 It was formerly the main leper asylum for the Straits Settlements (1868), a Quarantine Station (1875) and a penal colony (1969).Francis Light, the founder of Penang, was said to have arrived in Jerejak Island in early 1786 before heading on to Penang.In 1797, Colonel Arthur Wellesley had proposed Jerejak as the possible site for Fort Cornwallis.