Stamford Raffles

Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles was born on (1781-07-05)5 July 1781 on board the ship Ann, off the coast of Port Morant, Jamaica,[2] to Captain Benjamin Raffles (1739, London – 23 November 1811, Deptford) and Anne Raffles (née Lyde) (1755 – 8 February 1824, London).[1] Benjamin served as a ship master for various ships engaged in the direct trade between England and the West Indies. Although some biographers have suggested that Benjamin was involved in the slave trade, modern historians have refuted such claims. When Benjamin ended his involvement in the West India trade in 1800, it caused his family considerable hardship.[5]

The little money the family had went into sending the young Raffles to the Mansion House Academy, Hammersmith, a moderately-priced boarding school, offering Latin, Greek, French, arithmetic, bookkeeping and geography, that specialised in preparing boys for clerkships or the army.[6] In 1795, at the age of 14, Raffles started working as a clerk in London for the British East India Company, the trading company that shaped many of Britain's overseas conquests. Nine years later, in 1804, the 23-year-old Raffles married Olivia Mariamne Devenish, a widow ten years his senior,[1]^{: 57, 73, 107} who was formerly married to Jacob Cassivelaun Fancourt, an assistant surgeon in Madras, who had died in 1800.[1]^: 59, 69

In 1805, he was sent to Prince of Wales Island, Malaya, starting his long association with Southeast Asia. He started with a post, as assistant secretary, under the Honourable Philip Dundas, the new Governor of Penang.[7] At this time, he also made the acquaintance of Thomas Otho Travers, who would accompany him for the next twenty years.

In 1817, Raffles wrote and published The History of Java,[12] describing the history of the island from ancient times as well as its geography, flora, and fauna.

In 1817, Raffles was created a Knight Bachelor by the Prince Regent, George IV, whose daughter, Princess Charlotte, was particularly close to him. At the publication of the book, he also stopped using the name 'Thomas', preferring to use his middle name, 'Stamford', possibly to avoid confusion amongst his associates with Sir Thomas Sevestre, or his cousin Thomas Raffles who both bore the same first name.

On 22 February, he married his second wife, Sophia Hull,[7][13][14] and later set sail to Bencoolen (present day Bengkulu in Indonesia) to take up his new post with his new wife.

Territory of Bencoolen (pink)

Stamford Raffles

Raffles arrived in Bencoolen on 19 March 1818, where he was appointed as the Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen on 22 March 1818. Despite the prestige connected with the title of Lieutenant-Governor, Bencoolen was a colonial backwater, whose only real export was pepper, and only the murder of a previous Resident, Thomas Parr, gained it any attention back home in Britain. Raffles found the place wrecked, and set about reforms immediately, mostly similar to what he had done in Java; abolishing slavery and limiting cockfighting and such games. To replace the slaves, he used a contingent of convicts, already sent to him from India.

It was at this point that he realised the importance of a British presence that both challenged the Dutch hegemony in the area, and could remain consistently profitable, unlike Bencoolen or Batavia. However, the strategic importance of poorly maintained but well-positioned British possessions, such as Penang or Bencoolen, made it impossible for the British to abandon such unprofitable colonies in such proximity to the Dutch in Java. The competition in the area, between Raffles and the aggressive Dutch de jure Governor, Elout, certainly led at least in part to the later Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Raffles looked into alternatives in the area; namely Bangka, which had been ceded to the Dutch after its conquest by the British during its occupation of Java. Bintan was also under consideration. Despite the fact that Francis Light overlooked the island before settling upon Penang in 1786, the Riau Archipelago was an attractive choice just to the south of the Malay Peninsula, for its proximity to Malacca.

In his correspondences with Calcutta, Raffles also emphasised the need to establish a certain amount of influence with the native chiefs, which had greatly waned since the return of the Dutch. Raffles sent Thomas Travers as an ambassador to the Dutch, to possibly negotiate an expansion of British economic interests. When this failed, and when Raffles's own expeditions into his new dominion found only treacherous terrain and few exportable goods, his desire to establish a better British presence was cemented. However, the Anglo-Dutch Convention of 1814 was not completely clear, especially on the issue of certain possessions such as Padang. The Convention of 1814 only returned Dutch territory that was held before 1803, which did not include Padang. Raffles asserted the British claim personally, leading a small expedition to the Sultanate of Minangkabau. Yet, as Raffles confirmed with the sultan regarding the absolute British influence of the area, he realised that the local rulers had only limited power over the well-cultivated and civilised country, and the treaty was largely symbolic, and had little actual force.

Statue of Sir Stamford Raffles in Singapore, based on the original by Thomas Woolner

Major-General William Farquhar, the British Resident of Malacca, had been attempting to negotiate commercial treaties with the local chiefs of the Riau Archipelago, especially before Raffles's arrival. Farquhar was compelled to sign the treaty not with the official head of the sultanate, but rather, the Raja Muda (Regent or Crown Prince) of Riau. He noted it as a success, and reported it as such to Raffles.

Raffles sailed to Malacca in late 1818, to personally secure a British presence in the Riau area, especially Singapura, which was favoured by him both through the readings of Malayan histories, and by Farquhar's explorations. Despite Lord Hastings' less-than-stellar opinion of Raffles before (which had necessitated his trip to England to clear his name at the end of his tenure as Lieutenant-Governor of Java), the now well-connected and successful Raffles was able to secure permission to set up a settlement. At this point in Malaysian history, the name Lion City was applied. The city was in a strategically advantageous position; however, he was ordered not to provoke the Dutch, and his subsequent actions were officially disavowed by the British government.

In London, Viscount Castlereagh attempted to quell Dutch fears, and continuing efforts were made to reach an agreement between the nations that eventually became the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London of 1824. As well as the treaty, instructions were sent out to Raffles to undertake far less intrusive actions; however, the long distance between the Far East and Europe meant that the orders had no chance of reaching Raffles in time.

Raffles was still the Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen when he returned. Raffles started more reforms that were, by now, almost trademarks of his rule over the colonies. Forced labour was abolished when he first arrived, and he declared Bencoolen a free port as well. The currency was regulated and, as he had an excess of out-of-work civil servants, they formed committees to advise him on the daily running of the colony. However, Bencoolen was not as self-sufficient as Singapore. The area was poor and disease-ridden: the first reports from the committees reflected very poorly upon the condition of the colony. Unlike the salutary neglect Raffles granted upon Singapore, he delayed European-inspired reforms, emphasising only the cultivation of whatever land was available.

Native authorities were given power in their respective districts, and were answerable only to the Lieutenant-Governor. The slave-debtor system was brought in, instead of the old slavery system that Raffles had abolished in Java, Borneo, and initially in Bencoolen. Slave-debtors were registered, and educational reforms started to focus on children, instead of the entire population. Raffles looked into a long-term plan for the slow reform of Bencoolen.

Unlike many other European adventurers, Raffles did not impose upon the colonised the alien language or culture of the coloniser. In addition to preserving the artifacts, fauna, and flora of his colonies, he also allowed religious freedom, which was especially important as the Malay states were largely Muslim. Christian schools were started by missionaries in all of his colonies.

Raffles returned to Bencoolen in ill-health, but as his health improved, he continued on his quest to learn about the island he now called home. He studied the Batak cannibals of Tapanuli, and their rituals and laws regarding the consumption of human flesh, writing in detail about the transgressions that warranted such an act, as well as their methods. He also noted the rise of the Sikh religion in certain parts of Sumatra.

By early 1820, Tengku Long had firmly established himself as the Sultan of Johor to the British, but the political situation in the area remained a befuddled mess, with the old sultan dying, and many new ones attempting to gain either the crown or regency. As Farquhar was involving himself poorly in local politics, Raffles appointed Travers as the Resident of Singapore, replacing Farquhar. Upon his arrival, Travers found the colony a delightful smörgåsbord of different races and cultures, numbering over six thousand. He also found that Singapore's trade was slowly overtaking that of Java.

As in Java, Raffles collected samples of local species of plant and animal, as well as describing them in his journals. He located other tribes, and recorded their customs, especially their religions and laws. Bringing the island of Nias under British rule, he noted its civilised state and high production yields of rice.

Yet the production of food remained a problem. In Bencoolen, Raffles paid special attention to the agricultural methods of the Chinese, including an introduction to the only issue of Proceedings of the Agricultural Society. In order to remedy the shortages, his employer, the East India Company, concerned themselves only with profit-taking. Even as Raffles lived like a country gentleman, and ran his colony like an estate, his expenditure on nature preservation was seriously frowned upon. In both Calcutta and London, they discussed his removal from office, while Castlereagh continued negotiations with the Dutch regarding the ongoing diplomatic conflicts.

Luckily, the Singapore issue had its supporters in the House, so as negotiations continued in Europe, Raffles remained largely idle in Bencoolen. The only major issue, outside the politics of the local sultans, involved the replacement of Farquhar, who decided that he had no intention of leaving his post voluntarily, causing a moment of tension between him and Travers. Raffles's request for Travers to deliver dispatches to India nullified the issue late in the year, and Farquhar remained in charge of Singapore, with its survival still in doubt for many in both India and London, who believed that it would either be handed over to the Dutch, or taken violently by force when Castlereagh's negotiations had ended. Still William Farquhar stirred up more trouble, especially with local English merchants over trivial matters of self-importance, and overreaction over small infractions of white traders, for some of which he was reprimanded by Calcutta officially. Public works, commissioned by Raffles but undertaken by Farquhar, were becoming overwhelmingly expensive.

Personal tragedies also started for Raffles. His eldest son, Leopold Stamford (b. 1818), died during an epidemic on 4 July 1821. The oldest daughter, Charlotte (b. 1818), was also sick with dysentery by the end of the year, but it would be his youngest son, Stamford Marsden (b. 1820), who would perish first with the disease, on 3 January 1822, with Charlotte to follow ten days later. For the good part of four months, the couple remained devastated. The year would be eventful with the suicide of Castlereagh, and the appointment of Lord Amherst as the Governor-General of India, replacing Hastings. As Raffles grew restless and depressed, he decided to visit Singapore before retiring and heading home to England. Accompanying him would be his wife Sophia and their only surviving child, Ella.

Raffles was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) in 1822.[17]

The Plan of the Town of Singapore, also known more commonly as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan

Raffles returned to Singapore in October 1822. Raffles was pleased with the fact that Singapore had grown exponentially in such a short period of time. The colony was a bustling hub of trade and economic activity. Even so, Farquhar's administration was deemed unsatisfactory, for example, he allowed merchants to encroach on government areas, permitted vices such as gambling, and tolerated slave trade.[18]^: 38[19] In response, Raffles instituted new policies, and set up a committee headed by the colony's engineer, Philip Jackson to draw up a plan, now known as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan, based on instructions by Raffles. The plan was still racially segregated, giving the best land to the Europeans. Yet it was considered remarkably scientific for the time. Raffles also supervised the leveling of a small hill south of Singapore River to create Commercial Square (now Raffles Place).[20]

It was also during the re-planning and reconstruction of the port town that Farquhar dramatically argued with Raffles, who now considered him unfit for the position of Resident. Raffles dismissed Farquhar in April 1823, and took direct control. He had written to Calcutta declaring Farquhar to be incompetent in January 1823, and repeated efforts were made to persuade Calcutta to send a replacement for Farquhar; but they remained unanswered. Raffles made Johor a British protectorate, raising a protest from Van der Capellen. Eventually, Calcutta appointed John Crawfurd, who had followed Raffles for over twenty years, as the new Resident of Singapore, while Captain William Gordon MacKenzie took over Bencoolen. In March 1823, coincidentally the same day he was replaced, he received an official reprimand from London for the takeover of Nias.

Raffles convened a meeting on 1 April 1823, with the intention of opening a Malay college in Singapore, based on his observations on his years in southeast Asia, and his belief of the importance of both the local and the European languages. Raffles personally gave $2,000 towards the effort, the East India Company gave $4,000, with the contributions from various subscribers totalling $17,495. This would be the founding of Raffles Institution.[21]

In the final few weeks of his stay in Singapore, in 1823, Raffles drafted a series of administrative regulations for Singapore that aimed to govern Singapore in a fair manner, but also reflected his stance on various moral and social issues. A registration system was first instituted for all land, regardless of ownership, and the repossession of the land by the government if land remained unregistered. This act asserted the power of the British government as it covered land previously owned by the Sultan as well. This is followed by laws regarding the port and freedom of trade. In May 1823, he outlawed gambling, imposed heavy taxation on what he considered social evils such as drunkenness and opium-smoking, and banned slavery.[18]^: 40 A police force and magistracy were also set up on British principles, turning a trading post into a proper city with some semblance of order. A specific regulation in the constitution called for the multi-ethnic population to remain as they were; and no crimes were entirely based on racial principles. Raffles worked on drafting laws, defining exactly 'what' constituted a criminal act.

A view of Singapore from the sea, sketched by Lt. Philip Jackson shortly before Raffles's departure in 1823. Found amongst documents belonging to Raffles.[22]

Finally, on 9 June 1823, feeling that his work in establishing Singapore was finished, he boarded a ship for home, but not before a stop in Batavia to visit his old home, and adversary, van der Capellen. A final stop in Bencoolen followed. Tragedy befell Raffles once more when his youngest daughter, Flora Nightingall, born on 19 September, died a little over one month later on 28 November while still in Bencoolen.

On 2 February 1824, Raffles and his family embarked on the East Indiaman Fame for England. Unfortunately, she caught fire 50 miles (80 kilometres) from Bencoolen the evening after she sailed. All aboard were able to take to her boats and were saved, although the ship herself was totally destroyed.[23][24] The fire claimed all his drawings and papers.

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 finally settled the score in the East Indies. The British gained dominance in the north, while the entirety of Sumatra became Dutch. The Malay Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent were both free of Dutch interference. Raffles finally returned to England on 22 August 1824, over a year after he left Singapore. His longest tenure in Singapore was only eight months, but he was considered the founder of Singapore nevertheless.

Arms of Stamford Raffles

Upon arrival in England in poor health, Sir Stamford and Lady Raffles convalesced in Cheltenham until September 1824, after which he entertained distinguished guests in both London and his home. He also made plans to stand for parliament, but this ambition was never realised. They moved to a London address at Berners Street at the end of November 1824, just in time to have a war of words with Farquhar, who had also arrived in the city, in front of the Court of Directors of the East India Company regarding Singapore. Despite raising several severe charges against Raffles, Farquhar was ultimately unable to discredit him; he was denied a chance to be restored to Singapore, but was given a military promotion instead.

With the Singapore matter settled, Raffles turned to his other great interests: botany and zoology. He was elected a member of the Linnean Society of London on 5 February 1825.[25] Raffles was a founder (in 1825) and first president (elected April 1826) of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the London Zoo. Meanwhile, he was not only not granted a pension, but was called to pay over twenty-two thousand pounds sterling for losses incurred during his administration. Raffles replied by clarifying his actions: and he decided to move to his country estate, Highwood, North London, but before the issue was resolved, he was already much too ill.

He died at Highwood House in Mill Hill, north London, on his 45th birthday, on 5 July 1826, of apoplexy. His estate amounted to around ten thousand pounds sterling, which was paid to the company to cover his outstanding debt. Because of his anti-slavery position, he was refused burial inside the local parish church (St Mary's Church, Hendon) by the vicar, Theodor Williams, whose family had made its money in Jamaica in the slave trade. A brass tablet was finally placed in 1887, but the actual whereabouts of his body was not known until 1914, when it was found in a vault. When the church was extended in the 1920s, his tomb was incorporated into the body of the building, and a square floor tablet with inscription marked the spot.

Raffles was survived by his second wife Sophia Hull and daughter Ella, and predeceased by his other four children in Bencoolen.[14] Ella died in 1840, aged nineteen. Sophia remained at Highwood House until her death in 1858, at the age of 72. Her tomb and memorial may be seen in St Paul's Church graveyard, Mill Hill, close to the rear door of the church. All his other children remained buried overseas. Thirty-three years after his death, Raffles' substantial collection of Indonesian antiquities and ethnography was donated to the British Museum by his nephew, Rev William Charles Raffles Flint.[7]

Raffles statue in Westminster Abbey

A life-size figure in white marble by Sir Francis Chantrey depicts Raffles in a seated position in Westminster Abbey, London, England. The sculpture was completed in 1832, and it is in the north choir aisle.[26]

The inscription reads:

To the memory of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, L.L.D. F.R.S. Lieut. Governor of Java and first President of the Zoological Society of London. Born 1781 Died 1826. Selected at an early age to conduct the government of the British conquests in the Indian ocean, by wisdom, vigour, and philanthropy, he raised Java to happiness and prosperity unknown under former rulers. After the surrender of that island to the Dutch, and during his government in Sumatra he founded an emporium at Singapore, where in establishing freedom of person as the right of the soil, and freedom of trade as the right of the port, he secured to the British flag the maritime superiority of the eastern seas. Ardently attached to science, he laboured successfully to add to the knowledge and enrich the museums of his native land, in promoting the welfare of the people committed to his charge, he sought the good of his country, and the glory of God.

In Singapore, and in other parts of the world, his name lives on in numerous entities, including:

• History of Singapore
• Raffles's Landing Site

• Quotations related to Stamford Raffles at Wikiquote
• Media related to Stamford Raffles at Wikimedia Commons
• Portraits of Stamford Raffles at the National Portrait Gallery, London
• Firaci, Biagio (10 June 2014). "Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and the British colonisation of Singapore among Penang, Melaka and Bencoonen". Singlish.it.
• "Raffles biography". RMBR.NUS.edu.sg. Singapore: Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. Archived from the original on 4 April 2005.
• Thomas Stamford Raffles at Find a Grave
• "Raffles and the Golden Opportunity". The Guardian. 5 December 2012.