The History of the Old Mansion in Batu Gajah That Was Relocated to Terengganu
When Batu Gajah is mentioned, we immediately think of Kellie’s Castle, a must-visit tourist destination for those in the Ipoh and Batu Gajah area.
Kellie’s Castle, built by William Kellie Smith in 1915, is one of the most beautiful mansions in Malaya, even though it was never completed. In this article, orangperak.com would like to highlight a beautiful mansion in Batu Gajah other than Kellie’s Castle that is not widely known. Ironically, the building was constructed by the very person who helped William Kellie Smith start his business in Malaya.
The building is a beautiful mansion owned by Charles Alma Baker, which was previously located near the golf club and military camp in Batu Gajah. This mansion was built much earlier than Kellie’s Castle. Charles Alma Baker was born in 1854 into a humble British family living a simple life. At the time of his birth, his family had just migrated from Britain to New Zealand. He was named ‘Alma’ after the battle where British and French forces successfully defeated the Russian army in the Crimean War. Through hard work and high social skills, he managed to make a name for himself in Auckland, the capital of New Zealand. He later married a woman named Florence, the daughter of prominent New Zealand politician and entrepreneur Sir Frederick Whittaker. However, things became chaotic due to his extramarital affair with a Maori woman named Maria Nikora. Shortly after the incident, at the age of 36, he and Florence left New Zealand for India via Singapore.
While stopping briefly in Singapore, the couple missed the ship they were supposed to take to India. However, they later discovered that there was a high demand for surveyors in Perak due to the growing tin mining industry there. Because of this, they decided not to go to India and instead headed to Batu Gajah, where they settled from 1890 until his death in 1941 in Penang. Life in Batu Gajah, which served as the administrative center for the Kinta district, was quite quiet for him, as the European population consisted of only 30 people, with only 7 women. He successfully generated a high income from surveying contracts awarded by the state government. He later collaborated with William Kellie Smith. In 1894, he decided to build a new mansion to showcase his wealth. There is no doubt that there were colonial entrepreneurs in Perak who were jealous of his achievements. The newspaper The Perak Pioneer reported at the time:
“Mr Alma Baker is building a fine house facing the Race Course, to be called, probably, Goodwood or Ascot, or some appropriate name of the kind – or maybe, ‘the Bakeries’.”
Translation -
“Mr Alma Baker is building a very beautiful house facing the Race Course, which might be called Goodwood or Ascot, or a more appropriate name – perhaps, ‘the Bakeries’.”
There is a possibility that there was competition between him and Kellie Smith in showing off their respective wealth, which was eventually translated into Kellie Smith’s efforts to start building Kellie’s Castle. The state government terminated Alma Baker’s surveying contract in 1897, and he subsequently entered the mining industry, where some of the mining concessions he owned were more successful than those of other companies.
He was also a pioneer and the first person to use a tin dredge, becoming even wealthier from tin mining on his land near Simpang Pulai. In 1906, he began to diversify his business by venturing into rubber plantations. After overcoming several hardships, he finally succeeded in establishing the Kinta Valley Estate after obtaining a 2,000-acre land lease from the state government. By 1914, his plantation was among the largest in Malaya. Besides being busy managing his business, he spent much of his time helping the British government raise funds to finance the British army in World War I, fishing, horse racing, and gardening in New Zealand. He passed away in Penang on April 8, 1941, and was buried in the Batu Gajah Christian cemetery.
Regarding his mansion in Batu Gajah, after his death in 1941, the house was no longer inhabited and was left to decay over time. However, in 2004, the house was purchased by a lawyer from Terengganu. The residence was then dismantled piece by piece, relocated, and rebuilt 764km away on a site next to the beach in Kampung Telaga Papan, Setiu, Terengganu. The new owner of the residence chose to name it ‘Ombak’.
