Within Singapore's District 10, there is an upmarket neighbourhood named Tanglin. Much of the story of Palace of Ghosts takes place here. While the meaning of Tanglin is believed to be derived from the Teochew Chinese language, meaning “great east hill peaks”, the neighbourhood took its name from a house that was called Tang Leng, built by William Napier in 1854. The location of Tanglin, indicated in red, can be seen on the map of Singapore below.
Historically, this was the first suburb outside the original settlement located around the Singapore River to its southeast. It was considered a desirable location because it was away from the noise, dust and smells of the crowded settlement. It was green and the climate was thought to be better than in the coastal areas. It was reached by Orchard Road which was a track first put down during the 1830s and gradually improved thereafter. As the name suggests, the area was previously used for orchards and plantations, the latter being mainly of pepper and gambier. In 1856, this area was selected for the new location of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It is close to the Botanic Gardens where the mysterious, secret plot of land, once known as Tyersall Park and that is at the centre of Palace of Ghosts, lies today. Clues can be found in some of today’s place names: the Tyersall Gate entrance to the Botanic Gardens and Tyersall Avenue running along its perimeter.
How this neighbourhood became so intricately entwined with the story of Palace of Ghosts is because of William Napier’s residence here. His importance to the story is key. His contribution to the development of Singapore in its early days is also key but is often overlooked, or even completely ignored or forgotten. Chapter 3 of Palace of Ghosts, “The Road to Tang Leng”, tells the story of Napier’s time in Asia after he arrived in Singapore in 1831. Once again, present-day clues point to connections to the past: Napier Road, Napier MRT subway station and the enormous James Brooke Napier memorial still standing in Fort Canning Park. William Napier’s arrival, however, was not by chance and his reputation, or at least that of his family and friends, preceded his arrival. His pedigree was second to none and his connections to some famous historical figures are remarkable.
William Napier in 1833 (Source: The Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society)
One such figure was his father, Sir Macvey Napier, a lawyer, legal scholar, and philosopher. William was the youngest of his seven sons and three daughters. Macvey played a crucial role in shaping legal education and practice in Britain during the first half of the 19th century, was a Professor at the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh, as well as serving as the Chair of Conveyancing at the University of Edinburgh. His contributions to legal philosophy and education made a lasting impact on the legal profession, but his intellectual pursuits did not end there. Macvey Napier was chief editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica from 1829 to 1840 and responsible for the publication of the 7th edition in the early 1830s. He oversaw enhancements to the encyclopaedia’s reputation as a comprehensive and reliable source of knowledge, making significant improvements in the work’s organization, content and overall quality. He was in regular correspondence with some of the leading intellectuals, writers and top politicians of the day, including Charles Dickens, James Mill, Thomas Robert Malthus, John Stuart Mill, Lord John Russell and even Lord Palmerston making him one of the most influential thinkers and intellectuals of that era. It was also through Macvey’s influence that Sir Stamford Raffles was awarded an Honorary Degree of LLD from the University of Edinburgh on the 18 of June 1825.
Bust of Macvey Napier, 1848, by Peter Slater (1809-1870), University of Edinburgh
A father of such standing and connections would have guaranteed that William would be seen as no ordinary fresh-off-the-boat arrival in Singapore by the settlement’s political, business, and community leaders. However, Macvey’s status and reputation were not the only things supporting William’s pedigree. Another family member, Macvey’s oldest son, David Skene Napier, arrived in Singapore in 1819 shortly after Raffles made landfall. Raffles was a close friend, and it was he who had persuaded David to take up the position of one of the new settlement’s first magistrates. David was also a partner in one of the territory’s very early trading companies, Napier & Scott, set up in 1820 and was one of the first residents to move into one of the fancy new mansions going up around the Esplanade. Later, after William’s arrival, he set up another trading company, Napier & Co. with his youngest brother. David and his wife Anna were among the most intimate of Raffles and Lady Raffles’ friends in Singapore. It’s a safe bet that William spent at least his first few months lodging with his oldest brother, meeting the leading figures of the community at the regular dinner parties hosted by David and his wife at their brand-new mansion.
David Skene Napier by the Scottish artist John Syme (1795-1861)
It just so happens that David’s mansion was the first project secured by architect George Coleman when he arrived in Singapore in 1822. Coleman was appointed as advisor to Stamford Raffles and was responsible for the first layout of the settlement. He subsequently went on to design the building that would become Singapore’s first Parliament House built on land next to the Singapore River previously occupied by Temenggong Abdul Rahman. Coleman eventually became the first Government Superintendent of Public Works when he was appointed on 19 October 1833.
George Coleman (1800s)
It is difficult to imagination looking at Singapore's forest of glass and steel skyscrapers and shopping malls, but Coleman was the brains behind the basic layout of todays central Singapore stretching west from Chinatown to the east at Little India. Coleman basically built much of early Singapore’s Western-style buildings, shaping the course of Singapore’s architectural development and early urbanisation. As well as the Old Parliament House, a few of his buildings still stand today, including the Armenian Church of St Gregory, Caldwell House located in the Chijmes complex and, probably, Istana Kampong Glam. In addition to buildings, Coleman also managed large-scale public works such as clearing the jungle, draining mangrove swamps, and constructing new streets and roads. Even the early Western-style buildings that Coleman was not directly responsible for mostly copied his designs.
Coleman and William quickly became firm friends after they were introduced by David in 1831. They became business partners, launching a newspaper in 1835. Coleman’s standing in the community was enhanced by his ability to converse fluently in Bengali, Hindi, Tamil and Malay. On Coleman’s death in 1844, William adopted his son and placed his wife under his care, marrying her shortly afterwards.
With credentials and connections like these, and of course many others in Singapore’s tight-knit community, it was not surprising that William Napier was destined to have a major impact on the development of the Singapore settlement for decades to come. His story in Singapore is one of a rapid-fire sequence of hugely diverse events, initiatives, investments, and contributions. His unwavering energy and commitment to the early settlement earned him respect and admiration among the embryonic community. He became known, affectionately, by the nicknames “Puffing Billy” and “Royal Billy”. He spent about 25 years in Asia, nearly all of which were as a resident of Singapore.
It was only towards the end of his period of residency in Singapore that Napier purchased a large plot of land and built a house, perhaps with money inherited from Coleman by his widowed wife, in the area now known as Tanglin. The house, Tang Leng, was the first home to be built on the land that was to eventually host the monumental royal palace that became known as Istana Tyersall. Napier, therefore, not only gave Tanglin its name but established the location as one of the most prestigious in the region, a home for future royalty. Napier’s fascinating life in Singapore, his celebrity and philanthropy, his struggles and tragedies, are a riveting story. His role as one of the leading and early foreign settlers in Singapore sets the tone for the events that follow. One of the great mysteries is why so little has been written about this towering figure in early Singapore society. In total Raffles stayed in Singapore less than one year, despite of all his professed enthusiasm to create a new, modern settlement. By contrast, William Napier spent 25 years there, supporting and investing his own money in just about every major civil project that he could (of which there were many). That is why I refer to him in Palace of Ghosts as “the Raffles that Singapore never really had”!
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