Prisoners their own warders

by John Frederick Adolphus McNair; W. D. Bayliss

MORTAR MILL, GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SINGAPORE.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE GARDEN BEING LAID OUT BY CONVICTS.

Plate XVII.

Government House (see [Plate XIX].).

We have already mentioned that the transfer of the Straits Settlements from the direct control of India to the Crown was effected on the 1st April, 1867. The first Governor under the new régime was Colonel Sir Harry St. George Ord, R.E., who, upon his arrival in Singapore, had to take up his abode in a hired house. He therefore lost no time in issuing orders to purchase land, and to erect a suitable residence for himself and for the future Governors of the colony. Plans were accordingly called for from the colonial engineer (Major McNair), and they soon took shape and were submitted by the Governor to the Legislative Council without delay; and money was voted for the erection of the building, the purchase of land, and the ordering of furniture from England. The work was actually commenced within three months of the Governor's arrival, the foundation-stone was laid by Lady Ord a month later, and the building was made ready for the reception of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh in October, 1869.

The whole of the brick work, exterior plastering, and most of the flooring and interior work were effected by convict labour; but it became necessary, towards the last, to employ free labour, to assist in the flooring, which was executed with battens from the steam sawmills at Johore, and also in the coffering of the ceilings in the drawing-room and some plastering in the rear block. The whole of the bricks used were made by the convicts, and much of the lime and cement was of their manufacture.

The edifice stands upon a hill in the eastern suburb of the town, about a mile and a quarter from the cathedral, and is surrounded by nearly 100 acres of ground, which has been tastefully laid out, and planted with rare plants under successive Superintendents of the Government Botanical Gardens. The building commands an extensive view of the harbour and surrounding country, and from the tower the distant islands and mainland of Johore are distinctly visible. It is supplied with water from the town water supply,[12] by the use of a hydraulic ram. It was first lighted with gas, but now by the electric light throughout the whole building.

GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SINGAPORE, APPROACHING COMPLETION.

Plate XVIII.

The house is built somewhat in the shape of a cross. Ascending a flight of broad steps from the wide portico, you enter a spacious entrance hall floored with beautiful white marble from Java, having in your direct front a handsome stone staircase leading up through an arcade to a half-pace, from which it returns right and left to the lobby above, which is of the same dimensions as the entrance hall. Off this lobby, on the eastern wing, is the library, and beyond, the principal bed and dressing-rooms, and an open verandah over the portico (since regrettably built in). In the western wing is a double drawing-room, with disengaged pillars between; and below, off the entrance hall, on the east side, is the ball-room, and on the west the dining hall and billiard-rooms. Store-rooms, pantries, and all necessary accommodation were supplied as in any of our home mansions.