Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles
(1781-1826), Colonial governor and zoologistRegency Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 4 portraits
A collector and scholar, Raffles was a colonial administrator in South East Asia. In 1805 he was Assistant Secretary to the government of Penang, off the Malay coast. In 1811 he was made Lieutenant-Governor of Java following Britain's invasion. After introducing a series of laws to reform local customs, he was recalled in 1815 when the British returned Java to the Dutch. In 1819 he took over the governorship of Sumatra and acquired Singapore where, between 1822 and 1824, he oversaw the development of a thriving commercial port for the British.
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles
by George Francis Joseph
oil on canvas, 1817
NPG 84
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles
by Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey
pencil, 1817
NPG 316a(156)
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles
after George Francis Joseph
photograph, (1817)
NPG D39172
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles
by James Thomson (Thompson), published by Henry Fisher
stipple engraving, published January 1824
NPG D38020
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