However, the political conventions of the day ruled that no Anglican diocese could be created outside the limits of the British Empire, and Sarawak was technically an independent principality of the Rajah.[8] The linked diocese of Labuan and bishopric of Sarawak increased in size as the principality grew and Anglican work in North Borneo and Brunei developed.[1] It extended further when, by an Act of Parliament in 1869, the Church in the Straits Settlements (Singapore, Penang and Malacca) was separated from the see of Calcutta and placed under the episcopal care of the bishop of Labuan.Asian workers played an increasingly larger part as time passed because the formation of a truly indigenous church had been intended from the beginning.[1][11] The limits of the Diocese are those of the present administrative divisions of the State of Sarawak and Brunei Darussalam together with that part of Indonesian Borneo lying North of the equator, and West of longitude 115 º42’.