TORREY, Joseph William, rajah of Amboy and Mavoodu, Borneo, born in Bath, Maine, 22 April, 1828; died near Boston, Massachusetts, in March, 1884. He was educated in Roxbury, became a reporter on the Boston "Times," and was subsequently connected with Benjamin P. Shillaber in the publication of the "Carpet-Bag." He became a clerk in a commercial house in Melbourne, Australia, in 1853, and went to Hong Kong in 1857, where he was a partner in the firm of Montgomery, Parker and Co., and editor and manager of the "Hong Kong Times" and the "China Mail." He was subsequently appointed vice-consul in Siam, and practised law with success in that country. He founded the American trading company of Borneo in 1864. At that time the whole of Borneo was under the absolute sway of the sultan, but the Trading company settled upon about 20,000 square miles in the provinces of Amboy and Mavoodu. In 1865, the sultan's power being threatened by the encroachment of foreign nations, he made an ally of the company by recognizing Mr. Torrey as rajah or governor of all the territory that it occupied, the company paying him a small yearly tribute. As chief executive of the provinces, Torrey exercised the rights of an absolute sovereign, with power of retaining his office for life and of naming his successor. He occupied that post for fourteen years, and then became secretary to the United States legation in Siam. He returned to this country in 1883, and few weeks before his death was appointed by the king of Siam his chief adviser, but died before deciding whether to accept or decline that office.