St. Michael's and All Angels Church, Sandakan

St. Michael's and All Angels Church or for short St. Michael is an Anglican church in the Malaysian city of Sandakan in the state of Sabah in northern Borneo. St. Michael is the oldest stone church in Sabah. The impetus for the construction of the church dates back to the clergyman William Henry Elton, who is also known as the founder of St. Michael's Secondary School, located next to the church.The church is also part of the Sandakan Heritage Trails, a Heritage Trail which connects the historic sights and monuments of Sandakan.HistoryThe North Borneo Chartered Company controlled North Borneo in 1881. The mostly British employees of the company desired for an Anglican church to be established. Initially, laymen were used to conduct religious ceremonies in a detached room in the Colonial Secretary's House and, if present, would take over the service from the highest-ranking government officials, Governor William Hood Treacher. William Burgess Pryer, founder of Sandakan and an active layman himself, already wrote in January 1883 a pleading letter to the head of the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury. During mid-1888, a news reached Sandakan that Reverend William Henry Elton was appointed as a priest for Sandakan.