Lunatics and lunatic asylums in early Singapore (1819-1869).

A BRIEP r6sume of the establishment and administration of the Straits Settlements is necessary to the understanding of the developments to be described. In the seventeenth century, the English East India Company was ousted by the Dutch from the islands of the East Indies. The East India Company then decided to concentrate on India itself, and in 1763, after having defeated France, its main rival, Britain became the dominant European trading power in India. By the end of the eighteenth century, the East India Company began to take an interest again in the Malayan Archipelago for a number of reasons. There was a need for a naval base on the sheltered side of the Bay of Bengal from which the Royal Navy could operate during the North East Monsoon to protect British merchantmen in the Bay of Bengal and beyond. A British controlled port along the China trade route was also needed. The Straits Settlements were thus established for strategic, protective and economic reasons. They were later also used as convict settlements, mainly for convicts from India. Sir Francis Light in 1786 took possession of Penang Island in the nameof the British Government and renamed it Prince of Wales Island. On 28 January 1819 Sir Stamford Raffles landed in Singapore, chosen for its excellent natural harbour and strategic geographical position, and on 6 February 1819 the Union Jack was officially hoisted there. Finally, by the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, Malacca was transferred to the British in exchange for Bencoolen on the west coast of Sumatra. Thus by 1824, the three settlements which later formed the Straits Settlements were already established. In 1826, they were incorporated into a Presidency, known as the Incorporated Settlements of Prince of Wales Island, Singapore and Malacca, with Prince of Wales Island as its capital. This 'independence' was short-lived, as the Settlements were degraded into a Residency under the Bengal Government in 1830. In 1832, the capital was transferred to Singapore. Prince of Wales Island was also the headquarters of the Medical Department, where the Senior Surgeon in the Straits officially resided, and the main Medical Stores were kept. Each of the settlements had an Assistant Surgeon and medical subordinates to carry out the medical duties. The headquarters of the Medical Department was also moved to Singapore in 1835. Since Prince of Wales Island (Penang) was founded thirty-three years before Singapore, and was the seat of Government in the Straits from 1786 to 1832, it is worthwhile to trace the developments and study the official policy regarding lunatics in Penang before dealing with Singapore. For the first twenty-eight years of its existence, Penang had no lunatic asylum. Insane persons were under the charge of the police. In 1814, the Sitting Magistrate, Mr. John James Eskine, wrote to the Governor