Episode 2 of 2

Formal Possession and Renaming

When: 11 August 1786
Where: Penang Island
Part of: Acquisition of Penang by the British East India Company

Light took formal possession of the island on 11 August 1786, renaming it Prince of Wales Island and establishing George Town.

Light landed on 17 July 1786 and took formal possession in the name of King George III on 11 August. The island was renamed Prince of Wales Island after the heir to the throne, and the settlement of George Town was established in honor of the King.

Sources

Penang Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-18
Francis Light Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-05

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.