Gerard MacBryan

Gerard Truman Magill MacBryan (9 January 1902 – 1953) who initially served as Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke's Private Secretary and curator at the Sarawak Museum, was notable for his involvement in the annexation of Raj of Sarawak by the British Crown and later meddled in Brunei's affairs, gaining the trust of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin through connections made in Kuching. In her book Queen of the Headhunters, Sylvia Brett, the last Ranee of Sarawak, introduces MacBryan as "a young man who was destined to play a sinister part in the history of the Sarawak Raj."

After the Sultan's death on 4 June 1950, the succession to the Bruneian throne was seamlessly managed with British support for his brother Omar Ali Saifuddien III, but MacBryan, claiming to have been appointed political adviser by the late Sultan, attempted to assert himself in Brunei's affairs, only to be thwarted by British intervention. In mid-1950, MacBryan, posing as Ahmad Tajuddin's envoy, tried to negotiate with Standard Oil and alert the United States about perceived injustices in Brunei's treaties with Britain, while also claiming the Sultan's daughter had a right to the throne similar to British monarchs, but his claims were exposed as fraudulent by British officials led by Malcolm MacDonald, who then supported Omar Ali Saifuddien III to maintain good relations with Britain.

Early life Born on 9 January 1902, in Wiltshire, Gerard Truman Magill MacBryan was the youngest of Eveline Ada Truman and Dr. Henry Crawford MacBryan's five sons. His father was an Irish physician who ran the first private mental health facility in England, located at Box, close to Bath. In the meantime, his mother died the moment he was born. He went to school at Burnham-on-Sea, where he was once charged with theft. Later, he enrolled at a naval training college, but he pretended to be colour-blind in order to pass his military entrance exams. His father's friend Henry Deshon encouraged him to apply for a cadetship in the Sarawak Service.

Sarawak

Service to the White Rajahs MacBryan joined the Straits Civil Service's Sarawak administration in 1920 when he was eighteen years old, but word soon got around about his unstable nature. Robert Payne and Sylvia Brett both kept notes on his strange behaviour; Sylvia related how he would have wild shooting sprees into the night because he would have hallucinations of attacks on his bungalow. The "madman" Payne referred to was MacBryan, who reportedly had manic episodes, including appearing naked at a party believing he was invisible, acting like a dog, and stealing from shops and alms-boxes. and wearing white Arabian robes that King Ibn Saud had supposedly given him. But the native datu fiercely objected to his being in Sarawak, so he and his wife had to depart for London. There, he gained experience as a stockbroker and went on to oversee his father's exclusive mental health facility close to Bath.

After persuading Brooke to grant him permission to return to Kuching in August 1940, MacBryan worked briefly at the Sarawak Museum before being reappointed as Private Secretary in January 1941. This job was a part of the compensation he received for helping to arrange a covert financial agreement between the Committee of Administration and the Rajah, which opened the door for Sarawak's written constitution to be adopted in March 1941. Additionally, he was instrumental in mediating the Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin's and his Pengiran 's compensation claims for the loss of their rights in the Limbang area. Aware of the significance Arabs had in Borneo, he donned his Arabian robes and headgear on a visit to Brunei in February 1941.

Negotiations and cession of Sarawak Regarding Sarawak's authority over Limbang, MacBryan successfully negotiated settlements with the Sultan and a delegate of Limbang in February 1941. Subject to permission, the Sultan consented to collect $20,000 from Straits for previous sovereign rights and $1,000 each year for future rights. Pengiran Sabtu Kamaludin received a total of Straits $60,000 in exchange for the Limbang pengiran 's surrender of taxation rights, plus a further $6,000 a year for future rights. There were also presents and pensions given out. The Sultan continued to receive a lower yearly sum even after the British Colonial Office terminated these payments, and MacBryan's influence in Brunei persisted even after it was discovered that a counterfeit deed had been discovered.

MacBryan worked with Australian Naval Intelligence during his wartime exile in Australia, suggesting a scheme to transport Indonesian and Malay students back to their homelands via submarine in order to obtain intelligence on the Japanese. But his British security background hindered him, and he was unable to get a job with General Douglas MacArthur. After the Rajah and MacBryan returned to Britain in 1943, he was instrumental in the final discussions with the Colonial Office that resulted in the Rajah's decision to hand over Sarawak's sovereignty to Britain in 1945. MacBryan, despite his dubious past and a British Military Intelligence dossier on him, was assigned the responsibility of obtaining the consent of Sarawak's Chinese and Malay authorities for the handover.

The most notable contribution to the history of Sarawak was made by MacBryan when Brooke sent him to negotiate Sarawak's handover to the British administration. After World War II, according to local historian Ho Ah Chon, he was assigned as Brooke's private secretary to convince prominent Datu in Kuching to sign letters endorsing whatever move Brooke saw appropriate "in the interest of Sarawak," even though the letters made no mention of cession.