Stamford Raffles

Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles ( born July 6, 1781 Port Morant, Jamaica, † July 5, 1826 in London) was a researcher and founder of the city of Singapore.

Life

Thomas Stamford Raffles was born in 1781 on board the merchant ship Ann, the son of Captain Benjamin Raffles and an unspecified Dutch off the coast of Port Morant, Jamaica. At fourteen, he entered the service of the British East India Company, which held the monopoly of trade in the British colonies of East Asia. In 1805 he was sent to the island of Penang off the west coast of Malaysia, and it began a long affinity with Southeast Asia.

In 1811, Raffles was Lieutenant Governor of Java. During the occupation of the Netherlands in the time of the Napoleonic Wars, the British took over the greatness of the Dutch colonies. Raffles ruled partially self -determining. He ordered a state survey, the island was divided into sixteen administrative units and introduced a land tax. He also led the English model corresponding to the streets to driving on the left one. On a trip to Semarang, he discovered under a hill, the Buddhist temple Borobudur. In the book "History of Java" he has described the history of the island since ancient times.

In 1818 he became governor of Bengkulu in West Sumatra. In the same year Raffles convinced the Governor General of India, Lord Hastings, on an expedition to found a new branch for England. On January 29, 1819 his ships landed off the island of Singapore.

Raffles was a founder and first since April 29, 1826 Chairman of the Zoological Society of London. In Singapore, he was a member of the Masonic Lodge.

Thomas Stamford Raffles died on July 5, 1826, the eve of his 45th birthday, to the effects of a stroke.

Honors

He has explored numerous plants, including arnoldii Rafflesia. The plant genus Rafflesia and the plant family Rafflesiaceae bear his name. The most famous hotel in Singapore Raffles Hotel is named after him.

Works

  • The History of Java. Black, Parbury, and Allen, London 1817 online at Internet Archive
Merchant vessel Buddhism Classical antiquity Rafflesia arnoldii Nigel Barley (anthropologist) Victoria Glendinning Pieter Both Gerard Reynst Laurens Reael Jacques Specx Hendrik Brouwer Cornelis van der Lijn Carel Reyniersz Joan Maetsuycker Cornelis Speelman Joan van Hoorn Abraham van Riebeeck Hendrick Zwaardecroon Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff Godert van der Capellen Johannes van den Bosch Willem Rooseboom Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg Johan Paul van Limburg Stirum Dirk Fock Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer Hubertus van Mook Louis Beel Integrated Authority File
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