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Concept
Stamford Raffles
Summary
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British colonial official who served as Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. Raffles was heavily involved in the capture of the Indonesian island of Java from the Dutch during the Napoleonic Wars. It was subsequently returned under the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814. He also wrote The History of Java in 1817, describing the history of the island from ancient times.
Raffles also played a role in further establishing the British Empire in the Far East. He secured control over the strategically located Singapore in 1819 in order to secure British access along the Strait of Singapore and the nearby seas in the region, particularly the South China Sea. His actions led to tensions between the British and the Dutch Empire, although this was settled in the Anglo–Dutch Treaty of 1824 which firmly established their spheres of influence; the Dutch subsequently relinquished its claims to Singapore. An entrepôt was subsequently established in Singapore for maritime trade especially between Europe and Asia.
While Raffles was largely credited for the founding of comtemporary Singapore, the early running of day-to-day operations was mostly done by William Farquhar, who served as its first Resident of Singapore from 1819 to 1823. Raffles soon returned to England in 1824, where he died on his birthday in 1826 at the age of 45. His legacy while complex remains significant in Singapore, most notably the Raffles's Landing Site, as well as his name being a common sight in numerous entities and institutions throughout the country. Conversely, others have also argued against such excessive reverence as he was ultimately an imperialist benefiting at the expense of the indigenous peoples, and that Singapore's history far preceded his arrival.
Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles was born on on board the ship Ann, off the coast of Port Morant, Jamaica, to Captain Benjamin Raffles (1739, London – 23 November 1811, Deptford) and Anne Raffles (née Lyde) (1755 – 8 February 1824, London).
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