Dear PHT members and friends,
In conjunction with the George Town Festival, July 2010, we are planning to organise a talk by Marcus Langdon entitled:
FORT CORNWALLIS & THE DEFENCE OF EARLY GEORGE TOWN
Venue: Town Hall, Jalan Padang Kota Lama Penang,
Time: 2pm – 5pm,
Date: Saturday, 17th July 2010
(inclusive of a historical tour at the Fort Cornwallis)
This talk is part of a fundraising event to support PHT’s ongoing efforts to conserve Penang’s heritage.
Background to this talk
The Fort today represents not only the first British toehold in the Malay Peninsula but is also an icon to the safe and successful establishment of one of the world’s most multicultural centres. But this success was never guaranteed.
From the first day Francis Light landed at Penang he anticipated a hostile response, though primarily from a regional rather than European foe. The first hastily-constructed timber Fort was therefore not designed as a defence against heavily-armed warships, but prahus mounted with small arms.
In the early years Penang was only tested once by the threat of regional invasion, but wars with European foe would maintain fear of an attack on Penang itself for nearly three decades. Despite this it was the East India Company’s reluctant support of the settlement that posed the greatest threat of all to its survival.
Marcus Langdon has methodically researched original correspondence and documents to piece together an interesting story of the Fort’s early history, which inevitably involves the evolution of George Town itself.
Biographical details
Marcus Langdon is an Australian-based private researcher who specializes in the early history of Penang under the East India Company 1857-1858. His extensive research conducted over the past decade relies heavily on original documentation such as the Straits Settlement Records, and is currently being prepared for publication.
His links to Penang include an ancestor, George Porter, who at various times was Master of the Free School, Superintendent of the Botanical Garden, Parish Clerk at St Georges Church, and a Merchant and Auctioneer. Marcus’s great uncle, the late Major John Parbury, also resided on the island for 60 years until his death in 2007.
During his research Marcus has found several new images of early Penang, and also the earliest known sketches of Singapore; one taken the day after the treaty signing in February 1819. The latter were first shown in a talk he gave at the National Library of Singapore in June 2009, and have subsequently been on display in two exhibitions at the National Library of Singapore, including the current one “William Farquhar, An Exhibition”.
Invitations are by donation only (*limited to 100 pax). They are:
RM60 for members of the Penang Heritage Trust
RM80 for non-members
For reservation, please contact Sheau Fung or Alex at 04-264 2631 or email: reg@pht.org.my
Attire: Smart Casual