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Samuel Garling married 15 Jan 1822 Carolina Eliza Hayes in Fort Marlborough-Bencoolen (Benkoelen), Sumatra-Selatan. Fort Marlborough was established within the Dutch-held Indonesia by Sir Raffles in 1819 to protect interests of the East India Company. It was handed over to Netherland in 1824 in exchange for territory in other Asian parts. Sir Raffles then appointed him Resident Counsellor (1826 - 1835) in Malacca (question: was he a counsellor or councillor?). He was a merchant before posting to resident counsellor. About 1836 he was sent to India in ill health.

Eliza Garling married Robert Diggles at Malacca on the 7th November 1833. Eliza is a daughter of Samuel Garling (Resident Councillor of Malacca) Singapore area. She died in England.

Winson Saw (danny2car@yahoo.com) added: Samuel Garling was related to Van Someren family in Netherlands. His cousins are:

Samuel Garling cousins:

Samuel Garling only daughter, Eliza Garling who died in Liverpool, England 1834. Samuel Garling became Resident Councillor of Malacca, Malaysia from (1826-1835) until retired.

JCG commented: Samuel Garling is an English Garling. Indonesia was occopied by the Netherlands (Holland), but England has had a post in Benkoelen (Bencoolen) till 1824. 1824 the Netherlands got it in exchange for other Asian territory. The marriage of the dau of Samuel Garling is also documented:
"Marriages and Obituaries Liverpool Mercury May 2nd 1834: On the 7th November last at Malacca, by the Rev F J PARRAH, A M CHAPLAIN to the residency of Singapore, Robert DIGGLES Esq of this town to Eliza, the only daughter of the Hon. Samuel GARLING, Resident councillor at Malacca"

Further toughts: In August 1837, Samuel Garling still mentioned as Resident Counseller of Mallaca, he was sent for 6 months to Calcutta for reasons of health (Asiatic Register 1937).
Which relation could have Samuel Garling with the Dutch Peter Robert van Someren? Were they related already in the Netherlands, before coming to Fort Marlborough? Or did they become relatives through marriage in Sumatra. The territory was Dutch when the British came and founded Fort York (which later was named Fort Marlborough) in 1813 (at that time Holland was occupied and allied to Napoleon and therefore an enemy of the British). The British outposts in Indonesia, including Fort Marlbourough, were returned to Holland 1824 in exchange for British influence in Malaysia. It seems that even during the British occupation some Dutch civilians remained in Fort Marlborough as well as British civilians remained there after 1824 (the Napoleonic wars had ended 1815, so they did not look at each other as enemies any more). Some Dutch and British intermarried.
This brings us to the relation of Samuel Garling with Peter Robert van Someren. It seems that Robert Garling van Someren (to judge by his name, if Garling is used as a middle name) was a son of Peter Robert van Someren who had married a Garling. Perhaps a sister of Samuel Garling?
But then there is another question. If Peter Robert was a Dutchman, also Robert Garling van Someren would be considered a Dutchman, or at least half-Dutch if his father had married a British Garling girl. Then, how could he have obtained such an important position as secretary to the Governor of Singapore from the British government?
Therefore, there must be another explanation for the relations of Samuel Garling with the van Someren because Robert Garling van Someren must forcibly have been considered a British subject to obtain a Goverment post.
In the O.I.O. Collection of the British Library other Garlings are listed apart from Samuel :
Garling, F. Fort Marlbourough
Garling, Francis P.O.W. Island
Garling, Frederick P.O.W. Island

Leslie Kenny (lallen@netvigator.com) submitted another story:
Samuel Garling worked for the British East India Company in Penang (Malacca) and later at the British Customs House in Tamsui (Damsui) in Taiwan.
He married the much younger daughter of a Chinese compradore in Penang with the surname 'Yeh' or 'Yip' or 'Yap' (depending on dialect, the character is pronounced differently). All his children from this liaison bore the Chinese name 'Yeh' but always had British papers and acted as Vice Consuls or other administrative functionaries for the British Customs House in Tamsui (near Taipei).
Has anyone else heard of this story or can anyone confirm that this Garling went on to Taiwan after Malacca?


Sahoud Garling, born 1885 in Bogar, Djawa-Barat, Indonesien

Weder ein Engländer noch ein Holländer würde seinem Sohn einen muslemischen Namen geben (Indonesier sind ja vorwiegend Muslims). Meine Vorstellungen daher :

  1. Muslim Mutter gibt dem unehelichen Kind den Vornamen, gibt aber beim Eintrag den Nachnamen des Vaters an.
  2. Das Kind wird adoptiert und erhält den Nachnamen des Vaters
  3. Vater ist wahrscheinlich ein Holländer, denn z.Z. Indonesien in holländischer Hand.

Henri Martinus van Garling geb. 28.11.1887 in Grisee/Holland Brig(adier) M.G.D. im Dienste der Königlichen Niederländischen India Linie in Indonesia. Er befand sich an Bord des japanischen Frachters 'Junyo Maru', welcher am 18.9.1944 unweit der Insel Sumatra von einem englischen U-Boot torpediert und versenkt wurde. An Bord befanden sich 4300 Kriegsgefangene und Internierte der Allierten und 2000 Zwangsarbeiter von der Insel Java, die für den Bau einer Bahnlinie auf Sumatra bestimmt waren. Es überlebten 880 und Henri Martinus war nicht darunter.

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