Gustav Overbeck

Overbeck came to Bremen for a commercial apprenticeship with his uncle in the family business there, but did not stay long, and emigrated to the United States in the spring of 1850 with his cousin August Meier.

He went to San Francisco and opened a business, while undertaking adventurous trade journeys to Hawaii, the South Seas, Alaska, and the Bering Strait.

Overbeck was appointed Maharaja of Sabah and Rajah of Gaya and Sandakan in a 29 December 1877 treaty with Sultan Abdul Momin of Brunei, who still claimed ownership of northern Borneo.

Overbeck then returned to Europe from 1879 to 1880 to seek support for an enforcement of the concession agreement and to promote the territory to the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy.

At the beginning of 1881, the British North Borneo Provisional Association Limited was established after Overbeck transferred its rights to the Dent brothers.

To this day, the interpretation of the Jawi concession documents of 1877–78 plays a role in the international dispute between Malaysia and the Philippines regarding territorial claims in northern Borneo (modern Sabah).