Crown Colony of Labuan

Labuan is a small island off the northwest coast of Borneo that Britain acquired from the Sultanate of Brunei by treaty in 1846 and organised as a crown colony two years later. James Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak, had urged London to secure a naval station and coaling depot there, and he became the island's first governor. Officials hoped Labuan would become a second Singapore, but its coal proved poor and investors withdrew, leaving machinery and Chinese labourers behind; the settlers turned instead to edible birds' nests, pearls, sago and later rubber and coconuts. From 1890 the island was administered by the North Borneo Chartered Company, was returned to direct British rule in 1904, and was attached to the Straits Settlements from 1907. Japan occupied Labuan in January 1942 and renamed it Maeda Island after a Japanese commander. Allied forces landed in June 1945, and the Japanese commander in Borneo surrendered there in September. After a short military administration the island was merged into the Crown Colony of North Borneo in July 1946, ending its separate colonial existence.