Colonial Period
Explore a curated list of books, journal articles, and archive materials on Singapore's colonial period from 1819 to 1963.
Last updated 27 July 2026
Colonial Period
A select bibliography of books and journal articles relating to Singapore’s colonial past (1819 to 1963).
Books
Please check the availability of items via NLB's online catalogue.
Title: Company of planters : confessions of a colonial rubber planter in 1950s Malaya
Author: Dodd, J.
Publisher: Singapore : Monsoon, 2017.
Call no.: RSING/SING 633.8952092 DOD
Title: An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore: From the foundation of the settlement . . . on February 6th, 1819 to the transfer to the Colonial Office . . . on April 1st, 1867
Author: Burton, C. B.
Publisher: Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1984.
Call no.: RSING 959.57 BUC
First published in 1902, this book offers an overview of developments in Singapore from its founding until it became part of the crown colony. This edition has an introduction by C. M. Turnbull.
Title: Black Europeans, the Indian coolies and empire : colonialisation and Christianized Indians in colonial Malaya and Singapore, c. 1870s - c. 1950s
Author: Rerceretnam, Marc
Publisher: Saarbrücken, Germany : VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, [2011].
Call no.: RSING 320.569 RER
Title: British Malaya, 1824–67
Author: Mills, L. A.
Publisher: Selangor, Malaysia: Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1925, 1960, 2003.
Call no.: RSING 959.5 MIL
Captures the histories of the Straits Settlements from its formation until its transfer to the Crown. Besides developments on the Malayan Peninsula, it also examines Anglo-Siamese relations and the suppression of piracy under Rajah Brooke. A descriptive bibliography by C. M. Turnbull is appended.
Title: British Malaya an account of the origin and progress of British influence in Malaya
Author: Swettenham, Frank Athelstane, Sir Publisher: London : G. Allen and Unwin, [1908]. Call no.: RRARE 959.5 SWE -[JSB] An important book on Raffles and the early history of Singapore.
Title: Growing up in British Malaya and Singapore : a time of fireflies and wild guavas
Author: Baker, Maurice
Publisher: Singapore : World Scientific, [2014]
Call no.: YRSING 370.92 BAK
An autobiography of Maurice Baker's life in Malaya and Singapore from the 1920s to the 1940s.
Title: Merchants, bankers, governors : British enterprise in Singapore and Malaya, 1786-1920
Author: Drake, P. J.
Publisher: Singapore ; New Jersey : World Scientific, [2018].
Call no.: RSING/SING 382.09410595 DRA
Title: One hundred years of Singapore
Author: Makepeace, W., Brooke, G. E., & Braddell, R. St. J. (Eds.).
Publisher: Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1991.
Call no.: RSING 959.57 ONE (First Published in 1921)
Title: Schooling diaspora : women, education, and the overseas Chinese in British Malaya and Singapore, 1850s-1960s
Author: Teoh, Karen M.
Publisher: New York : Oxford University Press, 2020.
Call no.: RSING/SING 370.8209595 TEO
Title: Sikhs in the policing of British Malaya and Straits Settlements (1874-1957)
Author: Kaur, Arunajeet
Publisher: Saarbrücken : VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2009.
Call no.: RSING 363.2095951 KAU
Title: Singapore 150 years
Author: Sheppard, M. (Ed.).
Publisher: Singapore: Times Books International for Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1982.
Call no.: RSING/SING 959.57 SIN
This publication contains reprints of articles concerning pre-colonial Singapore and the early years of the new settlement.
Title: The Hikayat Abdullah
Author: Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir; Hill, A. H. (Translator).
Publisher: Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 2009.
Call no.:RSEA 959.5 ABD
Abdullah’s biography, first published, in 1849 provides insights into Singapore, Malacca, Johore and the Riau-Lingga region of the 19th century. A. H. Hill’s translation of 1949 is considered the first complete annotated version. His introduction offers a good summary of Abdullah’s life. This version has an index.
Title: The Straits Settlements, 1826–67: Indian presidency to crown colony
Author: Turnbull, C. M.
Publisher: London: Athlone Press, 1972.
Call no.: RSING 959.57 TUR
Microfiche: MFC NL0030/022-026
This publication provides a comprehensive analysis of the Straits Settlements prior to its becoming a Crown Colony. It examines the government structure, economy, social conditions and defence system of the Straits Settlements. It also explores the wider context of the Malay States and the impact of the transfer movement. It includes a fold out map of Singapore in the1860s, a bibliography and an index.
Full-text journal articles available in Ebscohost academic search premier.
Imagining Malaya, practising multiculturalism: the Malayan consciousness of Singapore Chinese intellectuals in the 1950s.
By: Quah, Sy Ren. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. Mar 2015, Vol. 16 Issue 1, p96-112.
Mental Illness in Singapore: A History of a Colony, Port, City and Coolie Town.
By: Kah Seng Loh. East Asian Science, Technology & Society. Jun 2016, Vol. 10 Issue 2, p121-140.
Negotiating Gendered Spaces in Colonial Press: Wives of European planters in British Malaya.
By: Datta, Arunima. Journal of Colonialism & Colonial History. Winter 2017, Vol. 18 Issue 3, p1-29.
Singapore's ‘Cinema-Age’ of the 1930s: Hollywood and the shaping of Singapore modernity.
By: Chua, Ai Lin. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. Dec 2012, Vol. 13 Issue 4, p592-604.
Toddy, Race, and Urban Space in Colonial Singapore, 1900–59.
By: ALAGIRISAMY, DARINEE. Modern Asian Studies. Sep 2019, Vol. 53 Issue 5, p1675-1699.
Full-text journal articles available in JSTOR.
Please access the database via NLB's eResources page.
Coffee-shops in Colonial Singapore: Domains of Contentious Publics
Khairudin Aljunied
History Workshop Journal, No. 77 (SPRING 2014), pp. 65-85
Educating multicultural citizens: Colonial nationalism, imperial citizenship and education in late colonial Singapore
Siew-Min Sai
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 44, No. 1 (February 2013), pp. 49-73
Nation, Race, and Language: Discussing transnational identities in colonial Singapore, circa 1930
Chua Ai Lin
Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 46, No. 2, Sites of Asian Interaction (MARCH 2012), pp. 283-302
Technology Transfer In Singapore/Malaya During The Colonial Period: Some Further Comments
John H. Drabble
Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 76, No. 2 (285) (2003), pp. 81-85
The Development of Health Services in the Colonies - A Study of British Malaya and Singapore
KH Phua
Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, Vol. 3, No. 4 (1989), pp. 315-323
Full-text journal articles available in Proquest Central.
Please access the database via NLB's eResources page.
Common ground: Race and the colonial universe in British Malaya
Manickam, Sandra Khor. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, suppl. The origins of the Southeast Asian Cold War; Singapore Vol. 40, Iss. 3, (Oct 2009): 593-612.
Educating multicultural citizens: Colonial nationalism, imperial citizenship and education in late colonial Singapore
Sai, Siew-Min. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies; Singapore Vol. 44, Iss. 1, (Feb 2013): 49-73.
Intermarriage in colonial Malaya and Singapore: A case study of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Roman Catholic and Methodist Asian communities
Rerceretnam, Marc. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies; Singapore Vol. 43, Iss. 2, (Jun 2012): 302-323.
Stories from the margins: Indian business communities in the growth of colonial Singapore
Bhattacharya, Jayati. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies; Singapore Vol. 50, Iss. 4, (Dec 2019): 521-539.
'The Modern Magic Carpet': Wireless radio in interwar colonial Singapore
Ai Lin, Chua. Modern Asian Studies, suppl. Everyday Technology in South and Southeast Asia; Cambridge
Materials available in the National Archives of Singapore.
A curation of articles from Off the Record and Singapore Policy History Project, giving insights into the various facets of Singapore history relating to the colonial period.
LAW OF THE LAND: CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS
QUEEN ELIZABETH II’S CORONATION CELEBRATIONS, 1953
Food Supply During British Military Administration (September 1945 - MArch 1946)