Province Wellesley
Province Wellesley (or
Seberang Perai in
Malay), is a narrow hinterland opposite
Penang island on the
Malay Peninsula, which together with the island forms the
Malaysian state of
Penang. It was ceded to the
British East India Company by the Sultan of
Kedah in
1790, and been part of the settlement and state of Penang ever since. The chief town is Butterworth, and it is connected to Penang island by a bridge and by ferry services. There is a Malayan Railway station and a container terminal at Butterworth.
The province is probably named after Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, Governor of Madras and Governor-General of Bengal (1797-1805) or his brother Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.