Hugh Low

Sir Hugh Low GCMG
Hugh Low
4th British Resident of Perak
In office 1st April 1877 – 31st May 1889
Preceded by	James G. Davidson
Succeeded by	Frank A. Swettenham
Personal details
Born	(1824-05-10)10 May 1824 Upper Clapton, United Kingdom
Died	18 April 1905(1905-04-18) (aged 80) Alassio, Italy
Spouse(s)	Catherine Napier, Anne Douglas
Religion	Christian

Sir Hugh Low, GCMG (10 May 1824 – 18 April 1905) was a British colonial administrator and naturalist. After a long residence in various colonial roles in Labuan, he became the first successful British administrator in the Malay Peninsula. His methods became models for future administrators. He made the first documented ascent of Mount Kinabalu in 1851. Both Kinabalu's highest peak as well as the deep gully on the other side of the mountain are named after him.^[1][2]

Career

Low was born in Upper Clapton, England, the son of a Scottish horticulturist, also named Hugh. At an early age, he acquired botanical expertise working in the family nursery. At 20, his father sent him on a collecting expedition to South East Asia. He based himself in Singapore but soon joined James Brooke, the White Rajah, in Sarawak. In the months following he became well enough acquainted with interior of Sarawak to write a definitive book on it on his return home. In 1847, Brooke was appointed Governor of the recently established British colony of Labuan and Consul General of Borneo. He made Low his Colonial Secretary (1848-1850) and William Napier Esq., Lieutenant Governor. They, and Napier's daughter, Catherine, returned to the Far East in 1848; Low married Catherine when they reached Singapore.^[3] In Labuan Low acquired administrative experience, fluency in Malay and an enduring reputation as a naturalist, although he quarrelled with geologist/naturalist James Motley. He was Police Magistrate from 1850 to 1877. It was also from Labuan he made his three visits to Mount Kinabalu, the first in March 1851 and twice with Spenser St. John, the consul General of Brunei, in 1858.^[4][5]

In April 1877, Low was transferred to the Malay Peninsula and became the fourth Resident of Perak (1877 — 1889). By the terms of the Pangkor Treaty, the Resident was an adviser whose decision were binding in all matters except for custom or religion. The first Resident had been murdered in 1874, precipitating a war that left nearly all high-ranking Malay officials either dead or in exile. Low's appointment marked a return to civil authority.^[6]

In his first year (1877) he laid down the principle that in order to retain their right to the mining land that they owned, owners of mining land were obliged to see that their land was worked. Within eight years, he saw slavery abolished in the state.^[7] In 1885 he established the first railway line in the Malay Peninsula from Taiping to Port Weld (now Kuala Sepetang).^[8]

In his 12 years in Perak, Low firmly established a peaceful administration. He created a state council that included the principal Malay, Chinese and British leaders and was notably successful in making use of prominent local leaders at most levels of his administration.^[1]

For example, he cultivated the friendship of mining magnate Kapitan China (Chung Keng Quee) who was his confidant. Other Chinese miners in Perak were persuaded to use modern British mining equipment by first having Ah Quee experiment with them. So close was this relationship that when Ah Quee was criticized in an article published in Harpers Magazine in 1891, Sir Hugh wrote a letter to the editor to set the record straight.^[9]

He worked closely with Raja Yusef (the Raja Muda) and Raja Dris (later Sultan Idris) to restore order, pay off the state's debt of 800,000 Straits Dollars, and reestablish confidence in the British Residential system.^[10][11]

Apart from his administrative achievements, Low was also involved in the experimental planting and research on commercial tropical crops including rubber, coffee, black pepper and tea. Rubber cultivation in Malaysia began with Sir Hugh Low. In 1882 he planted rubber seeds and grew seven trees at the gardens at Kuala Kangsar.^[12]

Low also helped set up the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. For his contributions to the British Empire he was honored with the CMG in 1879, the KCMG in 1883 and the GCMG in 1889. He is often considered the first successful British administrator in the Malay Peninsula, whose methods became models for subsequent British colonial operation in the entire South East Asia Region.^[1]

During his time there was a controversy between James Innes, British magistrate in Selangor, and Sir Hugh Low, Resident of Perak, over the issue of debt-slavery in Malaya. Innes attempted to implicate Low, accusing him of abetting the practice of slavery in Perak when he was actually trying to abolish it.^[10]

Sir Hugh Low retired from his post as Resident of Perak in 1889, leaving a credit balance of 1.5 million Straits Dollars.^[11][13]

Low died on 18 April 1905 in Alassio, Italy.

Honours

Several species named to commemorate his work as collector, naturalist and orchidologist:

Plants

• Rhododendron lowii, Rhododendron
• Nepenthes lowii, pitcher plant
• Vatica lowii
• Myristica lowiana

Orchids

• Dimorphorchis lowii, Dimorphorchis (originally Vanda, then Arachnis)
• Dendrobium lowii, Dendrobium
• Paphiopedilum lowii, Lady's slipper
• Plocoglottis lowii, Plocoglottis
• Malaxis lowii, Malaxis

Mammals

• Pen-tailed Treeshrew, Ptilocercus lowii
• Low's Squirrel, Sundasciurus lowii

Insects

• Sarothrocera lowii, a beetle
• Neorina lowii, a butterfly
• Papilio lowi, a butterfly

and places:

• Low's Peak, the highest peak of Southeast Asia, on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo
• Low's Gully
• Hugh Low Street, at Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. The street name has changed to Jalan Sultan Iskandar, but locals still call it Hugh Low Street. It was once a busy two-way street, but since the name change and turning into a one-way street, the street has lost its glamour. There was once an arch; this was removed in 1986 when Hugh Low Street turned into one-way street.

External links

• Hugh Low Hugh Low's work on orchids

Books by Hugh Low

• Sarawak, Its Inhabitants and Productions: Being Notes During a Residence in that Country with His Excellency Mr. Brooke By Hugh Low (1848)
• A Botanist in Borneo: Hugh Low's Sarawak Journals, 1844-1846 By Hugh Low, Bob Reece, Phillip Cribb Contributor Bob Reece, Phillip Cribb Published by Natural History Publications (Borneo), 2002; ISBN 983-812-065-0, ISBN 978-983-812-065-4
• Sĕlĕsǐlah (book of the Descent) of the Rajas of Brunei By Hugh Low Published by [s.n.], 1880
• The Journal of Sir Hugh Low; Perak, 1887: Perak, 1887 By Hugh Low, transcribed and edited by Emily Sadka Published by Govt. Print. Off., 1955

Papers about Hugh Low

• Sir Hugh Low, G.C.M.G (1824-1905) by Charles F. Cowan in J.Soc.Biblphy.nat.Hist. v.4 pp. 327–343 (1968)

Sources and notes