Louis Thomas Gunnis Leonowens (25 October 1856 – 17 February 1919) was a British subject who grew up and worked in Siam (now Thailand). Leonowens served as an officer in the Siamese Royal Cavalry, an agent for the Borneo Company in the teak trade of Northern Thailand, and founded a Thai trading company that still bears his name, Louis T. Leonowens Ltd.
Louis Leonowens was born to Anna Leonowens in Western Australia and spent time as a child in Penang and Singapore before his mother was invited to teach English to King Mongkut's children in Siam. From age seven he spent six years in Siam and made close friendships with Mongkut and his heir, Prince Chulalongkorn. After spending time in Ireland, the United States, and Australia, he returned to Siam where he became an officer before joining the Borneo Company in its teak trade.
As an agent for the Borneo Company, Leonowens became quite influential over the teak trade and became well-liked by the local inhabitants and the local kings. He protected the king of Lampang during the Ngiao rebellion and in 1905 he founded the Louis T. Leonowens Ltd. He left Siam for the last time in 1914 and spent his last years in the United Kingdom before dying from Spanish Flu in 1919.
His childhood in Siam was adapted and used in the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam, as well as other fictional works based on it.
Early life and education
Family Leonowens was the youngest son of Anna Leonowens (née Edwards) and Thomas Leon Owens. His mother, who later became famous as the English governess to the royal Siamese children from portrayals in the 1944 fictionalised biographical novel Anna and the King of Siam and its various adaptations including the 1951 musical The King and I, was actually born and grew up in India, probably of Anglo-Indian ancestry. His father was an Irish-born, India-raised clerk; they married in 1849. The couple left India for Singapore, then part of the Straits Settlements, in 1852.
Before arriving in Siam Louis Thomas Gunnis Leonowens was born on 25 October 1856 in Lynton, Western Australia,Register of Births, Western Australia, no. 3469, 1856 to Anna and Thomas Leonowens. In Lynton, his father was working for the Commissariat as a clerk. His family then moved to Penang in 1857 where his father was a hotel manager. The family's finances worsened when the Agra bank collapsed due to the Indian mutiny. Thomas died in 1859 from a stroke after he and other officers returned from shooting tigers; Louis was around 3 years old at the time. Together with his mother and older sister, Avis, they moved to Singapore. In Singapore, his mother told the British expatriate community there that she was a genteel Welsh woman, the widow of a British army officer who had unfortunately lost her fortune.Loos, Tamara. "Review of Bombay Anna..." by Susan Morgan, Journal of Historical Biography, vol 5 (Spring 2009), pp. 146–52 Anna also established a school for the children of British army officers until she was invited by King Mongkut of Siam to come teach English to his wives and children. Before Anna travelled to Bangkok, she sent Louis' older sister to be educated in Fulham, England.
Childhood in Siam In August 1862, Louis arrived with his mother on board the Chao Phaya in Bangkok at age 7 where he resided in the Grand Palace for the next 6 years. Louis often wrote letters to his sister Avis whom he missed dearly, often crying when he thought about her. When Anna arranged a joint birthday for Avis and Louis (who shared the same birthday: October 25) she wrote to Anna that "he got very merry and drank your health with all his smiles on his face". Their birthday was also attended by Thomas George Knox and his children. Louis later married one of Knox's daughters, Caroline.
Louis often went through sermons led by Dr. Bradley in which he often became restless until these sermons were cut to only being half an hour long. In contrast to his mother, Louis quickly adapted to his new life in Siam, often finding kindness from Mongkut. During his six years in Siam, he was raised and schooled along with the children of Mongkut.
In July 1863 at age 8, he accompanied Mongkut on his yacht the Royal Sovereign upstream the Chao Phraya river to Ayutthaya. Similarly in 1865 at age 10, he went with Mongkut to Phra Pathommachedi, Nakhon Pathom. During his time with the King, Louis was often gifted items and affection. He wrote to his sister about Mongkut saying, "I like the King. He gave me some gold leaf for you which I send", "I have got a gun and a sword, and a beautiful boat the King gave Mama and a paddle too with which I row Mama to the Palace". U.S. consul James Madison Hood described Mongkut as "having regarded [Louis] as an adopted son" at a dinner which Madison attended with Mongkut, his suite and Louis.
During his time with Mongkut's children, he became close friends with the young princes, notably Mongkut's heir Prince Chulalongkorn who was 2 years older. He also became very friendly with the Samuha Kalahom (Prime-minister of Southern Siam and Chancellor of Military) Chuang Bunnag to the point where when his mother became very-ill, Chuang told Dr. Champell that he would adopt Louis in the event of Anne's death.
In 1865 he began learning Sanskrit and Thai. Due to his exposure to numerous French people, particularly with a French woman called Madame Malherbe who spoke little English and called him 'le beau Louis', he also began learning French. In 1867, when Louis was 10, he began to mimic his mother's tone and manner. However, Anne's health began to decay and she sailed away from the tropics with him.
Education in Ireland In early October 1868, while on a vacation with his mother in England at age 11, Mongkut died and was succeeded by his 15-year-old son Chulalongkorn. However, Anna was not invited to return and continue her work in Siam. She eventually found work in New York City but sent Louis to the United Kingdom to complete his education. Louis was sent to live with his relatives Tom and Avis Wilkinson in Enniscorthy, Ireland which housed boys and girls generally older than Louis, who was 12. In Ireland, he attended Kingstown school in Dublin. He also began playing the piano, although initially struggling to play 'Annie Laurie'. He also had to recover his gold chain after it was stolen by another boy, yet he was generally liked, especially among the girls. When he was 14, the Wilkinsons took Louis to the beach where he continued his love for animals that he had since his time in Singapore. After he claimed he was falsely accused of breaking a window with three other boys in 1870 and was facing punishment from the school, Louis decided to run away from the school and managed to reach the United States.
United States and Australia By the time he reached the United States in 1871, he was a bit off 15 years. Louis struggled to settle down in Staten island where his family resided, often relying on his mother or her friends for money. In 1873 he began working for the land department of the Cairo and Fulton Railroad company in Arkansas before working for a steamship company in Philadelphia. He had however accumulated numerous debts. Louis decided to flee the U.S. and he became estranged from his mother for 19 years. He first took a ship to Ireland where he said goodbye to the Wilkinsons before travelling to Queensland, Australia. During this time, Anne grew anxious about the whereabouts of her son until she heard that he arrived in Rockhampton in June 1875. Louis set off with two friends to the Palmer gold fields near Cooktown, which was undergoing a gold rush. He did not search for gold but instead became a police officer around the mines for 4 years due to his strong body. In 1881, Louis moved to Kanni Waikerie along the Murray river northeast of Adelaide, where he worked as a stockhand on Leonard Percival's station. Louis then wished to return to his mother in the U.S. and asked her for money to do so, which she denied stating that Louis, who was 25, needed to save up his own money. Instead, he travelled to Bangkok.
Career Royal Cavalry In 1881, at the age of 25, he returned to Siam and was granted a commission of Captain in the Royal Cavalry by Chulalongkorn, which he served until 1884. During this time, he helped suppress tensions between rival Chinese secret societies. However, Louis' resignation from the role was delayed by Chulalongkorn in order for Louis to protect James McCarthy from Haw rebels who were active in the north of the country due to the Haw wars. McCarthy was hired to survey the border between British Burma (now Myanmar) and Siam. Louis was given 200 infantrymen.
The expedition to Siam's north began on 16 January 1884 where they travelled up the Chao Phraya river, disembarking at Prabat to transfer to another boat which they took up to Saraburi. From Saraburi they marched for 12 days to Korat which they reached on 30 January by elephants. Due to their use of elephants, their travel to the Mekong river near Nawng Kai was slow. When they reached Nawng Kai, Louis assisted in repelling a Haw attack. They then crossed the Mekong and passed a Miao inhabited village before Louis decided to give his men target practice to restore morale where he found that most of his men had never fired a gun and were instead frightened by their noise. As he heard that 180 Haws were nearby, he selected the 30 best soldiers and sent the rest to Luang Prabang. Louis then pursued the Haws who began a retreat back to China before giving up and heading arriving in Luang Prabang on 30 May to find that most of his men were sick with malaria, most ended up dying. They then reached a chief who said that the Haws were unlikely to return to this area and so Louis left the group into the hands of a Siamese officer. Chulalongkorn later recalled the expedition due to the amount of death. Now in Bangkok, Louis officially resigned from his role in the Royal Cavalry.
Borneo Company
From 1882, the teak trade in the north exploded in demand with foreign companies of British, Danish, U.S., Chinese and Dutch origin competing with local Siamese companies. This was due to Hans Niels Andersen arrival back in Bangkok after managing to sell his teak in Liverpool for a large sum. After his resignation from the Royal Cavalry, he joined the Borneo company in its operations in the country's north. The company constructed a teak home for both him and newly wedded wife Caroline Knox at Tak. Louis was then given the Mee Tuen teak forest by Chulalongkorn and their hospitality became very notable to passing foreigners. In January 1888, C.S. Leckie took Louis with him to Chiang Mai over his concerns around Marian Alonso Cheek's spending. Cheek was an U.S. missionary and was employed in the Borneo company with large shares in the company. Cheek's wife Sarah Cheek later wrote to Anna Leonowens where he described Louis as still being "full of fun and mischief," and that he "looks much the same as he did when he was a boy". After a complicated situation, Leckie decided to replace Cheek with Leonowens as the Borneo company agent in Chiang Mai. However the situation was still complicated so Louis was moved to Lampang while Robertson took his place in Tak.