The Pavilion is a house on Oxley Hill, near

Orchard Road Orchard Road, often known colloquially as simply Orchard, is a major –long road in the Central Area of Singapore. Known as a famous tourist attraction, it is an upscale shopping area of Singapore, with numerous internationally renowned depa ...

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, borde ...

. The Pavilion served as

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

between 1859 and 1861, after

Raffles House Raffles House is a single-storey building built on the Fort Canning Hill, Singapore. The original building was a wood and '' atap'' structure built in 1822 that was used as a place of residence by Sir Stamford Raffles. This building was later rebu ...

was demolished to make way for a fort. The street address of the site is 5 Oxley Rise, Singapore.See the survey map titled
Map of Business Area, Singapore
', FMS Survey Nos. 7, 4 - 1934. Archived National Archives of Singapore. The Pavilion's prominent site on the top of the hill allows it to overlook

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

's house at

38 Oxley Road 38 Oxley Road was the residence of the first prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew from the 1940s until his death in 2015. The house was built in the late 19th century and is an eight-bedroom two-storey bungalow located near Orchard Road. T ...

History

Oxley Estate

The Pavilion was built around 1847 at Dr Thomas Oxley's

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

estate. It was one of five houses Oxley built at a hill that came to be called Oxley's Hill - Pavilion, Bargany House, Bargany Lodge, Killiney House and Killiney Bungalow. Another version has it that it was built by George Garden Nicol. The Pavilion was one of two houses in his estate that Oxley used as his residence. The other was Killiney House. The Pavilion was sited at the top of Oxley's Hill.See the survey map titled
Singapore Residency. Colonel Orfeur Cavenagh, Governor of the Straits Settlements
' by Moniot, J, Surveyor General Straits Settlements, published by Smith, Elder & Co., London (c.1863). Archived National Archives of Singapore. Oxley was Surgeon of the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...

Government House (1859-1861)

In 1856, the house was sold to Friedrich Albert Schreiber. Schreiber was a partner in the German trading firm of Behn, Meyer and Co. In 1859, the governor's residence at Raffles House on

Government Hill The Government Hill is a hill in Central, Hong Kong, bounded by upper section of Upper Albert Road on the south, Queen's Road Central north, Garden Road east, and Glenealy, west of Hong Kong Island. The hill has been the administrative ...

was demolished to make way for a fort. Government House was temporarily moved to the Pavilion. At the time, Schreiber, the owner of the Pavilion, was away in Europe.

“The 24th current, being the anniversary of Her Majesty’s birth, was observed as a Holiday, and at noon the usual salutes were fired in the roads and on shore. In the Evening His Honor the Governor entertained a numerous party at a Ball and Supper, in the Pavilion, the elegant residence of Mr Schreiber, which His Honor at present occupies as the temporary Government House.”

''The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser''. 26 May 1859.

The lease for the Pavilion expired in 1861 and Government House was moved to new leased premises at Leonie Hill and Leonie Cottage.

“We are informed that the lease of Dr. Oxley’s house for the Governor’s residence having expired, the Government have rented the splendid residence of T.H. Campbell, Esquire, as a Government House."

''The Straits Times''. 1 June 1861.

Later years

Prominent

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

businessman Catchick Moses bought the Pavilion in 1874 and made it his residence. Moses is remembered for having started the

Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establishe ...

. Moses was well respected, and local residents used to go to him at the Pavilion for advice and to settle differences. After Moses' death in 1892, his family continued to occupy the Pavilion until it was sold by public auction in 1918 to Manasseh Meyer for Straits $147,000. The Pavilion was then converted into a private residential hotel.

The Mysterious Case of Yoshio Nishimura

In the 1920s - 1930s, the property was leased to Ishihara Sangyo Koshi (ISK). ISK was a major Japanese mining concern operating iron mines in Malaya. Yoshio Nishimura, managing director of ISK and president of the Japanese Association, resided at the property. In December 1934, Nishimura was called in for questioning by

Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security and Intelligence (information gathering), intelligence in Policing in the United Kingdom, British, Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, ...

. He died shortly after arriving at police headquarters due to

strychnine poisoning Strychnine poisoning can be fatal to humans and other animals and can occur by inhalation, swallowing or absorption through eyes or mouth. It produces some of the most dramatic and painful symptoms of any known toxic reaction, making it quite notic ...

. His sudden death caused a sensation in the local Japanese community. There was considerable media attention, with suspicions about espionage. An

open verdict The open verdict is an option open to a coroner's jury at an inquest in the legal system of England and Wales. The verdict means the jury confirms the death is suspicious, but is unable to reach any other verdicts open to them. Mortality studies c ...

was eventually returned. Nishimura is buried at the Japanese Cemetery. Recently declassified documents reveal that Nishimura was the target of a colonial police counter espionage operation.

Present

The present house on the site, possibly constructed by Meyer in the 1920s, is privately occupied.

References

{{reflist Government Houses of the British Empire and Commonwealth Houses in Singapore