George Cathcart Woolley
Encyclopedia
George Cathcart Woolley was a British colonial administrator in North Borneo
(now Sabah
) in the early part on the twentieth century. Woolley was also an ethnographer and an ardent collector, and the Woolley Collections of photographs, diaries and other artefacts, bequeathed to the State Government of Sabah, formed the nucleus of Sabah Museum
when it was founded in 1965.
in London, and his wife Sarah Woolley. He had seven sisters and three brothers, including the famous archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley
and Rev. Geoffrey Harold Woolley
, the first Territorial Army officer to be awarded the Victoria Cross
. Woolley was educated at Merchant Taylors
School and Queen’s College, Oxford, graduating in 1899.
In 1901 he joined the Land Office of the North Borneo Chartered Company at Labuan
, and he served in this office in various locations in North Borneo for many years. As part of his duties as Land Commissioner, he had to travel extensively in North Borneo to carry out land surveys and to solve land disputes. During these travels he developed a keen interest in the native people and their customs, especially the Murut
s of the Interior. Over his lifetime he amassed a sizeable collection of artefacts, including a comprehensive collection of native weapons including Malay kris
es (also spelled as kerises). Woolley bequeathed some of these weapons to the Pitt Rivers Museum
in Oxford
, England, some of which were later acquired by Sabah Museum.
Woolley’s tenure as District Officer for Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu), Beaufort
, and later on as Resident
of the Interior Division deepened his knowledge of local customs and traditions.
In the 1930s Woolley was employed by the North Borneo Government to investigate causes for indigenous depopulation, especially among Muruts and
Kadazandusuns, in order to determine what could be done to reverse the trend.
He retired in 1932, and briefly went back to England, but decided to return to North Borneo in 1934, and it was noted that he "constantly and readily" gave his services to work in the interests of the State. He was awarded the North Borneo General Service Medal in 1940. In the pre-war period of his retirement he wrote many articles on local traditional customs, or adat. These were particularly important as they were the first time these adats had been formalised in writing and thereafter served as standard references for the tribes. In 1941 he rejoined Government service as Acting Protector of Labour and Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
From 1942 until September 1945 Woolley was interned, along with other Allied European civilians in the Japanese internment camp at Batu Lintang
, in Kuching, Sarawak. Despite his age, Woolley received severe beatings and other harsh treatment, including 30 days in the guard room on a diet of rice and water. After the war, when the guards who had mis-treated him were on trial as war criminals, Woolley refused to give evidence against them, saying to do so would only perpetuate bitterness among men. He lived in England briefly after the war, but returned again to North Borneo in March 1947. He died on 6 December 1947, and was buried in the Christian cemetery at Jesselton.
that cover the period between 1909 to 1920. The subjects of the photographs include the different tribes of North Borneo, town scenes and some European officials. Woolley's diaries cover the period from his arrival in Sabah in 1901 to 1920.
The Woolley Collections Room for materials on local history at the Sabah State Library in Kota Kinabalu was named in his honour.
An exhibition of Woolley’s photographs was held at Sabah Museum from 2–27 February 2009.
North Borneo
North Borneo was a British protectorate under the sovereign North Borneo Chartered Company from 1882 to 1946. After the war it became a crown colony of Great Britain from 1946 to 1963, known in this time as British North Borneo. It is located on the northeastern end of the island of Borneo. It is...
(now Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
) in the early part on the twentieth century. Woolley was also an ethnographer and an ardent collector, and the Woolley Collections of photographs, diaries and other artefacts, bequeathed to the State Government of Sabah, formed the nucleus of Sabah Museum
Sabah Museum
The Sabah Museum is the state Museum of Sabah, Malaysia. It is sited on 17 ha of land at Bukit Istana Lama in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital. The complex contains not only the museum proper, but also an ethnobotanic garden, a zoo and a heritage village. The main building also houses the Sabah...
when it was founded in 1965.
Life
Woolley was the son of a clergyman, Rev. George Herbert Woolley the curate of St Matthew’s, Upper Clapton, HackneyHackney (parish)
Hackney was a parish in the historic county of Middlesex. The parish church of St John-at-Hackney was built in 1789, replacing the nearby former 16th century parish church dedicated to St Augustine . The original tower of that church was retained to hold the bells until the new church could be...
in London, and his wife Sarah Woolley. He had seven sisters and three brothers, including the famous archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley
Leonard Woolley
Sir Charles Leonard Woolley was a British archaeologist best known for his excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia...
and Rev. Geoffrey Harold Woolley
Geoffrey Harold Woolley
Geoffrey Harold Woolley VC OBE MC was the first Territorial Army officer to be awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.Woolley was the son of a clergyman, Rev...
, the first Territorial Army officer to be awarded the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
. Woolley was educated at Merchant Taylors
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....
School and Queen’s College, Oxford, graduating in 1899.
In 1901 he joined the Land Office of the North Borneo Chartered Company at Labuan
Labuan
Labuan is a federal territory in East Malaysia. It is an island off the coast of the state of Sabah. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support...
, and he served in this office in various locations in North Borneo for many years. As part of his duties as Land Commissioner, he had to travel extensively in North Borneo to carry out land surveys and to solve land disputes. During these travels he developed a keen interest in the native people and their customs, especially the Murut
Murut
Murut may refer to:* Murut people, an ethnic group of the northern inland regions of Borneo* Murutic languages or Murut languages, spoken by those people* Tagol Murut language, the most widely spoken of the Murutic languages* Murut, Azerbaijan, a village...
s of the Interior. Over his lifetime he amassed a sizeable collection of artefacts, including a comprehensive collection of native weapons including Malay kris
Kris
The kris or keris is an asymmetrical dagger or sword nowadays most strongly associated with the culture of Indonesia, but also indigenous to Malaysia, Southern Thailand and Brunei. It is known as kalis in the southern Philippines. The kris is famous for its distinctive wavy blade , but many have...
es (also spelled as kerises). Woolley bequeathed some of these weapons to the Pitt Rivers Museum
Pitt Rivers Museum
The Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum displaying the archaeological and anthropological collections of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and can only be accessed through that building.The museum was...
in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England, some of which were later acquired by Sabah Museum.
Woolley’s tenure as District Officer for Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu), Beaufort
Beaufort
-People and titles:* Beaufort , the surname of many people* House of Beaufort, English nobility* Duke of Beaufort , a title in the peerage of England* Duke of Beaufort , a title in the French nobility-Places:...
, and later on as Resident
Resident (title)
A Resident, or in full Resident Minister, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indirect rule....
of the Interior Division deepened his knowledge of local customs and traditions.
In the 1930s Woolley was employed by the North Borneo Government to investigate causes for indigenous depopulation, especially among Muruts and
Kadazandusuns, in order to determine what could be done to reverse the trend.
He retired in 1932, and briefly went back to England, but decided to return to North Borneo in 1934, and it was noted that he "constantly and readily" gave his services to work in the interests of the State. He was awarded the North Borneo General Service Medal in 1940. In the pre-war period of his retirement he wrote many articles on local traditional customs, or adat. These were particularly important as they were the first time these adats had been formalised in writing and thereafter served as standard references for the tribes. In 1941 he rejoined Government service as Acting Protector of Labour and Secretary for Chinese Affairs.
From 1942 until September 1945 Woolley was interned, along with other Allied European civilians in the Japanese internment camp at Batu Lintang
Batu Lintang camp
Batu Lintang camp at Kuching, Sarawak on the island of Borneo was a Japanese internment camp during the Second World War. It was unusual in that it housed both Allied prisoners of war and civilian internees...
, in Kuching, Sarawak. Despite his age, Woolley received severe beatings and other harsh treatment, including 30 days in the guard room on a diet of rice and water. After the war, when the guards who had mis-treated him were on trial as war criminals, Woolley refused to give evidence against them, saying to do so would only perpetuate bitterness among men. He lived in England briefly after the war, but returned again to North Borneo in March 1947. He died on 6 December 1947, and was buried in the Christian cemetery at Jesselton.
Legacy
Woolley’s collection formed the basis of the Sabah Museum when it was founded in the 1960s. Along with the native artefacts, it comprised his papers and a large photographic collection. Woolley bequeathed 2,843 photographs, filling 17 albums, that he took during his service in North Borneo. There are also 1,797 glass negativesPhotographic plate
Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a means of photography. A light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was applied to a glass plate. This form of photographic material largely faded from the consumer market in the early years of the 20th century, as more convenient and less fragile...
that cover the period between 1909 to 1920. The subjects of the photographs include the different tribes of North Borneo, town scenes and some European officials. Woolley's diaries cover the period from his arrival in Sabah in 1901 to 1920.
The Woolley Collections Room for materials on local history at the Sabah State Library in Kota Kinabalu was named in his honour.
An exhibition of Woolley’s photographs was held at Sabah Museum from 2–27 February 2009.
Publications
- 1922 Introductory note to N. B. Baboneau’s “A Murut vocabulary”. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JSBRAS) 86:343–375
- 1922 "Transmigration" British North Borneo Herald (BNBH) (16 December 1922):208–209
- 1923 "Batu Laing" BNBH 41(1):6
- 1923 "Batu Punggul" Sapulut and Batu Kinadut, Pendewan. BNBH 41(2):11–12
- 1923 "Bukit Malinggai" BNBH 41(5):47–48
- 1923 "The Dusuns of British North Borneo" BNBH 41(9):83–84.
- 1923 "Fire" BNBH 41(3):25.
- 1923 "The Saluidan rapids on the Sook River" BNBH 41(4):38.
- 1923 "The story of Kohlong and his wife Puok" BNBH 41(6):56.
- 1923 "The story of Lalangau, the giant" BNBH 41(7):66–67.
- 1927 "Mentugi, a Murut ordeal" BNBH 45(19):179–180.
- 1927 "Two Murut pantuns from the Dalit District, Keningau, British North Borneo" Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic SocietyJournal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic SocietyThe Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society is a scholarly journal published by the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society or MBRAS. The journal covers topics of historical interest concerning peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan and Singapore...
(JMBRAS) 5(2):366–369. - 1928 "Murut folktales" Folklore 29:253–271, 359–381.
- 1928 "Murut songs" BNBH 46(9):78–79.
- 1929 "Some notes on Murut basket work and patterns" JMBRAS 7(2):291–315.
- 1932 "Dusun custom in Putatan District" Native Affairs Bulletin ((NAB) 7. (Reprinted in 1962.)
- 1932 "Murut basketwork" JMBRAS 10(1):23–29.
- 1936 "Some Murut hunting customs" JMBRAS 14(3):307–313.
- 1936 "The Timoguns: A Murut tribe of the interior, North Borneo" NAB 1. (Reprinted in 1962.)
- 1937 A Dusun vocabulary in the dialect of the District of Tambunan, North Borneo Jesselton: Government Printing Office.
- 1937 "Murut customs: Human sacrifice and slavery amongst the Nabai Tribe, Keningau" BNBH 55(20):236–367.
- 1937 "Tuaran adat: Some customs of the Dusuns of Tuaran, West Coast Residency, North Borneo" NAB 2. (Reprinted in 1953.)
- 1938 "Mr. F. X. Witti’s last journey and death" Bulletin of the North Borneo State Museum, No. 1. (Reprinted in Sabah Society Journal (SSJ) 5:227–262, 1971.)
- 1938 "Keris Measurements" JMBRAS
- 1938 "Origin of the Keris" JMBRAS
- 1938 "A New Book on the Keris" JMBRAS
- 1939 "Dusun Adat: Some Customs of the Dusuns of Tambunan and Ranau. West Coast Residency"
- 1939 "Kwijau adat: Customs regulating inheritance amongst the Kwijau tribe of the interior" NAB 6. (Reprinted in 1953.)
- 1939 "Murut adat: Customs regulating inheritance amongst the Nabai tribe of Keningau, and the Timogun tribe of Tenom" NAB 3. (Reprinted in 1953.)
- 1947 "A Murut fairy tale" JMBRAS 20(1):145–152.
- 1947 "The Malay Keris: Its Origin and Development" JMBRAS 20(2)
- 1947 "Notes on Two Knives in the Pitt Rivers Museum" JMBRAS 20(2)
- 1953 Adat Tuaran: Sebahagian dari adat Orang-orang Dusun di Daerah Tuaran Pantai Barat, Borneo Utara. Jesselton: Pejabat Chap Kerajaan (A reprint of Tuaran adat, written in Malay in 1936 and translated into English in 1937.)
- 1953 "Dusun adat: Customs regulating inheritance amongst the Dusun tribes in the coastal plains of Putatan and Papar" NAB 4.
- 1953 "Dusun adat: Some customs of the Dusuns of Tambunan and Ranau, West Coast Residency, North Borneo" NAB 5.
- 1962 Adat bagi mengatorkan hak waris di-antara suku Kwijau di-Pendalaman. Buku berkenaan dengan hal ahwal Anak Negeri, bilangan 6 Jesselton: Government Printing Office.Written in Malay. For the English version see Woolley, G. C., 1939 (reprinted 1953), "Kwijau adat: Customs regulating inheritance amongst the Kwijau tribe of the interior".
- 1962 Adat Dusun di-Tambunan dan Ranau. Buku berkenaan dengan hal ahwal Anak Negeri, bilangan 5 Jesselton: Government Printing Office. Written in Malay.
- 1962 Murut adat: Customs regulating inheritance amongst the Nabai tribe of Keningau, and the Timugon tribe of Tenom. Buku berkenaan dengan hal ahwal Anak Negeri Jesselton: Government Printing Office. Written in Malay.
- 1962 "The Timoguns: A Murut tribe of the interior, North Borneo" NAB 1. (First printed in 1935.)
- 2004 The Timogun Muruts of Sabah Kota Kinabalu Natural History Publications (Borneo)
- 2007 Tuaran Adat: Some Customs of the Dusuns of Tuaran, West Coast Residency, North Borneo Kota Kinabalu Natural History Publications (Borneo)