Councillor of the settlement where the court was to be held, and another judge called the Recorder. Problems occurred with the first Recorder, Sir John Thomas Claridge. He complained that the Governor and Resident Councillors had refused to take any judicial business, and so responded by also refusing to take on the full business of the Court. He also bemoaned the lack of a "full, efficient and respectable court establishment of clerks, interpreters. etc." Although expected to travel from his base at Prince of Wales' Island to Singapore and Malacca, due to disputes over travelling expenses and arrangements, Claridge refused to do so. Thus, on 22 May 1828 the Governor Robert Fullerton, together with the Resident Councillor Kenneth Murchison, were obliged to hold the first assizes in Singapore by themselves. Claridge was eventually recalled to the UK in 1829. The Charter conferred no legislative power on the Governor and Council of Prince of Wales' Island or, indeed, on any other individual or institution. The general power to make laws was vested with the Supreme Government of India and the British Parliament. By the East India Company Act 1813 (also known as the Charter Act 1813), Prince of Wales' Island itself had been conferred an extremely limited power to issue regulations relating to duties and taxes it was empowered to levy; pursuant to this power, it issued nine regulations that applied to the Straits Settlements. However, on 20 June 1830 the East India Company reduced the status of Prince of Wales' Island from a Presidency to a Residency. The island thus lost power to legislate for the Straits Settlements, which power was assumed by the Governor General of Bengal. He issued four such regulations applicable to the Straits Settlements. Upon the downgrading of the Straits Settlements, the offices of Governor and Resident Councillors were abolished. This led Governor Fullerton to conclude that neither he nor the Resident Councillors were empowered any longer to administer justice under the Second Charter. In late 1830, Fullerton closed the courts and dismissed the judicial establishment before leaving for England. This led to legal chaos. Members of the mercantile community were in an uproar as they felt the ensuing confusion and inconvenience of having no local courts would disrupt commercial activity. In Singapore the Deputy Resident Murchison felt compelled to convene a court. However, the Acting Registrar James Loch took the view that the court was