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James lives in Plymouth, in the county of Devon in southern UK. This is not far from a certain small town called Sheepstor, a beautiful little village set in lovely countryside on the western edge of Dartmoor.
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The picture below shows Sheepstor Church.
So why are we so fixated on this little town? Hold on, it'll become clearer in a minute. First put on your glasses and look at the tiny reddish rectangular object on the right side of the church grounds, near to the further wall. Do you see it?
Can you guess yet? Well, these are the graves of James Brooke (1803-1868), Charles Brooke (1829-1917) & Charles Vyner Brooke (1874-1963), the three White Rajahs of Sarawak. [Kuo, I know the red grave is James Brooke's final resting place. Can you remind me again which one is Charles' and which Charles Vyner's]. Boys & girls, remember your Sarawak history lessons back in school?
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After returning to England in 1863, Sir James Brooke bought a home in Sheepstor. His house was called Burrator House. Here's the front gate. Pity we can show it to you as it is now private property.
Hanging prominently inside Sheepstor Church is a "Pua Kumbu" or ceremonial blanket, which was presented in 1996 by Dr James Masing, then Asst Minister of Tourism, as a gift from the people of Sarawak. Indeed many Sarawakian names can be seen in the visitors book at the church, as they pay their respects to the three generations of Brooke who were so influential in the early development of Sarawak.
Well, I hope you enjoyed that historical journey. Thanks again to James Kuo for making the trip to Sheepstor and supplying these photos. Kuo, your former history teachers would've been proud of you. They might even excuse you for those warm afternoons when you dozed off in their class.
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Nice photographs. Certainly something our old history books didn't cover. Thanks James Kuo.
ReplyDeleteSHEEPSTOR. What a strange name. Shouldn't it be Sheepstore or Sheepstork or Sheepstar?
ReplyDeleteThe red grave is James Brooke's, the one to the far right is Charles Brooke's. There are 2 graves in the middle: the one at the back is Vyner Brooke's and the front is Bertram Brooke's.
ReplyDeleteJames Brooke bought Burrator House when he retired from Sarawak and lived there till he died in 1868. A few years ago when Burrator House was a bed and breakfast, I was able to visit the house and the owner even let me see James Brooke's bedroom. Unfortunately, it is now a private house and I wasn't able to take a photo of it.
What about the grave of Margaret (Magherita) - wife of Charles whom he loved so much and after whom Fort Magherita was named?
ReplyDeleteGood one! James
ReplyDeleteIt sure reminded me of the history of Sarawak Form 3 examination paper section that I have to skip because I came to Kuching, joined into Form 3 class and have not studied the history of Sarawak in Form 1 and 2 previously.
It is still nice to see the resting place of these Sarawak Rajas...
Nice one JK. Good to know. Thanks for the information. Apparently the museum in Kuching (The Dewan Tun Abdul Razak) has a new history gallery chronicling the state’s history from its pre-Brunei Sultanate days right up to independence.
ReplyDeleteDid you notice that this Pua Kumbu has special magical power? The soft tail ends are all staying upright. Hmmmm wonder how?
ReplyDeleteThe pix was upside down.
ReplyDeleteOops..."is"
ReplyDeleteOops ... I see you all spotted the upside down photo of the Pua Kumbu. I was just testing if you were paying attention :-)
ReplyDeleteVery excellent postscript to our White Rajahs' story. Thanks, JK & JY. So who owns the old place now? Descendants of the Brookes'? Is it deemed a historical building & being preserved well?
ReplyDeleteCLK> As you are from Brunei, I'm surprised but glad you are happy to see something about the Brookes ... given that they took over so much land that USED TO BELONG TO BRUNEI !!!
ReplyDeleteHahaha !
Hi Ophelia. The house is not owned by any Brooke descendants. In fact it was up for sale on 2 occasions over the last 10 years. Wouldn't it be nice if I had the £££ to buy it? If any of our Tau Kay or Tau Kay Neo friends are interested, I will let them know when it is next up for sale.
ReplyDeleteRoughly what price range are we talking about, JK?
ReplyDeleteWOW, we might have an offer for Burrator House !!!!!
ReplyDeleteWasn't aware of this postscript to the history of the White Rajahs. Have always liked the swashbuckling story of the Brookes. It's funny how historical baddies like Makota and Rentap are now heralded as local heroes for fighting against the foreign transgressor. Depends on who's writing the history, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteYeah, KC is right. Even the Hakka leader Liu Shan Bang who led the Gold Miner Insurrection in 1857 against James Brooke's government is now deemed a freedom fighter and hero and has his portrait in the Chinese Museum. Yup, the "his" in "history" varies from time to time.
ReplyDeleteNot only does his portrait appears in the museum, Liu Shan Bang also has the lanes/lorongs named after him at 7th mile bazaar (chik kee).
ReplyDeleteExcellent writeup and great photos. Well done to the two James ! Get this published in some magazine or newspaper somewhere so that more Sarawakians will know about this postscript to the Brooke story.
ReplyDeleteWas the church still called St Leonard's?
ReplyDeleteThe middle two graves look smaller than the ones on the side. Is it because there's no body there, just ashes perhaps? Did they even do cremation back then?
ReplyDeleteJason Brooke, a great grand nephew of Sir James and great grand son of Sir Charles was in Sarawak last year. It was his first visit.
ReplyDeleteThis was reported in a Borneo Post article about the Brrokes on May 24. Hey, did Borneo Post responded to Anon May 19, 2009 9.41PM?
The article also reported that James was buried at Sheepstor Church, Plymoutth while Charles and Vyner were buried at St. Leonard's Church, Sheepstor in Dartmoor. This would answer Anon May 21, 2009 11.11AM
Correct me if i am wrong..
ReplyDeleteSt Leonard Church is in the village of Sheepstor.JK are there 2 churches in Sheepstor? or just St Leonards"s
Hello Leek kien,
ReplyDeleteThere is only one church in Sheepstor. The Sheepstor church is apparently 'dedicated' to St Leonard. All 3 white Rajahs are buried together at Sheepstor/St Leonard Church as seen in the photo.
Sorry, Lee Kien. Got your name wrong. Went over the speed limit for typing as usual.
ReplyDeleteTks Dr..gee hope it doesnt happen when it comes to surgery..excise too fast.........
ReplyDeleteSay how do we go about doanting our body for science? Question from Andrew Chin, LC's son-he wants to donate his body..for me only organ donation will suffice..it is necessary to mention if one has MVP?
What's an MVP? Is that, like a 9 seater car?
ReplyDeleteSounds like a software application i once used :)
ReplyDeleteWoops, need to inform Borneo Post on their misreporting re: the burial grounds.
ReplyDeleteLeo
Does anyone know the very interesting real story of the Third White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke & his "sale" of Sarawak to the British Crown ?
ReplyDeletehow does one get to Sheepstor from London?
ReplyDeleteHello Annonymous July 11 2.15pm, Take a train from London to Plymouth. Then take a taxi to Sheepstor, near the village of Yelverton (about 15 miles). If you are good, I might even give you a lift from Plymouth train station. But I need to know who you are!!!!!
ReplyDeleteFantastic - James Brooke, a true inspiration.
ReplyDeleteHi, I came across this blog when reading about the Brooke family. So, to go to this village, Sheepstor the farthest one can reach by train from London is Plymouth? Is it easy to find a taxi to get back from the village to Plymouth? Can you provide me with more details? Thank you :D
ReplyDeleteSounds like a question for our Plymouth resident ... stay tuned Rudzy.
ReplyDeleteHi Rudzy, from Plymouth train station, take a taxi to Sheepstor. Best to arrange a time with the taxi to pick you up later. If not, you could always phone for a taxi. However, be aware that the mobile phone signal may not be good. The journey from plymouth is about 30 minutes.
ReplyDeletedo a Google Maps, rudzy
ReplyDeleteBTW, do you know that there is a Rh. James Brooke. Yes, a longhouse named after him. How many of you has heard about it?
ReplyDeleteCan anyone guess the approximate location? WJ will award a prize to the person coming up with the nearest location.
Hi JK,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your helpful reply. I did my own research on internet but first hand info from someone who lives nearby or had been there before is more reliable to me :D
My great uncle is noted on the memorial to the civil servants who died in the Japenese prisoner camps
ReplyDeleteCare to identify yourself Anonymous Dec29 ?
ReplyDeleteThis may be a duplication, if so apologies
ReplyDeleteI am using the Anon mode as it is the only one which seems to work for me.
My relative ( I think he was my GU as far as I know my late Mother's coz, was H J Spencer
My name is Chris Bartrop-Clist, and we now live in Somerset, hope to visit the church sometime when the weather is kinder
Addendum
ReplyDeleteH J Spencer died 20.08.1942(according to CWGC web site record)
Murdered by the Japanese at Long Nawang Borneo with severeal other civilians including women and children and Dutch Military personnel
Listed as anon
but c j Bartrop-Clist
JK,
ReplyDeleteas a descendant of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin. You did good job.
Jason and his dad had been in Kuching since 4th June 2011.
best regards.
JK,
ReplyDeleteas a descendant of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin. You did good job.
Jason and his dad had been in Kuching since 4th June 2011.
best regards.
Anonymous Dec29> my grandfather was also killed in Long Nawang by the Japanese...have been researching on the location of his final burial place...have recently come across some information that the victims' mass graves were exhumed and re-buried in Tarakan Island after the war ended.
ReplyDeleteHi Anon,
ReplyDeleteThere is a direct flight to Tarakan Island (Indonesia) from Tawau by MAS (ATR). In fact I planned to make a visit to the WWII memorial there but did not materialised.
I will definitely make a trip there by this year as I travel to Tawau every month for work.