Sarawak Museum, The Museum of Borneo

The history of the Sarawak Museum is one of the establishment and operation of a British scientific and cultural institution in an insignificant outpost of the British Empire. The Sarawak Museum was conceived in 1856 by the first Rajah of Sarawak, Sir James Brooke, while its development into a renowned international natural history museum was largely due to the support of the second and third Rajahs of Sarawak, Sir Charles Brooke and his son, Sir Vyner Brooke. The latter two Rajahs were responsible for issuing decrees that established the Museum, providing public funding for the Museum and selecting curators who, with the agreement of the Rajahs, determined the course of development of the Museum without the intervention of either a board of trustees or Sarawak’s civil servants. The Museum also functioned as a cultural centre incorporating many non-museum activities and public entertainments.