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Raffles: And the Golden Opportunity by Victoria Glendinning: book review





Raffles (2012) is the biography of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826), the governor of Java, and the founder of the settlement of Singapore on behalf of the British Empire – the British granted him exclusive rights to establish a trading factory on the island, much like a leasehold purchase. A controversial figure, this biography details the image and the reality of the infamous Englishman. 

Raffles arrived in Batavia in the East Indies in August 1811 as an invading force against the Dutch – it was swampy and ‘foul with sewerage’ with a high death rate amongst Europeans. With no job security, he immediately began establishing administrative reforms. Described as an ‘intrepid innovator’ and ‘doggedly optimistic’ he was also ‘full of trick and not so full of the truth.’ 

Raffles first saw Singapore in January 1819 and ‘the rebirth of the ancient centre of Malay civilisation as a centre of British influence meant much to him.’ Within six months, in 1821, he and second wife Sophia had lost three of their children from illnesses, while Raffles too had ‘crippling headaches.’ 

I enjoyed the account of Raffle’s visit to Paris in 1817 to the Jardin des Plantes and its small zoo – ‘It was the first public collection [of animals] in the world, and the first open to all, free of charge.’ It inspired Raffles to establish the London Zoo as a collection for ‘scientific study’ in 1826 – the year of his death – which opened to the public in 1828. 

‘Raffles was high-strung, clever, articulate, impetuous, charming, small in stature and physically fragile.’ He died at the age of 45, in debt and in semi-disgrace, yet his name lives in perpetuity. 

There is little mention of William Farquhar (1774-1839), the Scottish employee of the East India Company, explorer and the first British Resident and Commandant of colonial Singapore. That is because this book is not about Singapore – celebrating its 200 years in 2019. It is about Raffles – the man, his character, his wives, his work, and his interests. From this point of view, it is an interesting book and well-detailed by author Victoria Glendinning.






MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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