Raffles, SIR THOMAS STAMFORD

Raffles, SIR THOMAS STAMFORD, British administrator, was born, a sea-captain's son, off Port Morant in Jamaica, on 5th July 1781. In 1795 he was appointed to a clerkship in the East India House, and in 1805 assistant-secretary to a new establishment at Penang; eventually he was made principal secretary. In 1808 he made a voyage to Malacca, respecting which place, and the East Indies in general, he collected much valuable information. In 1811 Raffles accompanied the expedition against Java (q.v.) as secretary to the governor-general, Lord Minto, who himself took the chief command. The island was captured, and Raffles appointed lieutenant-governor of it and its dependencies. Much had to be done in the way of conciliating the native princes and chiefs to the British rule. He appointed British residents at the native courts, and framed rules and regulations for their conduct. He ordered a general survey to be made of the whole island, and checked the attempt of the native sultan of Jokjokarta to expel the Europeans from Java. His efforts were, however, chiefly directed to effecting a complete reform in the internal administration. By frequent personal interviews with the natives he sought to become acquainted with their manners and character, and to educate them and civilise them; and by them he was regarded with great esteem and affection. But at length his health gave way, and in 1816 he returned to England, stopping by the way at St Helena, where he had an interview with Napoleon. On his arrival in England he wrote his History of Java (2 vols. 1817), and received the honour of knighthood. Java having by this time been restored to the Dutch, Sir Stamford Raffles was appointed lieutenant-governor of Bencoolen, a settlement upon the coast of Sumatra, where he landed in March 1818. Shortly afterwards, to paralyse or combat the commercial prosperity of the Dutch in the eastern seas, and to repress the piratical propensities of the Malays, he was sent to form a new settlement at Singapore. In 1824 he was again compelled by ill-health to return to England. But the vessel in which he set sail took fire 50 miles out from Sumatra, and the crew and passengers escaped with difficulty in the boats. By this accident Sir Stamford Raffles lost the greatest part of his effects, including a fine collection of natural history, materials for various East Indian grammars and dictionaries, and for a history of Borneo, Celebes, Singapore, &c. After his arrival in England he lived to carry out what had been one of his favourite projects—namely, the formation of the Zoological Society of London, of which he was named president. He died on 5th July 1826. See Memoir by his widow (1830), and Life by D. C. Boulger (1898).