Sultanah Helen Ibrahim

Sultanah Helen Ibrahim, also known as Helen Bartholomew (1889-1978), was the third wife of Sultan Sir Ibrahim Iskandar Al-Masyhur ibni Almarhum Sultan Sir Abu Bakar, the 22nd Sultan of Johor, in Malaysia.

Early life

Born in Glasgow, Scotland in September 1889 and Scottish by birth, she was the daughter of a master saw-maker from Stirlingshire.

Her first marriage was to William Brockie Wilson, a Malayan-born Scot. He was a physician by training. Bartholomew first met Sultan Ibrahim when Wilson became the Sultan's physician. Helen had followed her husband all the way from Scotland to then British Malaya. They later divorced.[1]

Marriage to the Sultan

Sultan Ibrahim was a known Anglophile and loved to spend his time travelling around Europe, especially to the United Kingdom. The Sultan enrolled his sons, by his two Malay wives, to be educated in Britain. It was during this time he renewed his acquaintance with the widow and asked her to keep an eye on his boys. Sultan Ibrahim visited Bartholomew and the boys from time to time and Bartholomew's relationship with the boys was very close.

Sultan Ibrahim and Bartholomew were married in a Surrey mosque in October 1930 and Bartholomew then became known as Her Highness Sultanah Helen Ibrahim.[2]

In 1935, her picture with Sultan Ibrahim was put on a Johor postage stamp as a gift to her from the Sultan on their fifth wedding anniversary.

The couple divorced in 1938.[3] However, it ended on good terms and there was no bad feelings between the two. This was evident by the Sultan, who continued to add to his ex-wife's spectacular jewel collection, reputedly giving her an emerald on her birthday and a diamond on their wedding anniversary, even after the divorce.

Bartholomew was once said to have the finest jewel and diamond collection in the world.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Sultan of Johore to Marry in London: Ruler of Malay Dependency to Wed Mrs. Wilson, Divorced Wife of Singapore Doctor", The New York Times, 15 October 1930
  2. ↑ Mads Lange fra Bali: Og Hans Efterslaegt Sultanerne af Johor (1992), pg 97-8
  3. ↑ Malaya: The Malayan Union Experiment, 1942-1948 (1995), pg 140

References

  • Mads Lange fra Bali: Og Hans Efterslaegt Sultanerne af Johor, Paul Andresen, Odense Universitetsforlag, 1992, ISBN 87-7492-851-1
  • Malaya: The Malayan Union Experiment, 1942-1948, by A. J. Stockwell, University of London Institute of Commonwealth Studies, published by HMSO, 1995
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