Raffles House is a single-storey building built on the

Fort Canning Hill Fort Canning Hill, formerly Government Hill, Singapore Hill and Bukit Larangan (''Forbidden Hill'' in Malay), is a small hill, about high, in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore, within the Central Area that forms Si ...

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 original building was a wood and '' atap'' structure built in 1822 that was used as a place of residence by Sir

Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...

. This building was later rebuilt as a neoclassical-styled Government House as the residence of subsequent colonial governors, but it was demolished in 1858 to make way for the construction Fort Canning. The present structure built on the same site is a brick and tile building constructed in 2003.

History

Residency House

Residency House, the original residence of Sir

and his sister's family, was a wooden house with venetians and thatched attap roof, the house was the earliest Singapore's project of

George Drumgoole Coleman George Drumgoole Coleman (179527 March 1844), also known as George Drumgold Coleman, was an Irish civil architect who played an instrumental role in the design and construction of much of the civil infrastructure in early Singapore, after it w ...

. Coleman, who waited for Raffles to return from Bencoolen,

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

for four months, in the meantime designed the House in speculation for Raffles' residence use. Raffles, upon his return from Bencoolen,

in October 1822, impressed with Coleman's design, approved the house. Construction of the house was soon begun on Singapore Hill in November 1822 and completed by January 1823. Raffles and his wife Sophie would move to the house by early January 1823. On 21 January 1823, Raffles wrote to William Marsden about the house and its scenery. On 23 January 1823, Raffles wrote to the Duchess of Somerset about the house and the hill.

Government House

On 2 February 1824, Raffles and his family would left Singapore for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Raffles' house was bought over by the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

and renamed as Government House and the hill would known as the Government Hill. At the own expense of 2nd

Resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceuti ...

John Crawfurd John Crawfurd (13 August 1783 – 11 May 1868) was a Scottish physician, colonial administrator, diplomat, and author who served as the second and last Resident of Singapore. Early life He was born on Islay, in Argyll, Scotland, the son of S ...

, the house was further extended and redesigned in June by Coleman again with bricks and tiles in the neoclassical style for the residence of Residents and

Governors of Singapore The Governors of Singapore were the political leaders of Singapore during its pre-independence phase in the history of Singapore. Residents of Singapore (1819–1826) The Resident of Singapore ruled the British colony that is today the Republi ...

. The Government House had a clear view of the settlement around

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, altho ...

and was featured in many paintings of the area. In 1858, the Government House was eventually demolished and the site handed to the British military for the construction of a

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

in 1859 known as the

Fort Canning Fort Canning Hill, formerly Government Hill, Singapore Hill and Bukit Larangan (''Forbidden Hill'' in Malay), is a small hill, about high, in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore, within the Central Area that forms Si ...

which was completed in 1861. Upon its demolition, the Governor's residence was temporarily moved to a villa in Oxley Estate called the

Pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

Rebuilding

A modernised version of the house named Raffles House was built in brick and tile nearby the site of the former Government House was completed in 2003. It is equipped with modern facilities, and may be used as a venue for events and wedding functions.

References

{{reflist Demolished buildings and structures in Singapore Buildings and structures demolished in 1859 Places in Singapore Protected areas of Singapore Official residences Government Houses of the British Empire and Commonwealth Houses completed in 1823 1823 establishments in Singapore 1859 disestablishments in the British Empire 1859 disestablishments in the Straits Settlements

History

Residency House

Government House

Rebuilding

See also

References