SINGAPORE and BATAVIA
1892-1895 WORLD TOUR
1892-1895 WORLD TOUR
OF GEORGE BULLOUGH
Written and illustrated from first hand research by George W. Randall,
co-founder in July1996 and former
Vice Chairman Kinloch Castle Friends' Association
BORNEO WHARF, SINGAPORE
The 20 Photograph Albums containing over 600 images collected during Bullough’s world tour.
Note: There are two labelled XIV and no XVIII. The somewhat thicker second XIV
is labelled "Japan" and contains pictures of that country mostly in colour.
BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION
Please read notes at end of this post-
THANK YOU.
ALBUM XV * Photographs 16
to 31 * BLOG 82
Album XV continues George Bullough’s 1892-1895 World
Tour with three further photographs from Batavia (Jakarta),
including the execution of rioters
near Batavia, before his arriving at Johnston’s
Pier, Singapore.
Jeweller’s Street |
There are two errors in Album XV
incorrectly depicting scenes in India as,
by inclusion, being in Singapore.
Photographs 23 and 25, (left), identified on the images
as “Jeweller’s Street” and “Manack Chouk”
are both in Jaipur, India,
over 2,500 miles to the north-west of Singapore.
Both are included at the end of this blog
and have been added to
BLOG 50 - WORLD TOUR - ARTICLE 9 of 28over 2,500 miles to the north-west of Singapore.
Manack Chouk |
and have been added to
INDIA:- JEYPOOR / AMBER /
AGRA.
Article 9 of 28
Article 9 of 28
EXECUTION OF RIOTERS, NEAR BATAVIA
Album XV * Image 18 * Size 11½ x 8½ inches PHOTOGRAPHEEN • VAN • NED • INDIE • BATAVIA - WOODBURY AND PAGE
Under Colonial Dutch guard convicted rioters, bearing placards describing their crime, queue as they await execution by hanging. circa 1880.
EXECUTION OF RIOTERS, NEAR BATAVIA Album XV * Image 18 * Detail from full Size 11½ x 8½ inches PHOTOGRAPHEEN • VAN • NED • INDIE • BATAVIA - WOODBURY AND PAGE |
******** ******** ******** ******** SINGAPORE
Singapore comprises one main island and
sixty-two islets off the Malay Peninsula separated by the Johor Strait. Following extensive land reclamation prior to and since independence in 1965 Singapore today covers an area of 279
square miles.
The population in 2018 was estimated at almost 5.6
million.
JOHNSTON’S PIER, SINGAPORE
Album XV * Image
19 * Size 11 x 8½ inches.
Original
photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore,
bearing oval embossed stamp in margin and number 4. But Singapore's strategic position for sea trade meant bigger facilities were urgently needed. In 1864, following major land reclamation, a new quay designed specifically for loading and unloading ship borne cargo was completed along from Johnston's Pier. Built by convict labour on reclaimed land, it was named Collyer Quay after former Madras army engineer, Colonel George Chancellor Collyer, chief engineer of the Straits Settlements.
JOHNSTON’S PIER, SINGAPORE
Album
XV * Image 19 * Detail from full
size 11 x 8½ inches.
Original
photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore,
bearing
oval embossed stamp in margin and number 4.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
– Gustav Richard Lambert emigrated from his home town
of Dresden,
Germany to Singapore in April 1875 aged twenty-nine, and established
his photographic studio at No. 1 High Street as G. R. Lambert and Co.
The new medium
of photography coupled with the huge increase in
tourism particularly from the west, made photographic prints increasingly popular.
Lambert's business quickly established a high reputation for artistic portraiture and landscapes, so much so that the firm became “leading photographic artists
(in) Singapore”
selling “over a quarter of a million postcards a year.”
Lambert
personally oversaw his business until 1885 when he returned to Europe
handing the
reigns over to his partner, Alexander Koch. For the next fifteen years
Koch established
new studios in Singapore; Medan and Deli on the island
of Sumatra, and
Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, Siam.
Before the firm
wound up c.1914, G. R. Lambert & Co.,
were the largest
photographic business on the Malay Peninsula and official photographers by appointment
to King Chulalongkorn of Siam and Sir Abu Bakar, Sultan of Johor.
Reference: “A Vision of the Past:
A History of Early Photography in Singapore and Malaya – the Photographs of G.
R. Lambert & Co., 1880-1910” by John Falconer.
JOHNSTON’S PIER, SINGAPORE
Album XV * Image 19 * Detail from full size 11 x 8½ inches.
The Pier, affectionately known in Malay as Lampu Merah, “Red
Lamp” due to the red lanterns hanging at its farthest point to guide incoming
shipping, fulfilled this important task for seventy-eight
years until it was demolished in 1933.
A. L. Johnston
& Co., first proposed construction of a wooden jetty adjacent to their
seafront warehouses in March 1853 “for the convenience of the commercial and shipping
interests of Singapore.” Four months later, after consultation with the
government surveyor, construction
of a stone embankment with steps leading into the water was approved.
JOHNSTON’S PIER, SINGAPORE
Album XV * Image 19 * Detail from full size 11 x 8½ inches.
In early October 1853 Johnston’s again submitted plans for a jetty to the municipal committee, construction
being approved on the 19th of October subject to the cost not
exceeding 3,000 Singapore $ and a pier-keeper’s house be built at the land end.
The wooden jetty
was forty feet wide and 120 feet long and fitted with a crane,
it was to be
officially known as Johnston’s Pier.
A pier-keeper
was hired to maintain the crane and light the red lamps on the pier.
Over the years much
trade and visitors, including many royal personages landed at the pier. However it very soon became clear a pier built in the days of sail could no longer cope with ever bigger steam vessels carrying huge amounts of cargo
and visitors.
The pier was
demolished in June 1933 when Sir Cecil Clementi, 20th Governor of
the Straits Settlements, approved plans to build a new pier.
BORNEO WHARF - SINGAPORE
Album
XV * Image 20 * Size 11 x 8½ inches.
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore bearing number 83.
With the opening of the Suez Canal, the advent of steam driven and ever bigger ships it soon became apparent the
original wooden wharves, transit sheds and warehouses built in 1856 had to be replaced
with much larger concrete structures to meet the rapidly growing sea trade.
The Tanjong Pagar Dock Company, registered in 1864 with capital of S$300,000, commenced trading in 1866 with a mere 750 feet of wharf space almost doubling to 1,440 feet by the end of the year. In the early 1870's telegraph links were established with Madras, India and onward to Europe and to Australia and Hong Kong. 1874 steam powered cranes and winches were introduced tripling unloading capacity and dramatically increasing coal bunkering, previously done by hand. Two years later the 450 foot long, 65 foot wide, 20 foot deep Victoria dry dock was constructed and in 1879 Albert dry dock, 496 feet long by 59 feet wide with a depth of 21 feet was opened by Sir Archibald Anson, R.A., K.C.M.G., Administrator for the Government. Through a combination of leases and purchases, by 1885, Tanjong Pagar operated two dry docks and 6,600 feet of wharves including Borneo Wharf purchased that year. In 1897 electricity reached the docks immediately doubling working hours. Refrigeration followed ... ports had to stay abreast of a rapidly changing world ... the height of the Victorian Era ... ... ... See Volumes I and II
Vast coal yards
- coaling stations - were required as steamships rapidly replaced sail.
From
the mid-1800's increasing numbers of trading vessels and British navy ships
ran on coal. In
the last quarter of the 19th century over half the world’s
merchant
shipping flew the Red Ensign.
In order to
protect and meet the needs of both its commercial and naval fleets Britain established
fourteen key coaling stations around the world where steamships could not only be provided
with coal but also food and water. Singapore, Hong Kong, Trincomalee and Colombo (Ceylon
today Sri Lanka) and the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius to name some in the Far
East were crucial to “an Empire on which the sun never sets.”
Aden at the
mouth of the Red Sea along with Simon’s Bay and Table Bay, South Africa,
were also
vital victualing ports particularly for the Australia and New Zealand routes, as Great
Britain ruled the waves at the height of Queen Victoria’s Empire.
VIEW SHOWING ENTRANCE. FROM SINGAPORE.
Album XV * Image
21 * Size 10 x 7½ inches.
The latter half
of the 19th century was one of unprecedented invention.
Steam
power, possibly more than anything else, was rapidly changing the world.
However,
it was fine to be able to move goods ever faster by sea, but what happened
then?
Up
to the invention of the steam locomotive on rails the fastest people had ever
travelled
The
urgent need to modernise harbour facilities world-wide was made even more so by
the
rapid laying of a rail infrastructure allowing faster distribution.
The chain of distribution was as strong as its weakest link.
Harnessing the power of steam and the laying of railways were amongst if not the most important products of the Industrial Revolution, allowing the rapid transport of people and goods on a scale previously unimaginable.
Speed
of land and sea transport allowed perishable goods, particularly food, to be
brought
to
market for the first time creating new business opportunity as shops
temptingly
displayed
their wares to a curious and increasingly more prosperous public.
|
VIEW SHOWING ENTRANCE. FROM SINGAPORE.
Album XV * Image 21 * Detail from full size 10 x 7½ inches.
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Album XV * Image 25 * Size 11 x 8 inches
The actual location is Jaipur (Jeypoor) India.
Upper right the façade of the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) built of pink granite in
the form of a high wall to screen the royal ladies as they watched street festivities.
MANACK CHOUK
Album XV * Image 25 * Detail from full size 11 x 8 inches
The actual location is Jaipur (Jeypoor) India.
MANACK CHOUK
Album XV * Image 25 * Detail from full size 11 x 8 inches
The actual location is Jaipur (Jeypoor) India.
These two photographs have been added to BLOG 50 - WORLD TOUR - ARTICLE 9 of 28
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>+< >+< >+< >+< >+< >+< >+<>+< >+< >+< >+< >+<
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ENTRANCE TO NEW HARBOUR
Album XV *
Image 22 * Size 10 x 7½ inches.
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore bearing number 86.
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore bearing number 86.
ENTRANCE TO NEW HARBOUR
Album
XV * Image 22 * Detail from full size
10 x 7½ inches
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore bearing number 86.
******** ******** ******** ******** ********
LEFT: A fishing village on Pulo Brani. RIGHT: Pulo Brani separated from Singapore Island by Keppel Harbour.
******** ******** ******** ******** ******** ******** ******** ********
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore bearing number 86.
By the early 1830’s Singapore had already become an important centre of government
for the Straits Settlements, i.e. Malacca, Penang, Dinding and Singapore itself.
HMS DIDO. (British Maritime Museum) |
In 1837 Captain Henry Keppel,
(later Admiral of the Fleet),
became commanding
(later Admiral of the Fleet),
became commanding
officer of the newly completed
734 ton, 120 foot long corvette
HMS Dido, complement 145,
armed with eighteen
32-lb. guns.
Posted to the East Indies and China Station Keppel played a major part in clearing the area of pirates and, from 1839-1842, operations
during the First Opium War.
734 ton, 120 foot long corvette
HMS Dido, complement 145,
armed with eighteen
32-lb. guns.
Posted to the East Indies and China Station Keppel played a major part in clearing the area of pirates and, from 1839-1842, operations
during the First Opium War.
On the 19th of April 1900 New Harbour
was renamed Keppel Harbour and the deep
water anchorage, Keppel Channel by
Acting Governor, Sir James Alexander Swettenham, in honour of Henry Keppel
who, as a retired ninety-two year old Admiral, was visiting Singapore.
At the same time, New Harbour Road was renamed Keppel Road, which “reportedly pleased Admiral Keppel very much.”
was renamed Keppel Harbour and the deep
water anchorage, Keppel Channel by
Acting Governor, Sir James Alexander Swettenham, in honour of Henry Keppel
who, as a retired ninety-two year old Admiral, was visiting Singapore.
At the same time, New Harbour Road was renamed Keppel Road, which “reportedly pleased Admiral Keppel very much.”
******** ******** ******** ******** ********
MALAY VILLAGE
- PULO BRANI
Album XV
* Image 24 * Size
11 x 8 inches
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert & Co.,
Singapore, bearing number 214.
LEFT: A fishing village on Pulo Brani. RIGHT: Pulo Brani separated from Singapore Island by Keppel Harbour.
MALAY VILLAGE - PULO BRANI
Album XV * Image
24 * Detail from full size 11 x 8 inches
Original photograph by G. R.
Lambert, & Co., Singapore, bearing number 24.
See also Volumes I and II
|
SINGAPORE FRUITS Album XV * Image 26 * Size 9½ x 7½ inches. |
SINGAPORE FRUITS
Album XV * Image 27 * Size 11½ x 8½ inches.
Inscription: “B F K Rives” inverted and embossed along bottom edge of photograph. |
******** ******** ******** ******** ******** ******** ******** ********
******** ******** ******** ******** ******** ********
*************************************************************
The building is the Drill Hall.
*************************************************************
MANACK CHOUK
TRAVELLER’S TREE
Album XV * Image 28 * Detail from full size 11 x 8½ inches. |
Ravenala madagascariensis, the Traveller’s
Tree, is so called because the sheaths of its stems hold rainwater in their
base which, in theory, can be used for drinking by thirsty travellers.
A native of Madagascar
it can grow to a height of one hundred feet supported by a twenty-four inch diameter
“sturdy grey trunk.” The enormous paddle-shaped leaves, as many as forty or more up to 35 feet in length are borne on long stalks which align in a single
plain,
invariably an
east-west line which travellers take as providing a compass bearing,
thus adding to
its commonly known name, Traveller’s Tree.
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CAVENAGH BRIDGE - SINGAPORE
Album XV * Image 29 * Size 11 x 8½ inches
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore, bearing number “10”.
The bridge was named after Major General Sir William Orfeur Cavenagh, last appointed Governor of the Straits Settlements from 1859 -1867 whose coat of Arms can be seen atop the cross-beams at both ends of the bridge. |
CAVENAGH BRIDGE - SINGAPORE
Album XV * Image
29 * Detail from full size 11 x 8½ inches
Original photograph by
G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore, bearing number “10”.
G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore, bearing number “10”.
The Cavenagh
Bridge, which crosses the Singapore River, was opened in 1870 to celebrate
Singapore as a British Crown Colony and one of four original members of the
Straits Settlements formed in 1867, (the others being the Malaysian states of
Penang, Malacca and Dinding), following the dissolution of the East India
Company by Great Britain in the Government of India Act 1858.
Built by P.
& W. MacLellan, engineers, Clutha Works, Glasgow, Scotland in 1868. It is
not only one of the oldest bridges in Singapore, but the only suspension
bridge.
Designed by
Colonel G. C. Collyer, chief engineer of the Straits Settlements in conjunction
with
R. M. Ordish of
the Public Works Department, under the overall charge of forty-six year old,
Northumberland, England born John Turnbull Thomson,
Government Surveyor and Superintendent of Roads and Public Works
of the Colonial Public Works Department, the structure was erected
and tested in Glasgow “to withstand a load of four times its own weight”
before being disassembled, shipped to Singapore in parts and re-assembled by
convict labour in 1869.
Originally known
as the Edinburgh Bridge to commemorate the visit of Alfred Ernest Albert, Duke
of Edinburgh (second son of Queen Victoria) in June 1867, the name was changed
to Cavenagh Bridge in honour of Major General Sir William Orfeur Cavenagh, last
India appointed Governor of the Straits Settlements, whose coat of Arms can be
seen atop the cross-beams at both ends of the bridge.
Regrettably its
designers failed to make allowance for the tides, at high tide its deck
clearance
being
insufficient for barges and large vessels to pass beneath, they having to time
their
journey or wait
for low tide.
In 1910 the
bridge was under threat of demolition, fortunately it was saved and in 2008 it
was chosen as part of Singapore’s Urban
Redevelopment Authority’s expanded conservation programme.
GENERAL POST OFFICE AND EXCHANGE BUILDING - SINGAPORE
Album XV * Image 30 * Size 11 x 8 inches
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore, bearing number “213”.
|
GENERAL POST OFFICE AND EXCHANGE BUILDING - SINGAPORE
Album XV * Image 30 * Detail from full size 11 x 8 inches
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore, bearing number “213”.
Tiffin (snack / light meal and
Billiard Rooms. with below to left: The Motion - Photographer and
Optician.
The Tan Kim Seng Fountain.
The fountain was
built to commemorate prominent Chinese merchant, businessman,
philanthropist and Justice of the Peace, Tan Kim Seng, (1806-1864), who, in 1857, donated S$130,000 to the Singapore Government for the construction of the country’s first reservoir and waterworks.
Originally sited in the cities Fullerton Square, it was unveiled on
the 19th of May 1882.
Album
XV * Image 30 * Detail from full size 11 x 8
inches.
...........................................................................................................................Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore, bearing number “213”.
Depicted in its original location the Tan Kim Seng Fountain is adorned with cupids,
the four Muses and faces of the god of the sea, Poseidon – who spent most of his time
in his watery domain - celebrating the newfound abundance of freshwater.
Designed by Derby, England, iron founders
Andrew Handyside and Company, (founded 1848), the Victorian-style iron fountain has three tiers and is decorated with classical figures.
Image: Choo Yut Shing
The lower bowl depicts
the Greek goddesses
of science, literature and the arts, “each bearing an object of her patronage … Calliope, the Muse of Epic Poetry, carries a writing tablet; Clio, the Muse of History, carries a scroll; Erato, the Muse of Lyric Poetry, carries a lyre; and Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy, carries a wreath. Beneath the sculptures of the Muses are four faces of Poseidon, the God of the Sea …. each spouting water.” The fountain was relocated to Battery Road in 1905 and, in 1929, following land reclamation in 1922, to Esplanade Park where it can be seen today along Queen Elizabeth Walk, so named to mark the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the 2nd of June 1953.
Restored in 1994
it was declared a National Monument of Singapore in 2010.
|
GENERAL POST OFFICE AND EXCHANGE BUILDING - SINGAPORE
Album XV * Image 30
* Detail from full size 11 x 8 inches
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co.,
Singapore, bearing number “213”.
GENERAL POST OFFICE AND EXCHANGE BUILDING - SINGAPORE
Album XV * Image 30 * Detail from full size 11 x 8 inches
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore, bearing number “213”.
*************************************************************
VIEW OF THE HARBOUR - SINGAPORE
Album XV * Image 31 * Size 11 x 8½ inches.
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore bearing number 187.
|
VIEW OF THE HARBOUR - SINGAPORE
Album XV * Image 31 * Detail from full size 11 x 8½ inches.
Original photograph by G. R. Lambert, & Co., Singapore bearing number 187.
|
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Two scenes in Album XV are in India not Singapore:
Photographs 23, and 25 identified as “Jeweller’s Street” and “Manack Chouk” respectively
are in fact in Jaipur, India, over 2,500 miles to the north-west of Singapore.
are in fact in Jaipur, India, over 2,500 miles to the north-west of Singapore.
JEWELLER’S STREET
Album
XV * Image 23 * Size 10½ x 8½
inches
The actual location is Jaipur (Jeypoor) India.
Album XV * Image 25 * Size 11 x 8 inches
The actual location is Jaipur (Jeypoor) India.
Upper right the façade of the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) built of pink granite in
the form of a high wall to screen the royal ladies as they watched street festivities.
MANACK CHOUK
Album XV * Image 25 * Detail from full size 11 x 8 inches
The actual location is Jaipur (Jeypoor) India.
In 1727
Maharajah Sawai Jai Singh II, founder of Jaipur, gave royal patronage
to the most
successful jewelers to start a gems industry in the city.
Maharajah Ram
Singh decreed the main market in the city be called Johri Bazaar
and the main square Manack Chouk, also known as Ruby Square.
and the main square Manack Chouk, also known as Ruby Square.
MANACK CHOUK
Album XV * Image 25 * Detail from full size 11 x 8 inches
The actual location is Jaipur (Jeypoor) India.
These two photographs have been added to BLOG 50 - WORLD TOUR - ARTICLE 9 of 28
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Reviewed 12 May 2024
George W. Randall Research.........................................................................................................................
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