Date of the foundation of Singapore
A brief letter by R. Blanchard Raffles, a member of the Raffles family, correcting the widely repeated error that Singapore was founded on 29 February 1819, which is impossible since 1819 was not a leap year (p. 83).
Summary
The letter was forwarded by the Governor of the Straits Settlements for publication in connection with the planned erection of a statue to Sir Stamford Raffles on the Esplanade at Singapore. Raffles identifies the source of the error as a misprint in Lady Raffles’s Memoir (1830 edition, p. 375), which gives the date as “29th of February, 1819.” He argues that the correct reading is “29th of January, 1819,” supported by the fact that the preceding letter in the Memoir is dated Penang, 16 January 1819, and the following letter is dated Singapore, 31 January 1819, announcing the occupation of the island (p. 83).
The note is prefaced by a Malay letter (with Dutch translation dated 16 February 1819) from a local ruler to the Dutch Company, in which he recounts being made a Raja by Raffles and ordered to bring his family to Singapore. The editor’s note confirms that this letter demonstrates the occupation took place earlier than the date given in Lady Raffles’s Memoir (p. 84).