Thomas Oxley

Thomas Oxley (1805–1886) was Surgeon of the Straits Settlements. However, he is best remembered now as a plantation owner. Oxley Road, on which Lee Kuan Yew's house is sited, is named after him.

See Thomas Oxley (Mount Sinai Hospital) for the chief executive officer of Synchron and neurointerventionist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Early life

Oxley was born in Dublin in 1805. He obtained his medical education from Marischal College in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Career

Oxley was first posted to Penang in 1825. In 1830, he became Assistant Surgeon to the Residency, and was posted to Singapore that year. In 1838, he was transferred to Malacca, where he was also Police Magistrate, Superintendent of Police, Collector of Assessment and Commissioner of the Court of Requests.[1] On 12 October 1841, he returned to Singapore. He was appointed Sheriff for the three settlements in 1842, Senior Surgeon in 1844, and Surgeon of the Straits Settlements in 1847.[2] Oxley left Singapore for England in 1857. He died in 1886.[1]

Oxley wrote a number of scientific papers, and was an early researcher on the uses of gutta percha.[1]

Oxley's Estate (also known as Killiney Estate)

In 1837, Oxley acquired 173 acres of jungle land, bounded by Orchard Road, Grange Road, Leonie Hill Road, River Valley Road and Tank Road, from the East India Company.[3] Other records suggest that he acquired the land in 1845.[4] He named his estate Killiney Estate and developed it into a nutmeg plantation. A nutmeg blight decimated nutmeg crops in the region in 1855-56. Oxley began to sell off the land in his plantation in parcels, before leaving for England in 1857.

Several roads in what was his plantation are named after him, including Oxley Road, Oxley Walk, Oxley Garden and Oxley Rise.

Singapore Museum (Raffles Museum)

Oxley was a member of the committee formed to formulate rules for the Singapore Museum in 1849. He was later elected chairman of the Museum Committee in 1851.[5]

Raffles Institution

In 1835, Oxley was elected Honorary Secretary of the Committee for Raffles Institution.[6]

References
  1. Buckley, Charles Burton (1902). An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore. Singapore: Fraser & Neave, Limited. p. 405.
  2. Makepeace, W, ed. (1921). One Hundred Years of Singapore. London: CM Turnbull. p. 517.
  3. National Heritage Board. Research Report on No. 38 Oxley Road. Singapore: Prime Minister's Office. p. 2.
  4. See First Schedule A of the Scheut Missions Ordinance (Chapter 378) which refers to "land comprised in Government Grant No. 2 dated 28th March 1845 and made between East India Co.,... and Thomas Oxley..."
  5. Tan, Kevin Y. L. (2015). Of Whales and Dinosaurs: The Story of Singapore's Natural History Museum. Singapore: NUS Press. pp. 9–10.
  6. Buckley, Charles Burton (1902). An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore. Singapore: Fraser & Neave. p. 129.
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