Jeremiah Thomas Fitzgerald Callaghan (27 December 1827 – 9 July 1881), often T(homas) F(itzgerald) Callaghan, was an Irish-born colonial administrator who served as Governor of the British colonies of

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capit ...

, the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

, and the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

, and Administrator of

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

Biography

Callaghan was born on 27 December 1827 in the town of

Midleton Midleton (; , meaning "monastery at the weir") is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies approximately 16 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare. A satellit ...

County Cork, Ireland County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

. His father was a woolen draper. Callaghan arrived in Hong Kong on 25 November 1860, and was gazetted as its Chief Magistrate the following day. H.T. Davies, the previous Chief Magistrate, stated that Callaghan broke down "under the responsibility of the peculiar and intricate duties which encountered him". The following July he sailed for the

Crown Colony of Labuan The Crown Colony of Labuan was a Crown colony on the northwestern shore of the island of Borneo established in 1848 after the acquisition of the island of Labuan from the Sultanate of Brunei in 1846. Apart from the main island, Labuan consists ...

, to become its governor. Callaghan was instructed to maintain friendly relations with

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

, which was ruled by White Rajah

James Brooke Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Brooke was bor ...

, however opposed colonial status for Sarawak, because "it suffered from want of population and cultivation", and proposed that mass Chinese immigration would rectify this within two centuries. In 1866, sickness forced him to return to England, where he married Alice Arnold, the daughter of George Matthews Arnold, an eight-time Mayor of Gravesend. In May 1871, he was appointed

Administrator of The Gambia This is a list of colonial governors and administrators in the Gambia from the establishment of a British settlement on St Mary's Island, now known as Banjul Island, in 1816, through to the Gambia Colony and Protectorate's independence from the ...

, and arrived there in August of that year, however sickness again forced an early departure in April 1872. From 1876 to 1880, he served as Governor of the Falkland Islands. He was made a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

in mid-1877. He arrived in the Bahamas in February 1881, but departed for England within a few months again due to sickness. On a stopover in New York, however, he died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Callaghan, Jeremiah Thomas Fitzgerald 1827 births 1881 deaths Administrators in British Malaya British North Borneo Governors of the Falkland Islands Governors of the Gambia British governors of the Bahamas Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George