Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles was a British colonial official who served as the governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieutenant-governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. Raffles was involved in the capture of the Indonesian island of Java from the Dutch during the Napoleonic Wars. It was returned under the Anglo–Dutch Treaty of 1814. He also wrote The History of Java in 1817, describing the history of the island from ancient times. The Rafflesia flower was named after him.
Raffles Place is the centre of the Financial District of Singapore and is located south of the mouth of the Singapore River. It was first planned and developed in the 1820s as Commercial Square to serve as the hub of the commercial zone of Singapore in Raffles Town Plan. It was renamed Raffles Place in 1858 and is now the site of a number of major banks. It is located in the Downtown Core within the Central Area, and features some of the tallest buildings and landmarks of the country.
William Farquhar was a Scottish colonial administrator employed by the East India Company, who served as the sixth Resident of Malacca between 1813 and 1818, and the first Resident of Singapore between 1819 and 1823.
The Central Area, also called the City Area, and informally The City, is the main commercial city centre of Singapore. Located in the south-eastern part of the Central Region, the Central Area consists of eleven constituent planning areas: the Downtown Core, Marina East, Marina South, the Museum Planning Area, Newton, Orchard, Outram, River Valley, Rochor, the Singapore River and Straits View, as defined by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The term Central Business District (CBD) has also been used to describe most of the Central Area as well, although its boundaries lie within the Downtown Core.
The Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan, an urban plan of 1822 titled "Plan of the Town of Singapore", is a proposed scheme for Singapore drawn up to maintain some order in the urban development of the fledgling but thriving colony founded just three years earlier. It was named after Lieutenant Philip Jackson, the colony's engineer and land surveyor tasked to oversee its physical development in accordance with the vision of Stamford Raffles for Singapore, hence it is also commonly called Raffles Town Plan. Raffles gave his instructions in November 1822, the plan was then drawn up in late 1822 or early 1823 and published in 1828. It is the earliest extant plan for the town of Singapore, but not an actual street map of Singapore as it existed in 1822 or 1827 since the plan is an idealised scheme of how Singapore may be organised that was not fully realised. Nevertheless, it served as a guide for the development of Singapore in its early days, and the effect of the general layout of the plan is still observable to this day.
The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with many integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buildings in the world, with a luxurious standalone casino at Bayfront Avenue. There are many skyscrapers in Raffles Place, Tanjong Pagar and Marina Bay CBD with a height limit of 280m. It is one of the eleven planning areas located within the most urbanised Central Area, forming the latter's dense urban core. It is bounded by Rochor to the north, Kallang to the northeast, Marina East and Marina South to the east, Straits View to the southeast, Bukit Merah to the south, as well as Outram, Museum and Singapore River to the west.
The Singapore Stone is a fragment of a large sandstone slab which originally stood at the mouth of the Singapore River. The large slab, which is believed to date back to at least the 13th century and possibly as early as the 10th or 11th century, bore an undeciphered inscription. Recent theories suggest that the inscription is either in Old Javanese or in Sanskrit, which suggested a possibility that the island was an extension of the Majapahit civilization in the past.
The establishment of a British trading post in Singapore in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles led to its founding as a British colony in 1824. This event has generally been understood to mark the founding of colonial Singapore, a break from its status as a port in ancient times during the Srivijaya and Majapahit eras, and later, as part of the Sultanate of Malacca and the Johor Sultanate.
Fort Canning Hill, or simply known as Fort Canning, is a prominent hill, about 48 metres (157 ft) high, in the southeast portion of Singapore, within the Central Area that forms Singapore's central business district.
The Arts House is a multi-disciplinary arts venue in Singapore. The venue plays host to art exhibitions and concerts. Built in 1827, the Old Parliament House is the oldest government building and perhaps the oldest surviving building in Singapore. The building was home to the Parliament of Singapore from 1965 to 1999, when it moved to an adjacent new building.
The architecture of Singapore displays a range of influences and styles from different places and periods. These range from the eclectic styles and hybrid forms of the colonial period to the tendency of more contemporary architecture to incorporate trends from around the world. In both aesthetic and technological terms, Singapore architecture may be divided into the more traditional pre-World War II colonial period, and the largely modern post-war and post-colonial period.
George Drumgoole Coleman, also known as George Drumgold Coleman, was an Irish civil architect who played an instrumental role in the design and construction of much of the civil infrastructure in early Singapore, after it was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. Only a few of his buildings have survived in Singapore, most notably Armenian Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, Maxwell's House, and Caldwell House.
Philip Jackson was a British Royal Navy lieutenant in the Bengal Regiment Artillery. Jackson has also served as assistant engineer, executive officer and surveyor of public lands in colonial Singapore and laid out the city plan for Singapore in 1822. He was a key person in Raffles plans for the settlement and the Elgin Bridge in Singapore was once named in his honour.
Stamford Road is a one-way road in Singapore within the planning areas of Downtown Core and Museum. The road continues after the traffic light junction of Nicoll Highway, Esplanade Drive and Raffles Avenue towards Orchard Road. It then ends at the junction of Fort Canning Road, Bencoolen Street and Orchard Road, which it continues to be Orchard Road. Stamford Road is home to several landmarks, including Swissôtel The Stamford and the National Museum of Singapore.
The Museum Planning Area is a planning area located in the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore. The area plays a "bridging role" between the Orchard area and the Downtown Core, which necessitates proper transport networks for vehicles, pedestrians and public transport. Due to the sheer size of green areas in the district, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has designated it a 'green lung' in the Central Area. However, the Museum Planning Area is also home to cultural and commercial activities. Around 65% of the area is available for future development, making it a hotbed for new infrastructure and buildings.
The Old National Library Building was a historical library building at Stamford Road in the Museum Planning Area of Singapore. Originally completed in 1960, the library building was a national icon for many Singaporeans. Despite a huge groundswell of public dissent, the library was closed on 31 March 2004, and was demolished in July that year to make way for the construction of the Fort Canning Tunnel to ease road traffic to the city. The controversy surrounding the building's demise has been credited for sparking greater awareness of local cultural roots and an unprecedented wave in favour of heritage conservation among Singaporeans.
British Bencoolen, variously known during its existence as Fort York, Fort Marlborough, Bencoolen, Benkulu, or "the West Coast", was a possession of the British East India Company (EIC) extending nearly 500 miles along the southwestern coast of Sumatra and centered on the area of what is now Bengkulu City. The EIC established a presence there in 1685, and in 1714 it built Fort Marlborough there. The United Kingdom ceded Bencoolen to the Netherlands in 1824.
Pearl's Hill, briefly Mount Stamford, is a small hill in Singapore. Located in the vicinity of Chinatown, it is one of the few surviving hills in the city area.
Fame was built at Northfleet in 1818. She made one voyage under charter to the British East India Company (EIC). A fire destroyed her in 1824 during her second voyage for the EIC.
Sophia, Lady Raffles was the second wife of Sir Stamford Raffles, who was a botanist and known as the founder of modern Singapore.
