ABSTRACT
Penang’s early municipal history is poorly documented and there are few records available to make a closer study possible. Penang, one of many English East India Company’s (EEIC) colonies in the East, was first headed by a Superintendent (Francis Light, from 1786-1794), then by a Lieutenant-Governor (the first being George Leith 1800-1803),1 and finally by a Governor in 1805.2
In the early period, the EEIC establishment in Penang was very small, consisting of Francis Light as Superintendent, J. Gardyne as storekeeper, Mr. Bacon, as monthly writer, Adam Ramage as Beachmaster, Long, a Malay writer, and Nakhuda Kecil who was the security guard.3 All official correspondence was sent from Penang to Calcutta and then from there to London for the final decision.4 Although the British gained possession of the settlement in 1786, it was not until August 1794 that the Superintendent, Francis Light, was issued with a set of instructions on legal matters by the GovernorGeneral in Council in Calcutta. These instructions constituted the first regulations for the settlement and were called “Lord Teignmouth’s Regulations”.5 The regulations authorized Francis Light to be the Superintendent of the island and granted him power and authority.6
