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.

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. Select the IGI Search and enter Region Asia and 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.

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.

Newspapers

• Singapore Straits Times 1845-1982 (search) Full articles cannot be viewed, but searches can provide results to be explored on microfilm where available, such as at BL Colindale, and Monash University Library, Victoria, Australia (catalogue entry).

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

• The National Library of Singapore - items in the section Singapore Pages include:

• "Tracing Roots" pdf brochure
• Singapore Collection of the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library. This India List post mentions microfilms of directories at the Library.
• Books available to download including:

• Directories for The Straits and/or Singapore for the years 1853-1857, 1859-1863, 1867-1871, 1875, 1877, 1879, 1881. The majority of these books 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.
• The stranger's guide to Singapore with maps 1890

• National Archives of Singapore, includes Access to Archives Online. This India List post details some of the information available at the National Archives.
• National Heritage Board including the National Museum of Singapore

Historical books online

• 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.
• 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 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

An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore (1819-1867) Volume 1 Volume 2 by Charles Burton Buckley 1902 Archive.org

• Handbook to Singapore with Map, and a Plan of the Botanical Gardens by George Murray Reith 1892 Archive.org

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 YK 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).

• “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 YK Lee

Also see Apothecary and Nurse

Other

• Rootsweb Singapore Mailing List - for details refer Mailing lists