brooke about the Rajah's satisfaction at the nomination of Mr Ricketts as Consul to Sarawak, and advising John Brooke Brooke against publishing anything further, 21 Mar 1864

(fols. 305-313) Four letters from Captain W. Frederick Johnson, RN (third son of Rev. F.C. Johnson), [1873-1875?]; 1909:

  1. (fols. 305-311) three letters to C.T.C. Grant, about considering retirement; news of the Crookshanks; death of his uncle Fred [Johnson]; his father's illness; the deaths of Charles Brooke's three children on the voyage between Singapore and England; and the death of his father, [1873-1875?]
  2. (fols. 312-313) letter to Hope Brooke about Kegan Paul's Memoirs in which Sir Charles Brooke is referred to as the third Rajah, 5 Jan 1909.

(fols. 314-342) Twelve letters from H. Stuart Johnson (youngest son of Rev. F.C. Johnson) to C.T.C. Grant, 14 Mar 1874-11 Apr 1879, chiefly about his own appointment in 1877 as Chief Constable of Edinburgh and Linlithgow, with related papers including two letters (fols. 320-322) from Capt. J.E. Christie to Grant. Other topics mentioned are as follows:

  1. (fols. 315-316, 324, 326) J.B. ('Fitz') Cruickshank's application for post of Deputy Governor of Perth Prison, 1876
  2. (fol. 333) Johnson's own appointment as Inspector of H.M. Prisons in Scotland, 1878
  3. (fols. 337-338) death of Grant's brother [Capt. R.H. Grant, R.A.]
  4. (fol. 339v) death of Gilbert Nicholetts, 1879
  5. (fol. 341) plans for Hope Brooke to visit Edinburgh.

(fols. 343-358) Letters from (John Evelyn) Hope Brooke, second son of J. Brooke Brooke, 1894; 1909:

  1. (fols. 343-350) two letters (with covering note referring to 'Papers for Counsel's Opinion', see MSS. Pac. s. 90/1, folder 7) to his uncle, Sir Charles Brooke, suggesting that, should Sir Charles die while his sons were too young to succeed him, Hope might become Rajah; the reaction of his uncle Edmund [Evelyn] to this idea; and his own desire to clear his father's name, 21 Sep and 18 Nov 1894
  2. (fols. 351-354) part of a letter to Sir Charles Brooke, criticising the title of the book A History of Sarawak under its Two White Rajahs [by S. Baring-Gould and C.A. Bampfylde] in view of his father's claim to be the second Rajah; his worship of his father's memory, and his wish that the book should give a full and true account of his father's quarrel with Sir James Brooke and so vindicate his name (see MSS. Pac. s. 90 Vol. 13, fol. 5.), 9 Feb 1909
  3. (fols. 355-358) to [Leslie] Scott, about a proposal to 'open a discussion' with Sir Charles, referring to the book mentioned above; his affection for Sir Charles; the possibility of bringing a legal case, 9 Feb 1909.

(fols. 359-360) Letter from F.H. Pollard (grandson of Captain W.F. Johnson, and an officer in the Sarawak Service) to Violet, widow of Hope Brooke, asking her to permit access to papers and letters on behalf of Captain Le Gros Clark, who was writing a life of Sir James Brooke; also about the abdication of Edward VIII, and the death of the Ranee Margaret, 9 and 11 Dec 1936.

Dates

  • Creation: 1854-1909; 1936

Extent

121 Leaves

Language of Materials

  • English

Shelfmark

MSS. Pac. s. 90 Vol. 9, fols. 240-360

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository

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