John Pickersgill (J.P.) Rodger (1851-1910)

Perihal J.P. Rodger.

• Rekoh: 1883-03-18: Lawatan J.P. Rodger dan H.C. Syers

• 1851 (12 February): Dilahirkan di Marylebone, London.

• 1870: Setelah tamat pengajian di Eton College, beliau bergiat dalam sukan kriket, sebelum melanjutkan pengajian perundangan di Christ Church, Oxford University.

• 1872: Berkahwin dengan Maria Tyser, dikurniai seorang anak perempuan.

• 1877: Mula berkhidmat sebagai peguam.

• 1882 (Ogos): Tiba di Taiping, Perak, untuk menyertai Perkhidmatan Kolonial British. Beliau pernah menceritakan keadaan ketika beliau baru tiba di Taiping ketika itu: “I came to Taiping in August of that year (1882), to stay for a few days with the late Sir William Maxwell, then Assistant Resident of Perak; and, if I were now to reconstruct Taiping, as it then was, it would be recognizable by few of those present to-night. If I remember rightly, where the Residency now stands all was jungle; the famous golf course; the circular road; the rifle range; also all jungle or Chinese mines - of buildings the Assistant Residency occupied a slightly higher site than that now occupied by the Secretary to Resident's quarters; Colonel Walker lived, I think, almost where he does now; as also did Mr. Caulfeild; but both of course in very different houses. The finest Government quarters were then built only of timber, roofed with ataps, and the tiny Government Offices, occupying almost the site of the present New Club, were of the flimsiest description.” (The Straits Times, 13 November 1903, Page 2: |"MR. RODGER'S FAREWELL").

• 1882 (September): Dilantik Chief Magistrate and Commissioner of Lands di Selangor: “In September, 1882, I went to Selangor, as Chief Magistrate and Commissioner of Lands, and the changes in Selangor, especially in Kuala Lumpur, have been even more striking than those in Perak and Taiping. In Perak there were a few cart roads - not very good ones - e.g. the old road from Taiping to Kuala Kangsar, from Taiping to Matang, and from Taiping to Kamunting; but in Selangor there was only one, that from Kuala Lumpur to Damansara, which has earned for itself a deathless notoriety, among those who remember it, for the steepness of its gradients and the depth of its chasms. In those days the only motor-car was the elephant, and as late as 1884 elephants were used to convey the then Governor (Sir F. Weld) from Tanjong Malim through to Perak. The present plain at Kuala Lumpur was then covered with Chinese vegetable gardens; the famous Lake grounds were awaiting Mr. Venning's genius to convert jungle and abandoned tapioca land into perhaps the most charming public gardens in the East; while, where Mr. Spooner's fine Government Offices now stand, there was a row of Chinese huts in such a dilapidated condition that I remember on one occasion, during a storm, half of them were blown down. Incidentally it may be of interest to Official sybarites of today to know that, although my official appointment was the second highest in the State, my only quarters for several months consisted of a bedroom in the old Rest House at Kuala Lumpur (where the Museum now stands); and that I usually shared the dining room with a number of hilarious Cornish “Captains” who were then the usual mining prospectors employed by European Companies interested in these States.” (The Straits Times, 13 November 1903, Page 2: |"MR. RODGER'S FAREWELL").

• 1884: Dilantik sebagai Residen Selangor, menggantikan Frank Swettenham.
  
  “A graphic embodiment of these personal, knowledgeable networks of colonial governance in a small and new colony is provided by an interesting photo (Plate 1-3), taken outside Government House, Singapore in about June, 1886, which shows the literal shape of politics in British Malaya in the late nineteenth century. The seated British gentlemen, from left to right, were F. A. Swettenham, Sir Frederick Weld, Mr. Hugh Low and Mr. J. P. Rodger. Those standing were Mr. Hugh Clifford, Gerard Wallop (private Secretary to Sir F. Weld), Hon. Martin Lister, William Maxwell. Amongst them, Maxwell was appointed as a Land Commissioner in 1882, and the following year was sent to Australia to study the Torrens land system, which became the paradigm of land administration imposed in Malaya later (Loh, 1969: 109-110); Clifford was posted as Resident from 1874 to 1896 and was regarded one of the important figures in fashioning the Residence System; Swettenham was one of the most experienced civil servants since he had stepped into the Straits Settlement government aged twenty.” (Er-Jian Yeh @ Durham University, 2011: |"Territorialising Colonial Environments: A Comparison of Colonial Sciences on Land Demarcation in Japanese Taiwan and British Malaya", m.s. 20).

• 1886 (16 September): Perasmian Keretapi KL-Klang
  
  “The grand opening of the KL-Klang railway, at the first KL Railway Station (thatched roof), located on present-day Textile Museum. The stripes were actually red & yellow, according to contemporary news report. Bluff Hill in the background, 16 Sept 1886: From Sultan Abdul Samad, to his left: Frederick Weld the Governor of S.S, Lady Weld, J.P. Rodger the Selangor Resident, Yap Ah Shak the Kapitan China, and H.C. Syers the Superintendent of Police in front of the guards.” (pseudanon @ Skyscraper City, Oct 3, 2017: |"The grand opening of the KL-Klang railway"). (Gambar: G.R Lambert & Co, Singapore, A black & white print, from a disbound book The Queen's Empire 2. 1899 @ Cetak Nadir: |"Railway Enterprise In The Malay Peninsula by G.R Lambert & Co. (1899)").
  “After a short and pleasant run the train arrived at the terminal station at Kwala Lumpur, where some of the principal residents, including a number of ladies, were waiting to receive the governor, Lady Weld and the Misses Weld, and the Sultan. Among the ladies were Mrs. Venning, Mrs. Spence Moss, Mrs. Belfield and Mrs. Bellamy. the station was beautifully decorated, and a guard of honour commanded by Mr. H. C. Syers the Superintendent of the Selangor Police Force was in attendance. On the platform of the station Mr. Rodger, the Acting Resident of the State of Selangor, addressed His Excellency the Governor in a speech full of interest…” (Straits Times Weekly Issue, 15th Sept. 1886, Pages 7, 8 & 9 @ Malcom Wilton-Jones: "The Opening of the Selangor Railway").

• 1888: |Residen Pahang yang pertama. Berhadapan dengan tentangan oleh Dato Bahaman dan Tok Gajah.

• 1896: Kembali menjadi Residen Selangor.

• 1897 (14-17 Julai): Menghadiri Mesyuarat Durbar Negeri-Negeri Melayu Bersekutu yang pertama di Kuala Kangsar.
  
  Kiri: Gambar pertama: “Gambar menunjukkan raja-raja dan pembesar Melayu serta pegawai-pegawai British yang hadir. Duduk dari kiri ke kanan : Hugh Clifford (Residen Pahang), J.P.Rodger (Residen Selangor), F.A.Swettenham (Residen Jeneral), Sultan Ahmad (Sultan Pahang), Sultan Abdul Samad (Sultan Selangor), Sir Charles Mitchell (Pesuruhjaya Tinggi), Sultan Idris (Sultan Perak), Tuanku Muhammad (Yang Dipertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan) dan W.H.Treacher (Residen Perak).” (Arkib Negara Malaysia: |"Mesyuarat Durbar Negeri-Negeri Melayu Bersekutu yang Pertama, Kuala Kangsar, Julai 1897").
  Kanan: Gambar kedua, lebih informal, dengan pertambahan barisan belakang: “Ahli Mesyuarat Durbar 1897 di perkarangan Istana Negara, Bukit Chandan, Kuala Kangsar, Perak” (Yusrin Faidz Yusoff, 5 December 2019: |"Mesyuarat Durbar 1897").

• 1901: Residen Perak

• 1904: Berpindah ke Gold Coast, Afrika Barat setelah dilantik menjadi Gabenor di sana. Sempena perlantikan ini, pada 2 November 1903, suatu majlis perpisahan telah diadakan di Taiping, yang turut dihadiri Sultan Perak: “A farewell dinner was given to Mr. J.P. Rodger, who has been appointed Governor of the Gold Coast, on the 2nd inst. at Taiping. Mr. Caulfeild presided. After a short speech from the Sultan of Perak, who proposed the health of the guest of the evening in felicitous terms, and congratulated him on his promotion, Mr. Rodger replied in a distinctly reminiscent and interesting speech, in the course of which he said much about the early days of the Federated Malay States.” (The Straits Times, 13 November 1903, Page 2: |"MR. RODGER'S FAREWELL").

• 1910 (September): Setelah bersara, beliau meninggal dunia pada September 1910 di London (berusia 59 tahun), dan |dikebumikan di sana.

"Rodger Street" sempena beliau di Kuala Lumpur, kini adalah Jalan Hang Kasturi. (Wikipedia).

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Selain petikan dan sumber yang dinyatakan, rencana ini telah diusahakan oleh TMK Pulasan, di bawah kelolaan Syahrul Sazli Shaharir <sazli@pulasan.my>. Pengakuan penting: Kami bukan ahli sejarah! Sila klik di sini untuk penjelasan lanjut.