Singapore

In 1819, the British East India Company, led by Sir Stamford Raffles, established a trading post on the island of Singapore, which was used as a port along the spice route.

Singapore formed part of the Straits Settlements, together with Penang (Prince of Wales Island) and Malacca.

Records

• Ecclesiastical Returns: Baptisms, Marriages and Burials at the British Library. Prince of Wales Island [Penang], Malacca and Singapore 1799-1829 in IOR N/8. These records are included in the digitised records now available on the commercial site findmypast

The LDS film number for these records is 498606, item 2. LDS batch number for baptisms 1828-1829 C310051. Data for the baptisms 1828-1829 has been transcribed on the LDS website Family Search. Enter batch number C310051, and baptismal records for Singapore on film 498606 will be shown. It is not known whether the data is a complete transcription or not. These records are in the World category (All Records Collections) in a group of records called World Miscellaneous.

Returns are continued in the Bengal returns 1830-1868, N/1. For Malacca marriages 1820-1824, see also IOR: R/9/39/3.

• This LDS catalogue entry gives details of the church and cemetery records available for Singapore.

• BACSA has published the book Singapore: Early Cemeteries by Alan Harfield 1988 (revised edn) "Comprehensive record of all main cemeteries. 400pp, over 150 illustrations, maps and plans". See BACSA Books. This book is included in the BACSA Search database which is free to search. If you want a copy of the full record, a fee applies.

• British & Indian Armies in the East Indies (1685-1935) by Alan Harfield 1984 is available at the British Library. History of British and Indian Armies in Sumatra, Java, Sarawak, Malaya and Singapore from 1685-1935. Includes names of officers and men buried in these areas. Also includes name lists of persons in some military units which served in these areas.

Newspapers

• Singapore Straits Times 1845-1982 (search) Full articles may now be viewed. (Previously searches could provide results to be explored on microfilm where available, such as at BL Colindale, and Monash University Library, Victoria, Australia (catalogue entry).

Recommended reading

• Raffles and the Golden Opportunity by Victoria Glendinning, published 2012.

This book has been reviewed by Beverly Hallam in FIBIS Journal Number 30 (Autumn 2013) page 43

External Links

Encylopedia entries

• Singapore Wikipedia

• Singapore in the Straits Settlements era Wikipedia

• Thomas Stamford Raffles Wikipedia
• Straits Settlements Wikipedia
• Singapore Infopedia National Library of Singapore

Institutions

• ICA (The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority, Singapore Government) maintains birth and death records which were registered in Singapore since 1872. Birth and Death Extracts Application System (eXtracts Online)
• National Library Board, Singapore:
  • Lee Kong Chian Reference Library
    • Tracing Roots: Resource Guide (pdf brochure) to the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library (LKCRL). Resources includes Directories on microfilm, for years additional to those available in digital editions
  • BookSG "A digital collection of Singapore and Southeast Asia's print heritage". Includes Directories, refer below. The majority of the Directories are in the category 'Commerce and Industry', but the volume for 1867-1869 is in the category Events. There is also an 1821 Directory for Prince of Wales Island (Penang) in the category Organisations.
  • Newspapers. Refer above.
• National Archives of Singapore, includes Access to Archives Online.
• National Heritage Board including the National Museum of Singapore

Historical books online

• Directories from BookSG
  • Prince of Wales Island: Annual register and directory 1821
  • The Singapore almanack and directory 1853-1855, 1857, Royal Almanac 1859-1860, 1856
  • The Straits calendar and directory 1861-1863, Royal Almanac 1864; 1865-1866, 1867-1869, 1870-1871
  • The Singapore directory for the Straits Settlements 1877, 1879
  • The Singapore and Straits directory for 1881
• Memoir of the life and public services of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles...particularly in the government of Java, 1811-1816, Bencoolen and its dependencies, 1817-1824: (etc) Volume 1, by Sophia Raffles (1835), Volume 2 Google Books.
• Travels in South-Eastern Asia (etc) by Howard Malcolm (2nd edition 1839) 2 volumes in one, Google Books. Singapore in 1837 commences page 81 of Book 2.
• "The Eastern Settlements: Singapore, Prince of Wales Island, Malacca" page 283 The Bengal and Agra Annual Guide and Gazetteer for 1842 Volume II Google Books. Includes Lists of Inhabitants.
• Trade and Travel in the Far East; Or, Recollections of Twenty-one Years Passed in Java, Singapore, Australia, and China by G.F. Davidson (1846). Singapore is covered in Chapters 3 and 4. Google Books
• A Gazetteer of Southern India: with the Tenasserim Provinces and Singapore by Pharoah &Co (1855). Singapore, page 725
• Memorandum on the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca by John Crawfurd 1858 Google Books (Missing pages 1-3) Penang, Malacca and Singapore
• An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore (1819-1867) Volume 1 Volume 2 by Charles Burton Buckley 1902 Archive.org
• The stranger's guide to Singapore with maps Compiled by B E D' Aranjo 1890. BookSG
• Handbook to Singapore with Map, and a Plan of the Botanical Gardens by George Murray Reith 1892 Archive.org
• Prisoners their own warders: a record of the convict prison at Singapore in the Straits Settlements, established 1825, discontinued 1873, together with a cursory history of the convict establishments at Bencoolen, Penang and Malacca from the year 1797 by Major J. F. A. McNair, assisted by W. D. Bayliss. 1899 Archive.org
• CSCA: Source Documents on the Study of Christianity in Asia Online books from CSCA [The Centre for the Study of Christianity in Asia] Trinity Theological College, Singapore. There also seem to be a few books of a more general nature.
  • Love Unites People : Memoirs of a Christian Worker in Singapore from 1913 to 1959 (or direct pdf) by George Daniel 1957. He was also in Bombay 1906-1908, and Rangoon 1908-1913. He was a Choirister and Server in Anglican Churches.

Medical history of Singapore

• "History Of Medicine In Singapore” by J S Cheah Singapore Medical Journal 1997 Volume 38 (6)
• Articles by Y K Lee in the online Singapore Medical Journal

• “The General Hospital in Early Singapore" “Part I 1819-1829” 1973 Mar 14 (1) 37-41 "Part II 1830—1839” 1973 Dec 14(4) 519-
• “Forensic Medicine in Early Singapore Part I 1819-1839” 1974 Mar 15(1) p 84-90
• “A Brief Introduction to the Early History of Surgery in Singapore” "Part I" 1997 Volume 38(6) "Part II" 1997 Volume 38(7) "Part III" 1997 Volume 38(8):353–355
• "Private practitioners and private hospitals in early Singapore (1819-1872)" 2005 Sep; 46(9):489-503
• Other articles by Y K Lee about the early medical history of Singapore in the Singapore Medical Journal available online (search by year) are in respect of:

• Cholera (1973 Mar)
• The Pauper Hospital (8 Parts-1973 Mar; 1974 Mar; 1975 Jun; 1975 Sep; 1975 Dec; 1976 Mar; 1976 Jun; 1976 Sep)
• Smallpox and Vaccination (4 Parts- 1973 Dec; 1976 Dec; 1977 Mar; 1977 Jun)
• Prostitution And Venereal Disease (2 Parts-1980 Oct; 1980 Dec)
• The Mental Diseases Hospital Singapore (1st 100 Years) (4 Parts-1992 Aug; 1992 Oct;1992 Dec;1993 Feb)
• The Coroner (2005 Oct)
• Radiology (2006 Feb)
• Anaesthetics (2006 Mar)
• Pharmacy (2006 May).

• "Lunatics and Lunatic Asylums in Early Singapore" (1819-1869) by Y K Lee Med Hist. 1973 January; 17(1): 16–36. html version, pdf
• “A Century of Medical & University Education in Singapore (1905-2005)” Annals Academy of Medicine Singapore Vol 34 No. 6 July 2005 Contains many articles about the medical history of Singapore, including some by Y K Lee

Also see Apothecary and Nurse

Other

• Eurasians in Singapore Wikipedia
• Rootsweb Singapore Mailing List - for details refer Mailing lists
• Peter Stubbs’ Fort Siloso including A Soldier’s Home [in the 1880s]
• Official website of the Malaysian Dutch Descendants Project includes History of the Dutch and Dutch-Eurasians in Malaysia. Many Dutch Eurasians moved from Malacca to Singapore from the middle of the nineteenth century.
• Remnants of Jews in Singapore by Barbara Kingstone January 17, 2011 indulgedtraveler.com, now an archived webpage (retrieved 29 May 2014)
• Article about golf courses from the New York Times, dated January 8, 1899. Includes a description of the Sepoy golf links at Singapore with its uniquely named greens. From Amit Paranjape’s Blog, June 1, 2009