Horsburgh Lighthouse

Horsburgh Lighthouse (Chinese: 霍士堡灯塔; Malay: Rumah Api Horsburgh) is an active lighthouse which marks the eastern entrance to the Straits of Singapore. It is situated on the island of Pedra Branca. Singapore's earliest lighthouse by date of completion, it is located approximately 54 kilometres (34 mi) to the east of Singapore and 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) from the Malaysian state of Johor.

Horsburgh Lighthouse
Pulau Batu Puteh
Pedra Blanca
Horsburgh Lighthouse by John Turnbull Thomson, who designed the lighthouse, showing the island of Pedra Branca just after the completion of the lighthouse in 1851
Location in Straits of Singapore
Location in Straits of Singapore
LocationPedra Branca, Singapore
Coordinates1°19′49″N 104°24′20″E
Year first constructed1851
Constructiongranite tower
Tower shapetapered cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markings / patterntower with black and white bands
Tower height34 metres (112 ft)
Focal height31 metres (102 ft)
CharacteristicFl W 10s.
Admiralty numberF1820
NGA number21188
ARLHS numberSIN-001[1]

History

Horsburgh Lighthouse was named after Captain James Horsburgh (28 September 1762 – 14 May 1836), a Scottish hydrographer from the East India Company, who mapped many seaways around Singapore in the late 18th and early 19th century. He was called "the Nautical Oracle of the World". His charts and books allowed ships to navigate through treacherous areas of the ocean, saving many lives and property on the seas between China and India.[2] On the wall of the Visitor's Room on the sixth floor of the lighthouse under the light room there is a panel with the following inscription:[3]

Pharos Ego
Cui nomen praebuit
Horsburgh Hydrographus
In maribus Indo Sinicis praeter omnes praeclarus
Angliae Mercatorum nisi imprimis indole
Ex imperii opibus Anglo Indici denique constructa
Saluti nautarum insignis viri memoriae
Consule
A. D. MDCCCLI
W. J. Butterworth, C. B.,
Prov: Malacc. Praef.

A.D. 1851
The Horsburgh Lighthouse
is raised by the British enterprise of British Merchants,
and by the liberal aid of the East India Company,
to lessen the dangers of navigation,
and likewise to hand down,
so long as it shall last,
in the scene of his useful labours,
The Memory of the Great Hydrographer
whose name it bears.
Col. W. J. Butterworth, C. B.,
Governor in the Straits of Malacca.
J. T. Thomson,
Architect.

Translated literally into English, the Latin inscription reads:

I, the lighthouse, to whom was given the name of Horsburgh the Hydrographer who is famous beyond all others in the Indo-Chinese sea, was constructed, if not primarily by the natural talents of the English merchants, then certainly by the power of the Anglo-Indian empire, for the salvation of sailors and in memory of the famous man, during the consulate of W. J. Butterworth, C. B., governor of the province of Malacca, in 1851.

Location

The lighthouse was built over an outcrop of rocks that for centuries was identified on maps as Pedra Branca ("white rock" in Portuguese). It was built by John Turnbull Thomson (1821–1884), a government surveyor. In the presence of Governor William John Butterworth and other dignitaries, the lighthouse foundation stone was laid on 24 May 1850 and the lighthouse was completed in 1851. The lighthouse is also known as Pedra Branca Lighthouse.

The sovereignty of Pedra Branca was disputed between Malaysia and Singapore until 2008. On 23 May 2008, the International Court of Justice awarded the island to Singapore.[4]

See also


Notes
  1. Horsburgh The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved March 19, 2016
  2. James Horsburgh, Electric Scotland, archived from the original on 30 May 2013, retrieved 1 August 2013.
  3. Charles Burton Buckley (1902), An Anecdotal History of Singapore from the Foundation of the Settlement under the Honourable the East India Company, on February 6th, 1819, to the Transfer to the Colonial Office as Part of the Colonial Possessions of the Crown on April 1st, 1867, 2, Singapore: Fraser and Neave, p. 519, OCLC 603524705.
  4. Case Concerning Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge (Malaysia/Singapore) (PDF), International Court of Justice, 23 May 2008, archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2016, retrieved 1 August 2013; The Court finds that Singapore has sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh; that Malaysia has sovereignty over Middle Rocks; and that sovereignty over South Ledge belongs to the State in the territorial waters of which it is located [press release no. 2008/10], International Court of Justice, 23 May 2008, archived from the original on 5 June 2011, retrieved 1 August 2013.

References
  • Savage, Victor R.; Yeoh, Brenda S. A. (2003), Toponymics – A Study of Singapore Street Names, Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, ISBN 978-981-210-205-8.

Further reading
  • Hall-Jones, John (1995). The Horsburgh Lighthouse. Invercargill, N.Z.: John Hall-Jones. ISBN 978-0-473-03205-0..
  • Pavitt, J. A. L. (1966). First Pharos of the Eastern Seas: Horsburgh Lighthouse. Singapore: Donald Moore Press. OCLC 1855904..
  • Thomson, John Turnbull (1852). Account of the Horsburgh Light-house, Erected on Pedra Branca, near Singapore. Singapore: [s.n.] OCLC 500001469..

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