Josephine Ruby Trevorrow

Almarhumah Enche’ Besar Hajah Khalsom binti Abdullah (Jawi: انچئ بسر حاجه كلثوم بنت عبد الله; born Josephine Ruby Trevorrow; 2 December 1935 – 1 June 2018) was the first wife of Sultan Iskandar^[1] and mother of Sultan Ibrahim, who is the current Sultan of Johor and the seventeenth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) since 31 January 2024. One of her daughters, Tunku Azizah, married Sultan Abdullah, the current Sultan of Pahang, who was previously the sixteenth Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Khalsom كلثوم‎
Enche’ Besar
Johor royal family in 1956, with Josephine Trevorrow third from right
Consort of the Crown Prince of Johor
Tenure	8 May 1959 - 9 June 1962
Predecessor	Ungku Aminah
Successor	Tengku Zanariah
Born	Josephine Ruby Trevorrow (1935-12-02)2 December 1935 Cornwall, England
Died	1 June 2018(2018-06-01) (aged 82) London, England
Burial	6 June 2018 Mahmoodiah Royal Mausoleum
Spouse	Tunku Mahmood Iskandar ​ ​ (m. 1956; div. 1962)​
Issue	Tunku Kamariah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah Tunku Zabedah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah Tunku Ibrahim Ismail Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah
Regnal name Enche’ Besar Hajah Khalsom binti Abdullah

She was born on 2 December 1935 in Cornwall in England, the only daughter of Reginald George Trevorrow, a textile manufacturer from Torquay, Cornwall, and his wife Ruby May Alderman. She met Iskandar while he was studying in England. After that she converted to Islam and changed her name to Khalsom binti Abdullah; they married on 5 January 1956. On 8 May 1959, after her husband was proclaimed Tunku Mahkota (Crown Prince) of Johor, she was known as Yang Amat Mulia Che’ Puan Khalsom Abdullah. This royal couple had four children:

• Tunku Puteri Kamariah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah (b. 11 July 1956), the Tengku Puan Laksamana of Selangor
• Tunku Besar Zabedah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah (b. 20 October 1957)
• Sultan Ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar (b. 22 November 1958), the seventeenth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) and the fifth Sultan of modern Johor.
• Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah (b. 5 August 1960), the fifth Tengku Ampuan of Pahang and the sixteenth Raja Permaisuri Agong (Queen consort of Malaysia)

On 9 June 1962 they divorced, shortly after Iskandar's second marriage to Tengku Zanariah, and she returned to England.^[2]

Later in 2010, her son Ibrahim, who had just become the Sultan of Johor, bestowed upon her the honorific form of address as Yang Amat Mulia Enche’ Besar Hajah Khalsom Abdullah, D.K., S.M.I.J.^[3] She died aged 82 on 1 June 2018 at King Edward VII's Hospital in London and was buried on 6 June in the Mahmoodiah Royal Mausoleum in Johor Bahru.^[4][5][6][7]

Honours

• First Class of the Royal Family Order of Johor (DK I) (22 November 2010)
• Grand Knight of the Order of Sultan Ibrahim of Johor (SMIJ) (30 March 2015) – Datin Paduka

References

1. Facts on File Yearbook, terbitan Facts on File, Inc., 1957, Frasa: "Married: Prince Tengku Mahmud, 24, grandson of the Sultan of Johore, & Josephine Ruby Trevorrow, 21, daughter of an English textile..."
2. The Who's who in Malaysia (1967), m/s 198
3. "Sultan Ibrahim turut berkenan mengurniakan gelaran "Yang Amat Mulia Enche' Besar" ke atas bonda baginda, Hajah Khalsom Abdullah" (in Malay). mStar. 22 November 2010.
4. "Jenazah bonda Sultan Johor disemadi di Makam Diraja Bukit Mahmoodiah". Astro Awani. 2 Jun 2018. Retrieved 6 Jun 2018.
5. Isabelle Leong (2 Jun 2018). "Bonda Sultan Johor, Enche' Besar Khalsom Abdullah mangkat". Astro Awani. Retrieved 2 Jun 2018.
6. Junita Mat Rasid (2 Jun 2018). "Jenazah akan dimakam di Bukit Mahmoodiah". Berita Harian. Retrieved 2 Jun 2018.
7. "Jenazah bonda Sultan Johor dimakam hari ini". mStar. 6 Jun 2018. Retrieved 6 Jun 2018.