Nevertheless, there was no major hostility as a result of the division of loyalty between the royalty and the nobility.[1] In the same year, an English merchant, W.H. Read, controlled Sultan Ali's royal seal in exchange for a promise to liquidate his debts. Read had been an active supporter of Sultan Ali's claims for recognition as the legitimate ruler of Johor and the state's revenue, with the Temenggong as his vassal.[12] As a result of economic and political pressure from these traders, the Governor did consider granting a formal recognition to Sultan Ali as the legitimate ruler of Johor, but in the process, he received a strong protest from the Temenggong and his young son, Abu Bakar.[13]