Henry Wise

Who was Henry Wise?

Henry Wise was a mariner and merchant associated with the Far East.

Born in Oxford, Wise worked his way up as a mariner in the East India Company's Marine Service from midshipman in 1819 to chief officer in 1831, and then a supercargo in the China trade. His logbooks from voyages in the Castle Huntly, Astell, and Elizabeth are preserved at the National Maritime Museum.

He invented several schemes related to speeding travel between England and the East, publishing a book proposing the use of steam and a 'propellor' in 1839, a 'Plan for the Acceleration of the China Mails' submitted to her Majesty's Government 14 September 1843, and advocating a canal across Siam in 1859.

By 1838, he was settled in London and he is principally known for his subsequent involvement with James Brooke: he helped fit out the ship for his 1839 voyage and became the agent in London to the now Rajah of Sarawak in 1841. This relationship soured around 1847 when the Eastern Archipelago Company was set up at considerable advantage to Wise who contributed rights handed to him by Brooke to mine coal in Labuan in return for fees, equity, and the job of Managing Director.