Istana Bidadari was a palace once located within the

Bidadari Cemetery Bidadari Cemetery ( Malay: ''Perkuburan Bidadari'', Chinese: 比达达利坟场) is a defunct cemetery in Singapore. It used to serve the Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Sinhalese communities, and accepted burials between 1907 and 1972. The site ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

from the late-1850s to 1915.

History

An estate of about 45-acre in Singapore was first acquired by the British civil engineer Henry Minchin Simons in 1855, there he had the house built between 1855 and 1861. He later exchanged the estate with William Napier for his Tyersall estate. The estate was subsequently sold to

Temenggong Abu Bakar Sultan Sir Abu Bakar Al-Khalil Ibrahim Shah ibni Almarhum Temenggong Seri Maharaja Tun Daeng Ibrahim ( Jawi: ; 3 February 1833 – 4 June 1895) was the Temenggong of Johor. He was the 1st Sultan of Modern Johor, the 21st Sultan of Johor and t ...

in the mid-1860s and he gave it to his second wife, the Danish woman Enche' Puan Besar Zubaidah binti Abdullah who was born Cecilia Catharina Lange, for her residence. Thus the estate was known as

Bidadari An apsaras or apsara ( sa, अप्सरा ' lso ' pi, अक्चरा, translit=accharā) is a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hinduism and Buddhist culture. They figure prominently in the sculpture, dance, litera ...

and house was known as Istana Bidadari, in reference to the beauty of the Temenggong's wife as compared to the fairies. Temenggong Abu Bakar would spend much for his time there with his wife, although his main residence was at Tyersall. Istana Bidadari was noted to be the birthplaces of Maharaja of Johor Abu Bakar and Zubaidah's daughter Tengku Mariam Al-Marhum, born on 21 December 1871, and son, Ibrahim Al-Marhum, his eventual successor, who was born on 17 September 1873. After her husband Abu Bakar proclaimed as the Sultan of Johor in 1885, Sultana Zubaidah moved to Johor and the former palace was rented out to various parties, including the Austro-Hungarian

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

in 1889. In 1902, the Municipal Commissioners officially declared the acquisition of 26 hectares of the estate to be used as a cemetery, which would be named after the estate's name. The Bidadari Cemetery was officially opened on 1 January 1908. The former palace was demolished in 1915.

References

{{coord missing, Singapore Demolished buildings and structures in Singapore Buildings and structures demolished in 1915 Places in Singapore Palaces in Singapore Royal residences in Singapore Protected areas of Singapore 1915 disestablishments in the British Empire 1915 disestablishments in the Straits Settlements 1915 disestablishments in Singapore