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Notes on ‘Sketch of the Land round Singapore Harbour, 7 February 1819’. M. Langdon and Kwa Chong Guan

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Notes on ‘Sketch of the Land round Singapore Harbour, 7 February 1819’. M. Langdon and Kwa Chong Guan

Marcus Langdon and Kwa Chong Guan (2010) present a detailed analysis of a previously unknown panoramic sketch of Singapore’s coastline, dated 7 February 1819, discovered in a British Admiralty file at the National Archives, Kew. The sketch, likely produced by Bombay Marine draughtsman Lt John Michael Houghton aboard one of the survey vessels accompanying Raffles’s expedition, predates the previously accepted earliest drawing of Singapore (Lieutenant P. Jackson’s 1823 view) and offers a contemporaneous visual record of the island’s settlement and harbour on the very day Raffles finalized negotiations for British settlement (p. 1).

Summary

The sketch was found in Admiralty file ADM344, a recently deposited collection, and is unsigned but datable to 7 February 1819 based on its internal evidence and the known movements of the Bombay Marine survey ships Discovery (Captain Daniel Ross) and Investigator (Captain John Garritt Fisher Crawford), which were accompanying Raffles’s fleet in the Singapore Strait (p. 1). The authors reconstruct the draughtsman’s position by triangulating the bearings of Johore Hill (N64°E) and Sandy Point (N30°W), placing the vessel approximately 2 km south of present-day Tanjong Rhu (p. 4). From this vantage point, the sketch records a sequence of landmarks in five adjoining sections: a flagstaff on Pulau Tembakul (Kusu Island), St John’s Island, the channel through to Pulau Blakang Mati (Sentosa), the “Village of Singapore,” a “Ryat Village,” Sandy Point, the Red Cliffs, and Johore Hill on the mainland (pp. 3–5).

The most historically significant feature is the “Ryat Village” marked at N38°W, which the authors interpret as a reference to a ra’yat (commoner or military) settlement in the Kampong Gelam area near the Kallang River estuary (p. 6). This identification confirms the presence of a substantial Orang Laut (sea nomad) settlement of the Kallang tribe in that vicinity and explains why Tengku Hussein located his istana there, close to his Orang Laut forces. The sketch also reveals that the “Village of Singapore” contained a significant number of buildings, contradicting the conventional historiography that has reconstructed the pre-colonial settlement as merely a few huts belonging to the Temenggong (p. 6).

Key Findings

  • The sketch is the earliest known drawing of Singapore, predating Lieutenant P. Jackson’s 1823 “View of Singapore from the Sea” by four years (p. 1).
  • The draughtsman’s position is triangulated to approximately 2 km south of Tanjong Rhu, based on the intersection of bearings to Johore Hill and Sandy Point (p. 4).
  • A flagstaff is depicted on the peak of Pulau Tembakul (Kusu Island), suggesting Raffles raised the British flag there as well as on Singapore Island itself, corroborating a report in the Prince of Wales Island Gazette of 21 April 1819 (p. 4).
  • The “Village of Singapore” is shown with a significant number of buildings, challenging the conventional narrative of a small Temenggong settlement (p. 6).
  • The “Ryat Village” at N38°W identifies a separate Orang Laut settlement near the Kallang River estuary, confirming the presence of the Kallang tribe and explaining the siting of Tengku Hussein’s istana (p. 6).
  • The “Red Cliffs” (Tanah Merah) are recorded as a prominent landmark on Singapore’s east coast, a feature later levelled for reclamation (p. 6).

Conclusion

The sketch provides a rare contemporaneous visual record of Singapore on the very day of the founding treaty, revealing a more complex and populous settlement landscape than conventional historiography has acknowledged. The identification of the Ryat Village as an Orang Laut settlement near the Kallang estuary is particularly significant, as it confirms the strategic importance of sea nomad communities in the early political geography of the island and offers a material basis for understanding the spatial logic of Tengku Hussein’s court (p. 6).

Context

  • The sketch was discovered in British Admiralty file ADM344 at the National Archives, Kew, a recently deposited collection that had not previously been available to researchers (p. 1).
  • The article complements the published 1820 chart of Singapore Harbour by Captain Ross, engraved by John Bateman and published by James Horsburgh, which is reproduced as a figure in the article (p. 3).

References