Family of Sir Stamford Raffles

When Stamford Raffles married the "e;handsome, elegant"e; Sophia Hull in February 1817 and a year later welcomed the arrival of his first child, Charlotte, family life looked to be full of happiness. His earlier marriage, to Olivia Mariamne Devenish, a widow nearly ten years older than him, had ended with her untimely death in Java, leaving him bereft of "e;all that I held dear on earth"e;. Now, settled in Bencoolen as Governor-General, he watched with satisfaction over the growth of Singapore and the increase of his young family. For all these joys, however, he was also to find that in this "e;most wretched place"e;, death was never far away. Drawing on a wide range of sources - including new findings from birth records, marriage registers, letters and wills - historian John Bastin makes an invaluable contribution to what is known about the members of Sir Stamford Raffles's family. Rigorously researched and engagingly written, this new book is a superb account of Raffles's ancestry, immediate family and closest relations - and how they intertwined with each step of his celebrated career.