Johnston's Pier was a pier, formerly situated at

Collyer Quay Collyer Quay () is a road in Downtown Core, Singapore that starts after Fullerton Road and ends at the junction of Raffles Quay, Finlayson Green and Marina Boulevard. The road houses several landmarks namely, Clifford Pier, Change Alley, Hit ...

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 ...

, where it stood from the mid-1850s to the mid-1930s.

History

After the establishment of Singapore as a Strait Settlements port, many buildings along its southern shoreline were directly facing the sea. As business and commerce constantly developed along the waterfront, many merchants set up their businesses at Commercial Square with their

godown A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, tow ...

s backed into the waterfront where they had their own jetties. The idea of constructing a wooden jetty near the godowns of A. L. Johnston & Co. was first mooted to the municipal committee on 26 March 1853 for the convenience of the commercial and shipping interests in Singapore. After consulting the government surveyor, the municipal committee approved the construction of a stone ghaut on 20 July 1853 to be used as a public landing place instead of the wooden jetty as originally intended. In conjunction with the proposed ghaut, a stone embankment stretching from the proposed ghaut to Battery Road would be built. Plans for a jetty known as Johnston's Pier was submitted to the municipal committee about 3 months later. On 19 October 1853, the municipal committee approved the construction of the jetty at an expenditure not exceeding S$3,000. A small house for a pier-keeper would also constructed at the inner end of the pier.

Launch

The Engineer Captain

Ronald MacPherson Ronald MacPherson (14 July 1817 – 6 December 1869) was a military officer, architect and colonial administrator in Singapore. He is well known for the design of the St Andrew Cathedral. Early life and education Born in the Isle of Skye, Ma ...

officially announced its completion to the Resident Councillor and Chairman of the municipal committee on 13 March 1856, the pier was named after a prominent Scottish businessman Alexander Laurie Johnston, one of the earliest European settlers who had arrived in Singapore in 1819 and established the first merchant firm A. L. Johnston & Co. there in 1820. A male pier-keeper was hired at a salary of S$6 per month for the maintaining of the crane as well as lighting and cleaning of the lamps at the pier. The wooden jetty was 40-feet wide and stretched 120-feet into the sea. The red lamps which were placed above the pier had led to many local Chinese of Hokkien origin to name the pier as ang teng beh tau (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

: 红灯码头, ''meaning'' “red lantern harbour”) and to the Malays as lampu merah (''meaning'' “red lamp”).

Royal visits

Johnston's Pier played host to many royal figures and dignitaries. The visits began in 1869, with the then Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred Ernest Albert. Royal visits were met with great efforts in decoration of the jetty and many areas of the town. Mercantile businesses and private firms participated heavily in welcoming of the royal guests.

Closure and demolition

By the 1920s, the pier could no longer handle the increased volume of traffic from docking ships. The pier had soon become dilapidated in the 1920s and in 1929, the

Governor of the Straits Settlements The governor of the Straits Settlements was appointed by the British East India Company until 1867, when the Straits Settlements became a Crown colony. Thereafter the governor was appointed by the Colonial Office. The position existed from 1826 ...

Sir

Cecil Clementi Sir Cecil Clementi (; 1 September 1875 – 5 April 1947) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Hong Kong from 1925 to 1930, and Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements from 1930 to 1934. Early lif ...

approved plans to build a new pier to replace the former. Photographic Views of Singapore Plate 01 Johnston's Pier

Johnston's Pier was closed and had its red lamps transferred to a new pier,

Clifford Pier Clifford Pier was a former pier located beside Collyer Quay at Marina Bay within the Downtown Core of the Central Area, Singapore. The pier, which opened in 1933, ceased operations in 2006. In 2008 the site was converted into a restaurant, On ...

, named after Sir

Hugh Clifford Sir Hugh Charles Clifford, (5 March 1866 – 18 December 1941) was a British colonial administrator. Early life Clifford was born in Roehampton, London, the sixth of the eight children of Major-General Sir Henry Hugh Clifford and his wife Jo ...

, which was opened 3 June 1933. Johnston's Pier's demolition worked started from 3 June 1933, and after much difficulties, it was completed by November 1935.

References

{{reflist Demolished buildings and structures in Singapore Downtown Core (Singapore) Piers in Singapore Transport infrastructure completed in 1856 1856 establishments in the British Empire 1856 establishments in the Straits Settlements 1933 disestablishments in the British Empire 1933 disestablishments in the Straits Settlements Buildings and structures demolished in 1933