Stamford Raffles
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2023) |
Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen | |
---|---|
In office 1818–1824 | |
Monarchs | George III George IV |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
2nd British Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies | |
In office 1811–1816 | |
Appointed by | Earl of Minto |
Monarch | George III |
Preceded by | Robert Rollo Gillespie (acting) |
Succeeded by | John Fendall |
Personal details | |
Born | Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles 5 July 1781 Onboard the ship Ann, off the coast of brain tumour |
Resting place | St Mary's Church, Hendon, England |
Nationality | British |
Spouses | |
Children | 5 |
Parents |
|
Education | Mansion House Boarding School |
Known for | Founding years of modern Singapore |
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles
Raffles also played a role in further establishing the
While Raffles was largely credited for the founding of contemporary Singapore, the early running of day-to-day operations was mostly done by
Early life
Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles was born on Port Morant, Jamaica,[2] to Captain Benjamin Raffles (1739, London – 23 November 1811, Deptford) and Anne Raffles (née Lyde) (1755 – 8 February 1824, London).[1] Benjamin served as a ship master for various ships engaged in the direct trade between England and the West Indies. Although some biographers have suggested that Benjamin was involved in the slave trade, modern historians have refuted such claims. When Benjamin ended his involvement in the West India trade in 1800, it caused his family considerable hardship.[7]
5 July 1781 on board the ship Ann, off the coast ofThe little money the family had went into sending the young Raffles to the Mansion House Academy,
In 1805, he was sent to Prince of Wales Island, Malaya, starting his long association with Southeast Asia. He started as assistant secretary, under the Honourable Philip Dundas, the new governor of Penang.[9] At this time, he also made the acquaintance of Thomas Otho Travers, who would accompany him for the next twenty years.[7]
Java Island
British invasion of Java
His knowledge of the
In 1811, after the annexation of the
The previous Dutch governor,
The British invasion of Java took a total of forty-five days, during which Raffles was appointed the
Rule
During the relatively brief British rule in Java, Raffles negotiated peace, and mounted some significant military expeditions against local Javanese princes to subjugate them to British rule. Most significant of these was the assault on Yogyakarta on 21 June 1812. Yogyakarta was one of the two most powerful indigenous polities in Java. During the attack, the Yogyakarta kraton was badly damaged, and extensively looted by British troops. Raffles seized much of the contents of the court archive. The event was unprecedented in Javanese history. It was the first time an indigenous court had been taken by storm by a European army, and the humiliation of the local aristocracy was profound.[11]
Although peace returned to Central Java in the immediate aftermath of the British assault, the events may have fuelled the deep-seated instability and hostility to European involvement that ultimately gave rise to the Java War of the 1820s.[12] Raffles also ordered an expedition to Palembang in Sumatra to unseat the local sultan, Mahmud Badaruddin II, and to seize the nearby Bangka Island to set up a permanent British presence in the area, in the case of the return of Java to Dutch rule after the end of the War of the Sixth Coalition in Europe.
During his lieutenant-governorship, Raffles placed some restrictions on the local
Under Raffles's aegis, a large number of ancient monuments in Java were systematically catalogued for the first time. The first detailed English-language account of Prambanan was prepared by Colin Mackenzie, while the Buddhist temple of Borobudur was surveyed and cleared of vegetation by H. C. Cornelius.[15]
When his wife, Olivia, died on 26 November 1814, Raffles was devastated. In 1815, he left again for England shortly before the island of Java was returned to control of the Netherlands following the
Interlude in England
In 1817, Raffles wrote and published The History of Java,[16] describing the history of the island from ancient times as well as its geography, flora, and fauna.
In 1817, Raffles was created a Knight Bachelor by the Prince Regent George IV, whose daughter, Princess Charlotte, was particularly close to him. At the publication of the book, he also stopped using the name 'Thomas', preferring to use his middle name, 'Stamford', possibly to avoid confusion amongst his associates with Sir Thomas Sevestre, or his cousin, Thomas Raffles, who both bore the same first name.
On 22 February, he married his second wife, Sophia Hull,[9][17][18] and later set sail to Bencoolen (present-day Bengkulu in Indonesia) to take up his new post with his new wife.
Bencoolen and Malaya
Raffles arrived in Bencoolen on 19 March 1818, where he was appointed as the
It was at this point that he realised the importance of a British presence that both challenged the Dutch
The competition in the area, between Raffles and the aggressive Dutch
In his correspondences with
However, the Anglo-Dutch Convention of 1814 was not completely clear, especially on the issue of certain possessions such as
Founding of modern Singapore
Major-General
Raffles sailed to Malacca in late 1818, to personally secure a British presence in the Riau area, especially Singapura, which was favoured by him both through the readings of Malayan histories, and by Farquhar's explorations. Despite Lord Hastings' less-than-stellar opinion of Raffles before (which had necessitated his trip to England to clear his name at the end of his tenure as Lieutenant-Governor of Java), the now well-connected and successful Raffles was able to secure permission to set up a settlement. At this point in Singaporean history, the name Lion City was applied. The city was in a strategically advantageous position; however, he was ordered not to provoke the Dutch, and his subsequent actions were officially disavowed by the British government.
In London,
Establishment
After a brief survey of the
Although Hussein Shah had had no previous contact with the British, he had certainly heard of the strength of the Royal Navy, and was in no position to argue against the terms. Raffles reassured him that the Dutch posed no threat in the area. Hussein Shah had been the crown Prince of Johor, but while he was away in Pahang to get married, his father died, and his younger brother was made sultan, supported by some of the court officials and the Dutch. To circumvent the situation of having to negotiate with a sultan influenced by the Dutch, Raffles decided to recognise, on behalf of the British Crown, Hussein Shah as being the rightful ruler of Johor.
Farquhar's attempt to establish a more favourable treaty in Rhio (Riau) was met with greater challenge, as the Dutch were present, and made for a rather awkward position. The Dutch were alarmed, and sent a small contingent to the island. Despite a covert offer of subterfuge against the Dutch offered by the Raja of Rhio (Riau), Farquhar returned, and an official protest was sent by the Raja to Java regarding the matter.
Raffles declared the foundation of what was to become modern Singapore on 6 February, securing the transfer of control of the island to the East India Company. With much pomp and ceremony, the official treaty was read aloud in languages representing all nations present, as well as the Malay and Chinese inhabitants.
Sultan Hussein Shah was paid 5,000
Farquhar was officially named the
Achin, and the early conflict with the Dutch
Raffles also planned to start a British presence in
Official Dutch complaints came before the end of the month, and Raffles attempted to appease the situation by instructing Farquhar to not interfere with the politics of surrounding islands. Despite numerous threats and serious considerations by the Dutch governor-general
Nonetheless, amidst uncertainty and intrigue, Raffles landed in Achin on 14 March 1819, with begrudging help of Penang. Once again, it seems that multiple people were in power, but none wanted to formally deal with the British. The hostile atmosphere created allowed Raffles to cancel the only meeting he was able to arrange, with
By the time Raffles had returned to Singapore, on 31 May, much of the immediate crisis that the colony had caused in Penang and Calcutta had passed. By then, the initial five-hundred villagers had grown to become five-thousand merchants, soldiers, and administrators, packed onto the island. Raffles was determined to destroy the Dutch mercantile monopoly in the area, to replace it with a gateway for trade with China and Japan. The latter he had attempted but failed to reach an agreement with while governing Java.
First year of Singapore
While in Singapore, Raffles established schools and churches in the native languages. He allowed
Confident that Farquhar would follow his instructions well, Raffles sailed for Bencoolen once again on 28 June.
Bencoolen, once again
Raffles was still the
Native authorities were given power in their respective districts, and were answerable only to the lieutenant-governor. The slave-debtor system was brought in, instead of the old slavery system that Raffles had abolished in Java, Borneo, and initially in Bencoolen. Slave-debtors were registered, and educational reforms started to focus on children, instead of the entire population. Raffles looked into a long-term plan for the slow reform of Bencoolen.
Unlike many other European adventurers, Raffles did not impose upon the colonised the alien language or culture of the coloniser. In addition to preserving the
Consolidation of the Eastern Isles
Colonel Bannerman's death in Penang in October 1819 brought new opportunities for Raffles to expand his power to also include the other minor British factories and outposts; from
The Dutch claim on the Sultanate of Johore and hence, Rhio, and the diplomatic exchanges between Baron Godert van der Capellen and Calcutta continued throughout this time. The legitimacy of the British treaties was also questioned once again, but finally, as Singapore grew at an exponential rate, the Dutch gave up their claim on the island, allowing the colony to continue as a British possession. However, the pressures put upon Calcutta ensured that no single governor of all British possessions in the Strait or on Sumatra was appointed, and Raffles, whose health was slowly ailing, returned to Bencoolen.
Administration of Bencoolen, 1820–1822
Raffles returned to Bencoolen in ill-health, but as his health improved, he continued on his quest to learn about the island he now called home. He studied the
By early 1820, Tengku Long had firmly established himself as the
As in Java, Raffles collected samples of local species of plant and animal, as well as describing them in his journals. He located other tribes, and recorded their customs, especially their religions and laws. Bringing the island of Nias under British rule, he noted its civilised state and high production yields of rice.
Yet the production of food remained a problem. In Bencoolen, Raffles paid special attention to the agricultural methods of the Chinese, including an introduction to the only issue of Proceedings of the Agricultural Society. To remedy the shortages, his employer, the East India Company, concerned themselves only with profit-taking. Even as Raffles lived like a country gentleman, and ran his colony like an estate, his expenditure on nature preservation was seriously frowned upon. In both Calcutta and London, they discussed his removal from office, while Castlereagh continued negotiations with the Dutch regarding the ongoing diplomatic conflicts.
Luckily, the Singapore issue had its supporters in the House, so as negotiations continued in Europe, Raffles remained largely idle in Bencoolen. The only major issue, outside the politics of the local sultans, involved the replacement of Farquhar, who decided that he had no intention of leaving his post voluntarily, causing a moment of tension between him and Travers. Raffles's request for Travers to deliver dispatches to India nullified the issue late in the year, and Farquhar remained in charge of Singapore, with its survival still in doubt for many in both India and London, who believed that it would either be handed over to the Dutch, or taken violently by force when Castlereagh's negotiations had ended. Still William Farquhar stirred up more trouble, especially with local English merchants over trivial matters of self-importance, and overreaction over small infractions of white traders, for some of which he was reprimanded by Calcutta officially. Public works, commissioned by Raffles but undertaken by Farquhar, were becoming overwhelmingly expensive.
Personal tragedies also started for Raffles. His eldest son, Leopold Stamford (b. 1818), died during an epidemic on 4 July 1821. The oldest daughter, Charlotte (b. 1818), was also sick with
Raffles was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) in 1822.[22]
Singapore (1822–1823)
Raffles returned to Singapore in October 1822. Raffles was pleased with the fact that Singapore had grown exponentially in such a short period of time. The colony was a bustling hub of trade and economic activity. Even so, Farquhar's administration was deemed unsatisfactory, for example, he allowed merchants to encroach on government areas, permitted vices such as gambling, and tolerated
It was also during the re-planning and reconstruction of the port town that Farquhar dramatically argued with Raffles, who now considered him unfit for the position of
Raffles convened a meeting on 1 April 1823, with the intention of opening a Malay college in Singapore, based on his observations on his years in southeast Asia, and his belief of the importance of both the local and the
In the final few weeks of his stay in Singapore, in 1823, Raffles drafted a series of administrative regulations for Singapore that aimed to govern Singapore in a fair manner, but also reflected his stance on various moral and social issues. A registration system was first instituted for all land, regardless of ownership, and the repossession of the land by the government if land remained unregistered. This act asserted the power of the
Finally, on 9 June 1823, feeling that his work in establishing Singapore was finished, he boarded a ship for home, but not before a stop in Batavia to visit his old home, and adversary, van der Capellen. A final stop in Bencoolen followed. Tragedy befell Raffles once more when his youngest daughter, Flora Nightingall, born on 19 September, died a little over one month later on 28 November while still in Bencoolen.
On 2 February 1824, Raffles and his family embarked on the East Indiaman Fame for England. She caught fire 50 miles (80 kilometres) from Bencoolen the evening after she sailed. All aboard were able to take to her boats and were saved, although the ship herself was totally destroyed.[28][29] The fire claimed most of his drawings and papers.[30]
The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 finally settled the score in the East Indies. The British gained dominance in the north, while the entirety of Sumatra became Dutch. The Malay Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent were both free of Dutch interference. Raffles finally returned to England on 22 August 1824, over a year after he left Singapore. His longest tenure in Singapore was only eight months, but he was considered the founder of Singapore nevertheless.
Return to Britain and death
This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2023) |
Upon arrival in England in poor health, Sir Stamford and Lady Raffles convalesced in Cheltenham until September 1824, after which he entertained distinguished guests in both London and his home. He also made plans to stand for parliament, but this ambition was never realised. They moved to a London address at Berners Street at the end of November 1824, just in time to have a war of words with Farquhar, who had also arrived in the city, in front of the Court of Directors of the East India Company regarding Singapore. Despite raising several severe charges against Raffles, Farquhar was ultimately unable to discredit him; he was denied a chance to be restored to Singapore, but was given a military promotion instead.[clarification needed]
With the Singapore matter settled, Raffles turned to his other great interests: botany and zoology. He was elected a member of the Linnean Society of London on 5 February 1825.[31] Raffles was a founder (in 1825) and first president (elected April 1826) of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the London Zoo.
Meanwhile, he was not only not granted a pension, but was called to pay over twenty-two thousand
He died of apoplexy at Highwood House in Mill Hill, north London, on his 45th birthday, 5 July 1826. His estate amounted to around ten thousand pounds sterling, which was paid to the company to cover his outstanding debt. Because of his anti-slavery position, he was refused burial inside the local parish church (St Mary's Church, Hendon) by the vicar, Theodor Williams, whose family had made its money in Jamaica in the slave trade.[citation needed] A brass tablet was finally placed in 1887, but the actual whereabouts of his body was not known until 1914, when it was found in a vault. When the church was extended in the 1920s, his tomb was incorporated into the body of the building, and a square floor tablet with inscription marked the spot.
Raffles was survived by his second wife Sophia Hull and daughter Ella, and predeceased by his other four children in
Ella died in 1840, aged nineteen. Sophia remained at Highwood House until her death in 1858, at the age of 72. Her tomb and memorial may be seen in St Paul's Church graveyard, Mill Hill, close to the rear door of the church. All his other children remained buried overseas. Thirty-three years after his death, Raffles' substantial collection of Indonesian antiquities and ethnography was donated to the British Museum by his nephew, Rev William Charles Raffles Flint.[9]
Memorial sculpture in Westminster Abbey, London
A life-size figure in
The inscription reads:
To the memory of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, L.L.D. F.R.S. Lieut. Governor of Java and first President of the Zoological Society of London. Born 1781 Died 1826. Selected at an early age to conduct the government of the British conquests in the Indian ocean, by wisdom, vigour, and philanthropy, he raised Java to happiness and prosperity unknown under former rulers. After the surrender of that island to the Dutch, and during his government in Sumatra he founded an emporium at Singapore, where in establishing freedom of person as the right of the soil, and freedom of trade as the right of the port, he secured to the British flag the maritime superiority of the eastern seas. Ardently attached to science, he laboured successfully to add to the knowledge and enrich the museums of his native land, in promoting the welfare of the people committed to his charge, he sought the good of his country, and the glory of God.
Legacy
In Singapore, and in other parts of the world, his name lives on in numerous entities, including:
Natural history
- Raffles gave the scientific name to Macaca fascicularis, also known as the crab-eating macaque.[34]
- He also gave the scientific name of the lesser mouse-deer (Tragulus kanchil).[34]
A number of species are named after him:
- Chaetodon rafflesii, latticed butterflyfish
- Dinopium rafflesii, olive-backed woodpecker
- Megalaima rafflesi, red-crowned barbet
- Nepenthes rafflesiana, a species of pitcher plant
- Protanilla rafflesi Taylor, 1990, a species of ant
- Rafflesia, a genus of parasitic flowering plants, known for having the largest flowers in the world
- Theridion rafflesi Simon, 1899, spider from Sumatra
While in Sumatra Raffles commissioned artists to make drawings of his collections of animals and plants. The surviving drawings are held by the British Library.[30]
-
Fragrant nutmeg (Myristica fragrans)
-
Durian (Durio zibethinus)
-
Oriental bay owl (Phodilus badius)
-
Malay apple(Syzygium malaccense)
-
Blue-backed parrot (Tanygnathus everetti)
-
Langsat(Lansium parasiticum)
-
Otter civet (Cynogale bennettii)
-
Crested fireback (Lophura ignita)
Most natural history specimens collected by Raffles were lost with the sinking of Fame.[30] A few sent earlier, and some collected later, survive at the Natural History Museum, London and World Museum.
-
Ferruginous Partridge NML-VZ D512g collected in Sumatra by Stamford Raffles, held at World Museum.
-
Lesser Whistling Duck NML-VZ D843b collected in Sumatra by Stamford Raffles held in World Museum.
Places and landmarks
- Raffles City
- Raffles Hospital
- Raffles Hotel
- Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research
- Raffles Place
Business
- Raffles Holdings
- Raffles Medical Group
- Yantai Raffles Shipyard
Education
- Raffles College – currently National University of Singapore(NUS)
- Raffles Girls' Primary School
- Raffles Girls' School (Secondary)
- Raffles Institution (Secondary and Junior College)
- Stamford Primary School, formerly Stamford Girls' School[35]
- Stamford American International School
Sports and recreation
Transport
- Raffles Institution Lane
- Raffles Lighthouse
- Raffles Place MRT station
- Stamford Road
- Raffles Class – The former name for Singapore Airlines Business Class
Two statues in Singapore, one made of white marble along the Singapore River, while another made of bronze in front of the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall.
See also
Notes
References
- ^ Singapore Infopedia.
- ^ Raffles, Thomas Stamford (1830). Memoir of the life and public services of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, F.R.S. &c.; particularly in the government of Java, 1811–1816; and of Bencoolen and its dependencies, 1817–1824; with details of the commerce and resources of the Eastern archipelago; and selections from his correspondence. London, England: John Murray (John Murray III) – via Google Books.
- ^ Raffles, Thomas Stamford (2015). The History of Java, v. 1–2.
- ^ "William Farquhar, not Raffles, is true founder of S'pore: UK magazine book review". mothership.sg. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
- ^ "Head Count: The History of Census-taking in Singapore". National Library, Singapore. 21 January 2020.
- ^ "Glory and disgrace: The complex legacy of Singapore founder Raffles". France 24. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
- ^ a b Cornelius, Vernon (24 August 2016). "Family of Sir Stamford Raffles | Infopedia". eResources.NLB.Gov.sg. National Library Board, Government of Singapore. InfopediaRafflesFamily. Archived from the original on 22 June 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- OCLC 940527190.
- ^ a b c Anon (n.d.). "Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (biographical details)". BritishMuseum.org. London, England: British Museum. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ISBN 978-981-4358-86-6.
- ^ Ricklefs, M. C. (2008). A History of Modern Indonesia Since C. 1200 (4th ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
- ^ Carey, Peter (2008). The Power of Prophecy: Prince Dipanagara and the End of an Old Order in Java, 1785–1855.
- ^ Hahn, Emily (1946). Raffles of Singapore.
- JSTOR 27859777.
- ^ Miksic, John (1990). Borobudur: Golden Tales of the Buddhas.
- The History of Java. Black, Parbury and Allen for the Hon. East India Company, reprinted in the Cambridge Library Collection, 2010.
- ^ "Lady Sophia Raffles (biographical details)". BritishMuseum.org. London, England: British Museum. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ a b "Sophia Hull | Infopedia". eResources.NLB.Gov.sg. Singapore: National Library Board, Government of Singapore. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ "Ch. XIV Asia. The protest of Sir S. Raffles against the Proceedings of the Dutch in the Malayan Archipelago Treaties formed with the Princes of Sumatra". The Annual Register: 216–232. 1820. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Blagden, C.O. (1921). "Historical: Singapore prior to 1819". In Makepeace, Walter (ed.). One Hundred Years of Singapore: being some account of the capital of the straits from its foundation by Sir Stamford Raffles on the 6th February 1819 to the 6th February 1919. London: John Murray. pp. 10.
- ^ "Currency converter: 1270–2017". NationalArchives.Gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
- ^ "American Antiquarian Society Members Directory". AmericanAntiquarian.org. American Antiquarian Society (AAS).
- ^ ISBN 978-9971694302.
- ^ Khoo, Kevin. "William Farquhar's pragmatism: another perspective on Raffles vision for Singapore". NAS.Gov.sg. National Archives of Singapore. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
- ^ Charles Burton Buckley (1902). An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore. Singapore, Printed by Fraser & Neave, limited. pp. 88–89 – via Archive.org.
- ^ Charles Burton Buckley (1902). An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore. Vol. 1. Singapore: Fraser & Neave. p. 122.
- JSTOR 41502903.
- ^ "From Lloyd's Marine List – July 20". Caledonian Mercury. No. 16060. 24 July 1824.
- ^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 5929. London, England. 30 July 1824.
- ^ OCLC 316836618.
- ^ "Picture Quiz". The Linnean. 12 (3): 14–18. October 1996.
- ^ Roger Nicholson; Robert Nicholson (1966). 'The Abbey Scientists' Hall. London: A.R. p. 49.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Raffles.
- ^ Transactions of the Linnean Society.
- ^ "Stamford Primary School". Roots.sg. Roots. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
Sources
- ISBN 0-7141-2542-3.
- ISBN 978-981-08-3534-7.
- Borschberg, Peter (2019). "Dutch objections to British Singapore, 1819–1824: law, politics, commerce and a diplomatic misstep". S2CID 226792993.
- Brayley, E. W. (1827). "Some account of the life and writings and contributions to science, of the late Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, Knt., F.R.S., S.A. & L.S., &c; successively Lieutenant-Governor of Java and its dependencies, and of Fort Marlborough, Singapore, and the British Possessions in Sumatra: Founder and President of the Zoological Society". The Zoological Journal. 3 (9): 1–48.
- Brayley, E. W. (1827). "Some account of the life and writings and contributions to science, of the late Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, Knt., F.R.S., S.A. & L.S., &c; successively Lieutenant-Governor of Java and its dependencies, and of Fort Marlborough, Singapore, and the British Possessions in Sumatra: Founder and President of the Zoological Society". The Zoological Journal. 3 (11): 382–400.
- Chandler, David P.; Steinberg, David J. (1988). In Search of Southeast Asia. Hawaii: ISBN 978-0-8248-1110-5.
- Wurtzburg, Charles E. (1986). Raffles of the Eastern Isles. ISBN 0-19-582605-1.
- de Jong, Joop (2000). De Waaier van het Fortuin. ISBN 90-12-08974-3.
- ISBN 978-1846686030.
- Murdoch, Adrian, ed. (2013). Raffles – Three Lives. Rott Publishing.
- Noltie, H. J. (2009). Raffles' Ark Redrawn: Natural History Drawings from the Collections of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. London, England: ISBN 978-0-7123-5084-6.
- )
Further reading
- Jardine, Sir William (1844). "with a memoir on Sir Stamford Raffles". The natural history of game birds.
- Raffles, Stamford (1830). History of Java. Vol. I (2nd ed.). London: John Murray.
- Raffles, Stamford (1830). History of Java. Vol. II (2nd ed.). London: John Murray.
- Woodman, Dorothy (September 1954). Raffles of Java, 1781–1826. Vol. 4#9. History Today. pp. 581–590.
External links
- Quotations related to Stamford Raffles at Wikiquote
- Media related to Stamford Raffles at Wikimedia Commons
- Works by or about Thomas Stamford Raffles at Wikisource
- Portraits of Stamford Raffles at the National Portrait Gallery, London
- Firaci, Biagio (10 June 2014). "Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and the British colonisation of Singapore among Penang, Melaka and Bencoonen". Singlish.it. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
- "Raffles biography". RMBR.NUS.edu.sg. Singapore: Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. Archived from the originalon 9 February 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
- Hamilton, John (1896). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 47. pp. 161–165.
- Thomas Stamford Raffles at Find a Grave
- "Raffles and the Golden Opportunity". The Guardian. 5 December 2012.