Brown Esq. (1826-1887) Remembers

An Imagined Walk with George Brown

a.t.Bukit Brown imagines what a conversation with George Henry Brown would be like….

a.t.Bukit Brown: Welcome to Bukit Brown Cemetery, Mr. Brown. Thanks for making the trip from Penang. Does this place bring back any memories for you at all?

Mr. Brown: Amazing! I had heard in the “grave vine” I had a cemetery named after me in Singapore but this leaves me somewhat speechless. I lived close by to this place, on a hill called Mount Pleasant Road. And this whole area was hilly and wild. This is peaceful and beautifully lush, yet tamed. And I see you have some horse-riders taking their morning constitution. Lovely.

a.t.Bukit Brown: Describe the area you lived in back in the 1840s.

Mr. Brown: Wild. I bought a large plot just off Thomson Road. It was then thick jungle and tigers roamed. I shot one once and it was exhilarating. I cleared a large part of it and planted nutmeg and coffee but unfortunately it didn’t take. But I liked the area, and in particular one hill which I thought was rather pleasant – hence Mount Pleasant Road – so I built my home there and a few cottages. One of my trusted staff lived in Fern Cottage. He wrote a spiffy account of the environs which can be found in a book “One Hundred Years of Singapore” – an account of the days of the Straits Settlements from its foundation by Sir Stamford Raffles, circa 1819. Let me read from it:
“The jungle round is full of wild animals; pig, deer, tigers, and many snakes. Mamma encountered no less than three snakes one morning before breakfast, when going her rounds to the fowl-houses, and the mandor captured a python sixteen feet long, sneaking off with a fowl at the foot of our hill, not 200 yards from our cottage, which mamma, who has a particular horror of snakes, was shown coiled up in a fowl basket. There is a small stream at the foot of our hill, and we are constantly finding tiger tracks there. One evening, when I was fishing (there was a stream nearby), I heard a rustle and a lapping sound, and just caught sight of Master Stripes in the lallang on the opposite side: my heart was in my mouth, ‘as I dared not move for fear of attracting his attention; but as soon as he made off, I bolted for dear life up the hill.”

a.t.Bukit Brown: And the name of this intrepid staff member?

Mr. Brown: A certain Mr.G.M.Dare. He lived at the cottage with his mother and sisters.

a.t.Bukit Brown: Rather aptly named. Let’s go back earlier in time. Recall for us when you first arrived on these shores.

Mr. Brown: I had initially settled in Penang in 1840 when I came from Calcutta. Those were the glory days of the Great Empire where young men would seek their fortunes in the East. I decided to move down to Singapore from Penang 2 years later. I started G H Brown & Co in 1 Jul 1854 as Merchants and Commission Agents.

1881 Singapore and Straits Directory, G H Brown & Co and Bun Hin

Now that was a rather fortuitous year – 1854 – as that same year Ellen whom I would marry arrived in Singapore. At age 27, she would have been considered as being left on the shelf at home. But thank goodness she was still single. We fell in love and married on 20^th April 1856. We raised a family of three daughters – Eva Caroline, Charlotte Ellen and Lucy Meda – with my son George William Brown, or “Georgie” as he was affectionately known. He was from my first marriage.

Charlotte Ellen Brown’s impression of Mt Pleasant (courtesy of Jo Prudence)

Ellen’s brother Arthur Knight came in 1860 to help me in my business and he would later become a prominent figure in his own right in Singapore. Arthur and I established ourselves as Brown, Knight & Co. at Malacca Street in 1865 and we owned several ships for example the 800 MT Malacca and the Christian. We moved the business to Raffle Place later.

We lived together in the Mount Pleasant home which sprawled over 140 acres. It was also known as Brown’s Hill by the locals. We had became (clears throat) rather prominent and kept company with the Who’s Who’s in Singapore then such as Thomas Scott Thomson, Charles Dunlop, Tan Kim Ching, Tan Jiak Kim, Tan Boo Liat, etc. It was the 1860s and life was good.

a.t.Bukit Brown: I understand Anna Leonowens was a regular guest in your home.

Mr.Brown: Yes, Ellen had taken a shine to Anna and when Anna’s husband died so unexpectedly in Penang in 1859 at such a young age, she was quite heartbroken. She came down to Singapore to stay. We were all concerned as to how she would carry on: a young widow with a young son she was quite beside herself with worry and grief.

Ellen and Anna had discussed and considered various options at length including setting up a school to teach English. But finally in 1862, Anna accepted an invitation by merchant Tan Kim Ching – we socialised with him quite a lot – to teach English to the King of Siam’s family. Now there’s an interesting connection in international diplomacy between Singapore and Thailand. Ties between Tan Kim Ching and the Siamese court were close. But that is another story for another person to tell.

a.t.Bukit Brown: Yes, we will follow up on that. You might be interested to know that Anna was the inspiration for a smash hit musical based on her life teaching the children of the King of Siam called “The King and I”

Mr. Brown: Yes I had wind of that where I am. But who would have thought that Anna would be so immortalised. It was a good thing that Kim Ching did for her. She was quite partial to music as I am.

a.t.Bukit Brown: Do tell.

Mr. Brown: I play the piano and violin and was good enough to be the honorary organist for St Andrews Cathedral. Ellen and I would host musical soirees in our home in Mount Pleasant. Ellen sang. There was a lot of music in our home, very uplifting. You must try and get a hold of Ellen’s diaries. She kept beautiful records of life at home, family and friends and includes some escapades with the wild life which surrounded our home. A god-fearing woman was my Ellen. It was a shame the Mount Pleasant estate had to be sold in 1883, after I left.

a.t.Bukit Brown: What happened?

Mr: Brown: An unfortunate accident. I have always had a mechanical bent and liked “tinkering” about with machinery. In my younger days, I even made my own carriages and they were quite fine pieces of finish and durability if I may say so myself. Well, I started growing tapioca on my estate when I was in my early 60s. I was operating a tapioca cutting machine when I had a rather terrible accident and I lost my left arm. I went to Penang to recuperate. It was there in Penang on 5 Oct 1882 that I left this world. My resting place is in Penang. I share the same cemetery as Francis Light, Penang’s founder. In death I find myself still in illustrious company.

a.t.Bukit Brown: Here too at Bukit Brown, are pioneers of the land and those who toiled humbly for the country. Your old friend Tan Kim Ching is here too.

Mr. Brown: Ah I will go and say hello before I go. We have much to reminisce.

a.t.Bukit Brown: We have a map to share with you.

Mr. Brown: Very kind. But I reckon I will have no problem locating him. But pray tell what are these numbered wooden stakes I see?

a.t.Bukit Brown: They are in the process of identifying graves which have to be exhumed make way for a new 8 lane highway which is slated to be built in 2013.

Staked out for Identification and Documentation

Mr. Brown: Oh good grief as another Brown might say. This is sad news. I must not tarry then, less I be mowed over.

*Interviewer’s Note: Mr. Brown just disappeared with a twinkle in his eye before we had a chance to ask him whether he would have liked to have been laid to rest in Bukit Brown. Mr. Brown if you are reading this we hope you had a very pleasant journey home to Penang and hope you will come again to share more stories.

George Henry Brown 1818-1882