Robert Norman Bland CMG (1859–1948), or "R. N. Bland," as he was more commonly known then in The Straits, was Resident Councillor of Penang and a career civil servant in the Colonial Administration of the Straits Settlements. "The Resident Councillor of Pinang: is the Hon. Mr. Robert Norman Bland, B.A. A son of Major-General Bland, R.E., he was born at Malta in 1859. He was educated at Cheltenham College and at Trinity College, Dublin, where he obtained the degree of B.A. in 1882. In 1887 he was engaged in reporting upon a system of Mukim boundaries in Pinang and Province Wellesley.