Bloomfield Douglas in 1860 head of South Australian marine board but out of control running the Territory
Bloomfield Douglas, president of the South Australian marine board from 1860, failed as an administrator (see inset) of the Northern Territory and Selangor (in future Malaysia). Bloomfield's maritime knowledge is shown in his painting of the gunboat HMS Goldfinch (top right) and his 1856 nautical chart of Port Elliot in South Australia (bottom right).
Captain (William) Bloomfield Douglas became the head of 19th Century South Australia’s marine operations before spiralling out of control when appointed government resident of the Northern Territory in 1870.
Born in 1822 in Aberystwyth, Wales, Douglas joined the Royal Navy at 19, serving as captain's steward on HMS Wolverine. He left military service in 1842 to become master of The Royalist and joined his distant relative, rajah James Brooke, fighting pirates around Sarawak. After working with the East India Company 1844-47, Douglas went back to England for five years and worked as a coastguard in Northumberland, with temporary command of the Eagle before returning to sea to support his growing family (eight children).
Douglas arrived in South Australia on coastal mail ship Bosphorus and, in 1854, won the post of naval officer and harbourmaster in Adelaide. From July 1858, he also was collector of customs as well as master of Trinity House and chairman of the harbour trust. When all these posts were absorbed into the new marine board in 1860, Douglas was first president.
Between 1855 and 1858, Douglas was part of official inquiries into lighthouses, harbours and defences in South Australia. He also surveyed Kangaroo Island (1858), Backstairs Passage (1858) and the Murray River mouth (1859) and the west coast (1867). Douglas also spent time as a stipendiary magistrate, immigration board member and an inspector of distilleries.
After two attempts, Douglas was appointed government resident of the Northern Territory, then administered by South Australia. Politician and former seas captain John Hart, who helped him secure the position, was among those unconvinced it was a wise decision. Douglas had shown a weakness in handling money. In his new position, he spent extravagantly, starting with a large residency often used to entertain guests using public money.
Inspired perhaps by James Brooke's example, Douglas governed the territory like a white rajah but lacked competence as an administrator. He squandered money, ignored instructions and quarrelled with subordinates. He failed to control the gold rush he encouraged and probably delayed the 1872 mining regulations to protect his own investment.
By early 1873, Douglas's ambitions were shattered and he was warned about his excessive drinking. In February 1873, he was found drunk on the roof of his residency, threatening police officers with a gun. Attempts to introduce order into his administration failed, and he was made to resign in June by commissioner Thomas Reynolds.
In 1874, the South Australian government gave the broke Douglas a new task: travel to Singapore to recruit gold miners for the Northern Territory. After recruiting almost 200 Chinese men, Douglas decided to stay in Singapore. He worked as a police magistrate before being appointed acting assistant (later acting) resident of Selangor in 1876. Douglas's performance was again criticised. An inability to control his tempers saw frequent arguments with Chinese and Malay officials. A 1879 inquiry found a lack of organisation in the treasury and land offices. He moved to Kuala Lumpur fix the deficiencies but, in 1882, his son-in-law Dominick Daniel Daly (son of the South Australian governor), whom he’d appointed public works superintendent, was dismissed for land jobbery. Other irregularities were found and Douglas had to resign.
In 1893, Douglas moved to work for the department of marine and fisheries in Canada where he spent the rest of his life.