William Henry Macleod Read
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William Henry Macleod Read (7 February 1819 – 10 May 1909) was an active participant in the commercial, political and social life of
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 ...
and the
Malay states The monarchies of Malaysia refer to the constitutional monarchy system as practised in Malaysia. The political system of Malaysia is based on the Westminster parliamentary system in combination with features of a federation. Nine of the states ...
between 1841 and 1887.


Early life

Read was born in Scotland, the son of Christopher Rideout Read, co-partner of A. L. Johnston & Company. Aged 22, he travelled to Singapore to take his father's place at A. L. Johnston & Company, Singapore's leading merchant company at that time, his father retiring and returning to England the following year (1842). Alexander Laurie Johnston, his father's co-partner, retired and left Singapore in December. Read headed the company until his own retirement in 1887. Read was predeceased by his wife, Marjory Cumming-Read at age 21 on 24 June 1849. Cumming-Read was the daughter of banker John Cumming of Forres, Scotland and there is
stone marker in her memory
as his "beloved and lamented wife" at
St Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore Saint Andrew's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Singapore. It is located near City Hall, Downtown Core, within the Central Area in Singapore's central business district. It is the main cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Singapore a ...
.


Contributions to early colonial Singapore

William Read was appointed Special Constable to deal with ethnic riots between the Colony's
Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...
and
Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
communities in 1854. He is credited with using his powers of negotiation and mediation to settle the conflict. Also in 1854, William Read was the first volunteer of th
Singapore Rifle Corps
a militia unit in which he remained active for 25 years. In 1857 Read, who was fluent in French, was made Counsul for the Netherlands in Singapore, a post he held until 1885. For his service as the Dutch Counsul, he was awarded the
Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...
(Knight Commander). By 1865, Read was Chairman of the Singapore Chamber of Commerce. During his tenure in the then British Straits Settlement, Singapore passed from control of
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
to the British Colonial Office in 1867. William Read was a member of the Legislative Council that oversaw the transfer. In 1868, Read was appointed Companion of the Order of St. Michael & St. George (C.M.G.), by Queen Victoria. An announcement in the London Gazette noted,
''Chancery of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Downing Street, February 3, 1885. THE Queen has been graciously pleased to give directions for the following appointment to the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George : To be an Ordinary Member of the Third Class, of Companions of the said Most Distinguished Order :— William Henry Macleod Read, Esq., for long and valuable services rendered in the Straits Settlements.''
Read had ongoing involvements in regional politics, including the establishment of the British Colonial presence in Borneo through co-chairmanship of the British North Borneo Provisional Association in 1881. The charter of the
British North Borneo Company The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo (present-day Sabah in Malaysia) ...
, lists merchant William Henry Macleod Read, of 25 Durham Terrace, in the Country of
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
, as one of its petitioners. On 23 February 1843 Read, an avid horseman, won the first prize in the inaugural Singapore Cup, Singapore's first horse derby. In March of that year, he organised the Colony's first rowing regatta. The
Singapore Turf Club The Singapore Turf Club was founded in 1842 as the Singapore Sporting Club to operate the Serangoon Road Race Course at Farrer Park Field. It is the only horse-racing club in Singapore and is part of the Malayan Racing Association. The first r ...
, the island's home of horse racing, began as Read's Singapore Sporting Club on 4 October 1842. His interest in educational and cultural life are evidenced by his involvement with the
National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, o ...
(first treasurer), trusteeship of Singapore (later Raffles) Institution, and founding of the first Sailor's Home (appointed Honorary Secretary). Read was also active as a
Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
, being the second person to be initiated to the Masonic Lodge Zetland in the East and soon becoming its Worshipful Master. He eventually rose to become leader of the Freemasons' Eastern Archipelago, District Grand Lodge. He officiated over Masonic ceremonies which included the laying of the Foundation Stone of Raffles Lighthouse in 1854. One of Read's last duties as a Singapore resident was laying the first cylinder of a bridge over the Singapore River – a bridge that today still bears his name,
Read Bridge Read Bridge (Simplified Chinese, Chinese: 李德桥) is a Beam (structure), beam-structured bridge located at Clarke Quay within the Singapore River Planning Area in Singapore. The bridge crosses the Singapore River linking Clarke Quay to Swissôt ...
.


Municipal assessment funds

In January 1845, at a public meeting, Read put forward a motion proposing that municipal assessment funds (see Act XIII of 1839 allowing for an assessment fund to be used for municipal purposes) be controlled by one person appointed by government and two persons appointed by ratepayers. The motion was carried by a large majority. However a new bill was passed (Act IX of 1848 that provided for two officials and three non-officials, all nominated by the Governor to administer the funds.


Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements

Read was made a member of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements by Royal appointment. A notice in the London Gazette, reads,
''Downing Street, May 18, 1882. THE Queen has been pleased to appoint George Macfarlane Sandilands, Esq., and William Henry Macleod Read, Esq., to be Members of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements.''
and again
''"Downing Street, March 17, 1868. The Queen has been pleased to appoint William Henry Macleod Read, Forbes Scott Brown, Thomas Scott, and Robert Little, Esqrs., to be Members of. the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements ; and William Bagnell, Alfred James Harrigan,. and Henry Stephens Harrigan, Esqrs., to be Members of the Legislative Council of the Virgin Islands."''


Freemasons

On 27 September 1878 a land grant was issued in favour of R. W. Bro. William Henry Macleod Read, District Grand Master, and his successors in office for the use of Masons under the United Grand Lodge of Antient, Free and Accepted Masons of England. Read laid the foundation stone for the new building on 14 April 1879. The new hall was consecrated on 27 December 1879 by the District Grand Master, Read, Thomas Cargill, the civil engineer who designed the building, was installed as Master of Lodge Zetland-in-the-East. Read was eventually succeeded in his role as District Grand Master by Major Samuel Dunlop in 1885.


The Singapore Turf Club

The Singapore Turf Club, formerly known as the Singapore Sporting Club, was founded by Read on 4 October 1842. Marking the 24th anniversary of the founding of Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles, the first races were held on 23 and 25 February 1843. Read himself won the first Derby, called the Singapore Cup, and took home the prize money of $150.


Return from the Colonies

Read returned to Britain in February 1887. He had spent almost 46 years in Singapore. In 1901, Read published his memoirs ''"Play and Politics, Recollections of Malaya by an Old Resident"''.Play and Politics: Recollections of Malaya By William Henry McLeod Read, of New York William Armstrong, Old resident Published by Wells, Gardner, Darton, 1901 Read died on 10 May 1909, aged 91. In 1910, the Governor of Singapore unveiled
memorial tablet
to the memory of William Henry Macleod Read in St. Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore, for his outstanding contributions to Singapore. This tablet dedication can be still seen on the left side, behind the main entrance door of the church. Read's imprint on the Straits Settlements also survived his passing through descendants in the local Eurasian community bearing his Read surname. Read was buried on 13 May 1909 at
Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Estab ...
, London.


See also

*
Tan Kim Ching Tan Kim Ching (; 1829 – February 1892), also known as Tan Kim Cheng, was a Chinese politician and businessman. He was the eldest of the three sons of Tan Tock Seng, the founder and financier of Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He was consul for J ...
*
Chung Keng Quee Kapitan China Chung Keng Quee (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Chhang Kín-kui, 182713 December1901) was the founder and administrator of modern Taiping, Perak, Taiping in Perak, Malaysia. Appointed "Capitan China" by the British in 1877, he was a millionair ...
*
Klang War The Klang War or Selangor Civil War was a series of conflicts that lasted from 1867 to 1874 in the Malay state of Selangor in the Malay Peninsula (modern-day Malaysia). It was initially fought between Raja Abdullah bin Raja Jaafar, the admini ...
*
Larut War The Larut Wars were a series of four wars started in July 1861 and ended with the signing of the Pangkor Treaty of 1874. The conflict was fought among local Chinese secret societies over the control of mining areas in Perak which later involved ...


References

* Play and politics recollections of Malaya by an old resident. (1901). London: W.Gardner Darton (Call no.: RRARE 959 503 REA) * Buckley, C. B. (1984). ''An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore: 1819–1867'' (pp. 135, 367–369). Singapore: Oxford University Press. (Call no.: RSING 959.57 BUC) * Edwards, N. & Keys, P. (1988). ''Singapore: A guide to buildings, streets, places'' (p. 506). Singapore: Times Books International. (Call no.: RSING 959.57 EDW) * Freemasons. (1873). ''Ceremony of layaing the foundation stone of the Clyde Terrace Market, at Singapore, the 29th day of March 1873, by the Rt. Worshipful, the District Grand Master, W. H. Read'' icrofilm: NL 5876 Singapore: Straits Times Press. (Call no.: RSEA 959.51 FRE) * Turnbull, C. M. (1995). ''Dateline Singapore: 150 years of the Straits Times'' (pp. 22–35, 45–46). Singapore: Times Editions: Singapore Press Holdings (Call no.: RSING 079.5957 TUR) * Turnbull, C. M. (1972). ''The Straits Settlements 1826–1867: Indian presidency to crown colony'' (pp. 24–25, 321–322). London: Athlone Press (Call no.: RCLOS 959.57 TUR) * Tyers, R. K. (1993). ''Ray Tyers' Singapore: Then and now'' (p. 26). Singapore: Landmark Books. (Call no.: RSING 959.57 TYE)


Online links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Read, William Henry Macleod British colonial police officers 1819 births 1909 deaths People of British Malaya People of British Singapore Burials at Brompton Cemetery