THE NORTH BORNEO HERALD
AND
THE OFFICIAL GAZETTE
EDUCATIONAL SERIES BY BORNEO HISTORY
British North Borneo Herald
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Editors Notice of the first edition on 1
March 1883.
The
British North Borneo Herald (BNBH) was a periodical magazine in British North
Borneo, published between 1883 until 1941 by the government of North Borneo
under various official names.
History
After
the entry into force of the Royal Charter for the North Borneo Chartered
Company on 1 November 1881, the company faced with the task of creating a
functioning governmental structure for the acquired territory. The resolutions
passed by the Court of Directors, the highest administrative body of the
company in London, required efficient distribution within the administrative
units in North Borneo as well as among the shareholders and investors of the
company. For this reason, the first sixteen-page edition of the periodical "The North Borneo Herald and Official
Gazette" appeared on 1 March 1883, in Kudat, the first capital of
North Borneo.[1]
For
the monthly publication of the newspaper and the printing in the Dent Road no.
1, Thomas J. Keaughran, [note 1] a former reporter of The Straits Times
was responsible.[2] The
single price was 10 cents, while the annual subscription was 1.50 Straits
dollar.[1]
In
1883, Sandakan was raised as the new capital instead of Kudat, and this herald
moved their place of publication to the new administration area.[3] The editorial and printing
from 1885 to 1891 were by W.J. Rozario.[4] From 1 January 1896, the
herald turned into a four-day appearance. The price per issue was still 10
cent, while the annual subscription including postal delivery increased to 2.50
Straits dollar.
The
last edition appeared in 1941. Following the Japanese occupation in January
1942, especially when the Japanese marched into the town of Sandakan on 19
January; the journalistic activities were forbidden with immediate effect. The
end of the operation under the North Borneo Chartered Company on 26 June 1946
also sealed the fate of the Herald, while the Official Gazette continued to
exist as a memorandum of the British colonial government until 1963.
Name Changes
Title
graphic from 1 January 1892.
The 'Herald', title graphic from 1 January
1896 after conversion to 14-daily appearance.
Extract
from the title page of the British North Borneo Official Gazette of 16 April
1902.
Although
the herald is usually quoted as British North Borneo Herald, its official name
has undergone several minor changes:
British
North Borneo Herald and Monthly Record (1 January 1892)[note 2]
The
British North Borneo Herald And Fortnightly Record (1 January 1896)
British
North Borneo Herald and Official Gazette[3]
Outsourcing of Legal Texts
In
accordance with the intention of a governmental news organisation, legislative
texts and ordinances had been part of the herald from the very beginning. Even
in the edition of the herald on 1 April 1885, these were printed in a separate
section of the "Gazette".
A section "Official Gazette"
was established for the editions from 1 May 1885 to 1891.[4] After
that, the British North Borneo Official Gazette was continued as an independent
governmental advisor.
Political Orientation
As a
governmental report, the herald was not a neutral source as it did not publish
any information that was detrimental to the image of the North Borneo
government (in the form of the Court of London) or to the share price of the
North Borneo Chartered Company. In none of these accounts are there any
comments on the trench battles between William
Clark Cowie and the highly popular Governors
Hugh Charles Clifford and Ernest
Woodford Birch, who led in both cases the resignation of the governor. Also
the inadequacies of the North Borneo Railway, the catastrophic misjudgement
regarding the manganese deposits at Marudu Bay in 1907 and the big fire, which
destroyed the sawmill of British Borneo Timber in 1934, were not mentioned.
Used as a reference
Herald's
archival editions are now available in various libraries in Asia and Europe.
Among the periodicals, the herald, together with The Straits Times and The
Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942) is the most
important source of knowledge for the history research on North Borneo and the
North Borneo Chartered Company.
Comprehensive
original editions of the herald are in the Sabah State Archives and the
Singapore National Library.[5][6] However, in contrast
to other magazines, the British North Borneo Herald is not digitally developed.
Notes
- T. J. Keaughran was previously a Superintendent at Straits Settlement Printing in Singapore. Source: Straits Observer (Singapore), 29 April 1875, Page 14
- Starting with Volume 1 (1 January 1892) to Volume 7 (1 July 1895).
References
- a b "North Borneo Herald". The Straits Times. National Library Board, Singapore. 1 May 1883. Retrieved 15 May 2017.[dead link]
- "Weekly Issue". National Library Board, Singapore. 1 June 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 15 May 2017.[dead link]
- a b T.J. Keaughran (1883–1885). "The North Borneo herald and official gazette". Kudat, British North Borneo. OCLC 15749948.
- a b W.J. Rozario (1885–1891). "The British North Borneo herald, and official gazette". Sandakan, British North Borneo. OCLC 015749972.
- "Senarai Surat Khabar" (in Malay). Sabah State Archives. Archived from the original on 15 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- "#Search Result: North Borneo Herald". National Library Board, Singapore. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
-/sj
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