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The founding of Singapore has typically been attributed to the strategic genius of one man, Stamford Raffles. Frequently overlooked is the part played by his superior in the East India Company, the Marquess of Hastings. It was Hastings who, as Governor-General of India, made the fateful decision to establish a British trading post at the southern entrance of the Malacca Straits, and once this was executed with great daring by Raffles in early 1819, it was Hastings again who supported the retention of Singapore against opposition from all quarters. This book provides an intimate account of Singapore's founding by drawing on the personal correspondence between these two men, which they maintained separately from their official exchanges. Published here for the first time, these private letters reveal at first-hand the challenges that Raffles and Hastings faced in manoeuvring within the Dutch-dominated East Indies. Just as significantly, they reveal the complex relationship between the two men - evolving from mutual suspicion at the outset to cooperation and admiration, but nonetheless peppered throughout with backbiting, hidden agendas and the clash of personal ambitions. Historian John Bastin brings rigorous scholarship to bear on this work, at the same time presenting it in a clear, readable style that will engage specialist and general readers alike.

Sujets

Histoire

Diaries

Singapore

History of Asia

Singapour

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Publié par	Marshall Cavendish International
Date de parution	25 septembre 2014
Nombre de lectures	1
EAN13	9789814634786
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	4 Mo

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RAFFLES AND HASTINGS

Raffles and Hastings
Private Exchanges behind the Founding of Singapore
J OHN B ASTIN
2014 National Library Board, Singapore, and John Sturgus Bastin Design 2014 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd
Published by
Marshall Cavendish Editions An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196 Tel: +65 6213 9300 | Email: genref@sg.marshallcavendish.com
and
National Library Board, Singapore 100 Victoria Street, 14-01, National Library Building, Singapore 188064 Tel: +65 6332 3255 | Email: ref@library.nlb.gov.sg | www.nlb.gov.sg
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as expressly permitted by the law, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners.
The publishers make no representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book, and specifically disclaim any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, and shall in no events be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
It is assumed that all images used in this book are out of copyright and belong in the public domain. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders. In the event of omissions, please contact the National Library Board. Appropriate credit will be made in future reprints.
First published in 2012 as The Founding of Singapore 1819 by National Library Board, Singapore.
National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data:
Bastin, John Sturgus, 1927- Raffles and Hastings : Private exchanges behind the founding of Singapore / John Bastin. - Singapore : National Library Board Singapore and Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2014 pages cm ISBN : 978-981-4561-440 (paperback) 1. Raffles, Thomas Stamford, Sir, 1781-1826 - Correspondence. 2. Hastings, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, Marquess of, 1754-1826 - Correspondence. 3. Singapore - History - 1819-1867 - Sources. I. Title. DS598.S75 959.5703 - dc23 OCN 884843481
Printed in Singapore by Craft Print International Ltd
Frontispiece: First page of letter written by Stamford Raffles to the Marquess of Hastings, 22 June 1819 (6 leaves, 240 200mm, reproduced at 80%; see full transcription on page 93). Courtesy of the Bute Collection at Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute, Scotland.
Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Letters
Note on the Letters
Preface
I
Beginnings of the Relationship
II
Raffles s Expansionist Policies in Sumatra
III
Hastings Favours the Southern Melaka Straits
IV
Mission to the Eastward
V
Establishment of a British Station at Singapore
VI
Raffles s Official Account of the Founding of Singapore
VII
Raffles s Private Reports on the Founding of Singapore
VIII
Rapid Progress of the Settlement
IX
Raffles as a Political Agent in the Malay Archipelago
X
Proposal for the Amalgamation of Pinang, Singapore and Bengkulu
XI
Raffles and Singapore
XII
The Resident of Singapore
XIII
Final Exchanges and Hastings s Death
Appendices: Additional Letters of Raffles
Notes
Sources
Index
Illustrations
Frontispiece: Letter from Raffles to Hastings
1
Map of Asia and Its Islands
2
Map of the East India Isles
3
The Marquess of Hastings
4
Lord Minto
5
Major-General Robert Rollo Gillespie
6
The Prince Regent (George IV)
7
Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold
8
Sir Joseph Banks
9
William Wilberforce
10
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
11
Fort Marlborough, Bengkulu
12
Charlotte Seymour, Duchess of Somerset
13
Baron G.A.G.P. van der Capellen
14
Lady Raffles
15
Barakpur, Bengal
16
Government House, Calcutta
17
Major-General William Farquhar
18
Fort Cornwallis, Prince of Wales Island
19
Colonel John Alexander Bannerman
20
The Indiana
21
William Marsden
22
Plan of Singapore Harbour, February 1819
23
Jan Samuel Timmerman Thijssen
24
Dr. Thomas Horsfield
25
East India House, London
26
George Canning
27
William Edward Phillips
28
Captain Thomas Otho Travers
29
Suffolk House, Pinang
30
Captain William Flint
31
Mary Ann Flint n e Raffles
32
The Marquess of Lansdowne
33
Lord Amherst
34
The Marquess of Hastings
35
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
36
View from Government Hill, Singapore
Letters Printed in Full
1
Hastings, in Calcutta, to Raffles
4 December 1815
2
Raffles, in Bengkulu, to Hastings
16 April 1818
3
Hastings, on the Gogra, to Raffles
6 July 1818
4
Raffles, in Pinang, to Hastings
8 January 1819
5
Raffles, in Pinang, to Farquhar
16 January 1819
6
Raffles, in Pinang, to Bannerman
18 January 1819
7
Raffles, en route to Pinang, to Young
12 February 1819
8
Raffles, in Pinang, to Adam
13 February 1819
9
Raffles, in Pinang, to Hastings
15 February 1819
10
Raffles, in Pinang, to Adam
16 February 1819
11
Raffles, in Pinang, to Young
16 February 1819
12
Raffles, in Pinang, to Hastings
28 February 1819
13
Raffles, in Pinang, to Hastings
19 May 1819
14
Raffles, in Singapore, to Hastings
8 June 1819
15
Raffles, in Singapore, to Hastings
17 June 1819
16
Raffles, in Singapore, to Hastings
17 June 1819
17
Raffles, in Singapore, to Hastings
22 June 1819
18
Raffles, in Bengkulu, to Hastings
20 August 1819
19
Raffles, in Bengkulu, to Hastings
29 September 1819
20
Raffles, in Bengkulu, to Hastings
5 October 1819
21
Raffles, in Calcutta, to Hastings
25 November 1819
22
Hastings, in Calcutta, to Raffles
27 November 1819
23
Raffles, in Bengkulu, to Hastings
25 March 1820
24
Raffles, in Bengkulu, to Hastings
12 August 1820
25
Raffles, in Cheltenham, to Hastings
9 October 1824
26
Hastings, in Malta, to Raffles
5 December 1824
27
Raffles, in Pinang, to Young
12 January 1819
28
Raffles, in Bengkulu, to Hastings
23 October 1820
29
Raffles, in Bengkulu, to Hastings
15 May 1821
30
Raffles, in Singapore, to Tayler
9 June 1819
31
Raffles, in Bengkulu, to Lansdowne
15 April 1820
32
Raffles, in Bengkulu, to Lansdowne
19 January 1821
33
Raffles, in Bengkulu, to Lansdowne
1 March 1822
34
Raffles, in Singapore, to Lansdowne
20 January 1823

NOTE ON THE LETTERS
The 34 letters published in this book have been transcribed from the originals as closely as possible. Editorial insertions and clarifications are enclosed in square brackets, while longer explanatory notes are indicated by superscript numbers. Variations in spelling that occur in the manuscript letters, such as place names (Singapore/Sincapore), are preserved faithfully in the transcriptions, as are all punctuation marks (including Raffles s liberal use of dashes), raised letters and capitalisation.
Most abbreviations, such as Gov t (Government) and Serv t (Servant), are clear from context; three that are rarely encountered today may be worth pointing out here: ultimo / ulto (last month); instant (this month); and c (et cetera, often to shorten the formal valedictions preceding the signature).
The layout of the letters is also preserved as far as possible. In formal correspondence of Raffles and Hastings s day, the recipient s name and title were typically included at the bottom of the letter or at the foot of the first page (as seen, for example, in the facsimile facing the title page). In the transcriptions here they are always printed at the end of the letter.
Preface
This account of the founding of Singapore is based largely on Raffles s unpublished private letters to the Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in India, Francis, 1 st Marquess of Hastings, preserved in the Bute Collection at Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute, Scotland. The letters are to be distinguished from Raffles s official despatches to the Supreme Government in Bengal, his private letters to Charlotte Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, and other documents in the British Library, as well as letters to his agent, John Tayler, and Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3 rd Marquess of Lansdowne, in the National Library Singapore.
The part played by Hastings in the founding of Singapore and his relationship with Raffles are essential themes of the book. The text follows the chronological sequence of Raffles s letters to him, but in order to provide an explanation of their contents there is a brief introductory account of Raffles s attempts to extend British political influence in Sumatra since it was the rejection of these plans by Lord Hastings, and the adoption of an alternative policy of securing British power in the Straits of Melaka, which led to the founding of Singapore.
The book contains a good deal of original documentation, but it does not pretend to offer a comprehensive account of the founding of Singapore since it omits all reference to the correspondence between Lord Hastings and the Governor-General of the Netherlands India, Baron G.A.G.P. van der Capellen, as well as details of the protracted negotiations between the British and Netherlands governments which led to the Treaty of London in 1824 and the recognition of Singapore as a British possession. These subjects have been examined by the Dutch scholar P.H. van der Kemp in his numerous publications, and by Harry J. Marks in his monograph, The First Contest for Singapore 1819-1824 (The Hague, 1959).
I wish to thank John, Marquess of Bute, for granting me permission to publish Raffles s private letters to the Marquess of Hastings in the Bute Collection at Mount Stuart, and Mr. Andrew McLean, former Head of Collections at Mount Stuart, and Miss Lynsey Nairn, Collections Assistant, for their help. I also wish to express my gratitude to the British Library for