v w ^ ^ Exhibition of Ridley ana w w w w 
FOR PLAN OF BUILDINGS SEE PAGE 12 
LOWER OFFICE 
The present store and adjacent rooms were built in 1883. 
Ridley added the present Curators’ office, in which part of this 
exhibition is held, in 1892 and used it as his office and library. 
History of the Singapore Botanic Gardens 
The first Botanic Gardens in Singapore were founded by 
Raffles on Fort Canning in 1822, but were closed in 1829. A 
small section was taken over by an Agri-Horticultural Society in 
1836, but was finally abandoned about 1846. 
Another Agri-Horticultural Society founded a new Gardens 
on our present site donated by the Government in 1859. David 
Niven, part-time Superintendent and nutmeg planter, laid out 
the Gardens during subsequent years with roads, bandstand 
terraces (i860) and lake (1864), and his excellent design has 
been but little changed over the years. Society members paid a 
subscription and others an entrance fee to the Gardens. For 15 
years they were pleasure gardens, which were used as an alter¬ 
native to the drive to the Esplanade by “the Quality”. Band 
concerts have been held in the Gardens since i860. In 1866 
twenty-seven acres of land were purchased at the western end 
of the Gardens and the present director’s house was built. 
Thereafter the Society drifted into debt and in 1874 at the 
Society’s request the Government took over their property and 
their debts and undertook to maintain the Gardens for the benefit 
of the public. At this time the Gardens had a menagerie, which 
was finally disbanded in 1904. 
Henry Murton, a young Kew-trained horticulturist, was 
appointed Superintendent in 1875 and began the first scientific 
work at the Gardens. The first rubber trees were introduced in 
1877 and in 1879 the Government allocated 100 acres of adjacent 
land for an economic garden. In it were carried out important 
investigations on the known and potential economic plants and 
this garden was the sole source of planting material for Malaya 
for many years. The pioneer work on rubber, cocoa, oil palms 
and many other crops was a vital importance to the future pros¬ 
perity of Malaya. The Economic Garden was taken over by 
Raffles College in 1922-3, by which time the Agricultural 
Department, founded in 1904, had undertaken the functions in 
these Gardens. The University of Malaya now occupies the site, 
Mr. H. N. Ridley was appointed the first Director in 1888 
and quickly pushed the Singapore Gardens to the fore as a world 
centre for the study of tropical botany and its economic applica¬ 
tion. The Gardens, Malaya and botanists throughout the world 
owe him an immeasurable debt. 
Succeeding Directors, all of whom are still alive, continued 
the scientific study of plants and Mr. Ridley had written recently 
to say “It is a great delight for me to have lived to see . . . the 
Gardens the best tropical gardens in the world.” 
During the Japanese occupation R. E. Holttum and E. J. H. 
Comer, Director and Assistant Director, stayed on at the Gar¬ 
dens and thanks to their efforts and those of Professor Koriba, 
Japanese Director 1942-5:, our herbarium collections, library 
and records remained intact, although inevitably there were 
losses among the plants growing in the Gardens. 
The Singapore Botanic Gardens have been under the charge of 
the following people:— 
David Niven, Superintendent—1S5^9—75^- 
H. M. Murton, Superintendent—1875-80. 
N. Cantley, f.l.s., Superintendent—1880-8. 
H. N. Ridley, c.m.g., m.a,, f.r.s., f.l.s., Director—1888- 
1912. 
I. H. Burkill, m.a., f.l.s., Director—1912-25. 
R. E. Holttum, m.a., sc.d., d.sc., f.l.s., Director—1925- 
49 . 
M. R. Henderson, f.l.s., Director—1949-54. 
J. W. Purseglove, B.sc., a.i.c.t.a., f.l.s., Director — 1954- 
