[Book Launch] Pastoral Port: An Agrarian History of Penang
Details
Date: 29 January 2024, Monday
Time: 4.00 pm – 5.30 pm
Venue: Penang Institute, 10 Brown Road, 10350 George Town
About the book
This monograph, the first in Penang Institute’s Concise Histories of Penang Series, highlights the important role that Penang and its mainland territory of Seberang Perai played in global agriculture over the last 200 years. It is hard now to imagine that Penang once produced some of the best pepper, nutmeg, mace and cloves in the world. Its industrious inhabitants developed a major sugar export industry. Malaysian tin, rubber, copra, coconut oil, tapioca, sago, cocoa, coffee and goods such as Sumatran tobacco poured through Penang’s port to global markets.
About the author
Marcus Langdon has been researching the history of Penang under the administration of both the British East India Company and the British Colonial government since the early 1990s.
Information gathered has principally been sourced from primary records and documents wherever possible, to painstakingly piece together factual accounts of the growth and development of Penang following settlement by the English East India Company in 1786. He has also accumulated a vast collection of old images and documents relating to Penang’s history since EIC settlement.
His published works include:
• Penang: The Fourth Presidency of India 1805–1830, Volume 1, ‘Ships, Men and Mansions’, Penang: Areca Books, 2013.
• Penang: The Fourth Presidency of India 1805–1830, Volume 2, ‘Fire, Spice and Edifice’; Penang: George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI), 2015.
• Penang: The Fourth Presidency of India 1805–1830, Volume 3, ‘Water, Wigs and Wisdom; Penang: Entrepot Publishing, 2022.
• Biographical Dictionary of Mercantile Personalities of Penang (contributing editor), Kuala Lumpur: Think City/MBRAS, 2014.
• George Town’s Historic Commercial and Civic Precincts, Penang: George Town World Heritage Incorporated), 2015.
• Epitaph: The Northam Road Protestant Cemetery, George Town, Penang, 2 vols., Penang: George Town World Heritage Incorporated), 2017.
• Penang Then & Now: A Century of Change in Pictures (with Keith Hockton), Penang: Entrepot Publishing, 2019.
• Pastoral Port: An Agrarian History of Penang, Penang: Penang Institute, 2023.
Marcus has also contributed significant research and writing to Heritage/Conservation Management Plans for the Northam Road Protestant Cemetery, the Seh Tek Tong Cheah Kongsi, Fort Cornwallis and the Prangin/Sia Boey project; articles on Penang’s history to journals and magazines; and historical consultancy to NGOs and private enterprise.
Living in Penang since 2010, he is also a founding director of Entrepot Publishing Sdn. Bhd., and involved in the editing, publishing, and distribution of numerous books by other authors.
Moderator: Dato’ Dr Ooi Kee Beng, Executive Director, Penang Institute
Panelist: Prof Dato’ Dr Zulfigar Yasin, Heritage & Urban Studies, Penang Institute
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
EVENT SUMMARY
A new book on Penang history entitled Pastoral Port: An Agrarian History of Penang by Marcus Langdon was launched on 29 January 2024. This monograph, the first in Penang Institute’s Concise Histories of Penang Series, highlights the important role that Penang and its mainland territory of Seberang Perai played in global agriculture over the last 200 years.
Marcus Langdon’s “Pastoral Port: An Agrarian History of Penang” sheds light on Penang’s agricultural past, highlighting its once-vibrant farming industry, particularly in rubber and paddy cultivation. Langdon emphasises George Town’s agricultural heritage, often overlooked in contemporary narratives that focus on its urban development. His book offers valuable insights into the historical landscape of Penang, enriching our understanding of its economic evolution.
Don’t miss the opportunity to immerse yourself in the stories, anecdotes, and hidden gems waiting to be discovered within the pages of this extraordinary Penang Institute’s Concise Histories of Penang Series. Purchase your copy here and embark on a fascinating exploration of Penang’s past that will leave you enriched, enlightened, and inspired.