 A committee of assessors was also established for George Town in 1800, making it the first local government to be established within British Malaya.The "Prince of Wales Island", together with "Province Wellesley", had been administered under the Bengal Presidency until 1805, when Penang was made a separate Presidency on par with Madras, Bombay and Bengal.By then, Penang also served as a penal station; in 1796, 700 Indian convicts were shipped in from the Andaman Islands.