William Burgess Pryer

William Burgess Pryer (7 March 1843 in London, England; – 7 January 1899 in Suez, Egypt) was the first British Resident in Sandakan of North Borneo.

In 1860, he went out to China in connection with the silk and tea house of his relatives Messrs. Thorne Bros., Shanghai, where he remained for twelve years, and devoted considerable attention to collecting the Lepidoptera, of which very little was then known.

During his time in China where he met Baron von Overbeck and Alfred Dent, who negotiated with the rulers of the territories in northern Borneo a concession for their colonial interests.

The trading station was founded on Timbang Island by German settlers who were Pryer's predecessors in the region, although located further southwest of today's port town.

From his provisional "residence", Pryer began to explore the environment and implement Overbeck's orders to build up friendly relations with the indigenous population, respecting the local customs, to include their chiefs in jurisprudence and to deal with matters of acquisition and sale of land concerned.

His decision proved to be a wise one because the settlement that was founded on 21 July 1879 on the previously uninhabited jungles and mangrove forests grew faster than any other in North Borneo.

Treacher had already been present at the negotiations with the Sultan of Sulu, and had appointed Pryer as a consular agent, before being left by Overbeck in the German settlement.

After his retirement, he purchased the Bai Island in Sandakan Bay, planting coconuts, coffee and betel nut palms and ran cattle.