About 10 minutes walk from the National Museum of Indonesia in Jakarta, by Jalan Tanah Abang, is a small cemetery, or what is left of a bigger one. Nowadays, it is known as the Museum Taman Prasasti (Park of Memorial Stones Museum). It is the remnant of the old European cemetery. This is where many luminaries of old colonial era Batavia still rest [1].
From 1811 till 1815, Java was under the colonial rule of the British, and Thomas Stamford Raffles was the Lieutenant-Governor. During that period, two persons dearest to him died and were buried here.
John Casper Leyden (1775-1811)
Leyden was a great friend of Stamford Raffles and his first wife, Olivia. Leyden is most famous for his translation into English, of Sulalatus Salatin, more popularly known as Sejarah Melayu or Malay Annals [2]. Stamford Raffles and Olivia first met him in 1805 in Penang [3]. Leyden was already an established scholar when they met, and the two men hit it off right away. Raffles, who had not much formal education gained much from his teacher/friend. Leyden was the catalyst to Raffles later scholarly pursuits of the history, culture and politics of the Malay world, which Singapore was part of. The fact that Raffles knew about the ancient pedigree of Singapore may have been a contributing factor to Raffles' choice of Singapore as the trading post in 1819.
Leyden died not too long after the British invaded Java in 1811 [4]. His grave is a rectangular platform, with two plaques on the top. This present grave is probably not the original one, as the marble slab platform looks like a modern day patch job.
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| Entrance of the Museum Taman Prasasti, Jalan Tanah Abang, Jakarta. |
John Casper Leyden (1775-1811)
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| John Caspar Leyden. Picture Source. |
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| Title page of Malay Annals. Translated by John Leyden. Published posthumously in 1821, with a foreword by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. (from my private collection) |
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| John Leyden's grave at Museum Taman Prasasti. |
The top plaque reads...
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
JOHN CASPER LEYDEN MD
WHO WAS BORN
AT TEVIOTDALE IN SCOTLAND
AND WHO DIED
IN THE PRIME OF LIFE
AT MOLENVLIET NEAR BATAVIA
ON THE 28TH AUGUST 1811
TWO DAYS
AFTER THE FALL OF CORNELIS
while the bottom plaque reads...
THE POETICAL TALENTS AND SUPERIOR LITERARY
ATTAINMENTS OF DR LEYDEN, RENDERED HIM A
ORNAMENT OF THE AGE IN WHICH HE LIVED_
HIS ARDENT SPIRIT AND INSATIABLE THIRST AFTER
KNOWLEDGE WAS PERHAPS UNEQUALLED
AND THE FRIEND OF SCIENCE MUST EVER
DEPLORE HIS UNTIMELY FATE_
HIS PRINCIPLES AS A MAN WERE PURE AND SPOTLESS_
AND AS A FRIEND HE WAS FIRM AND SINCERE
_ FEW HAVE PASSED THROUGH THIS LIFE
WITH FEWER VICES OR WITH A GREATER
PROSPECT OF HAPPINESS IN THE NEXT
Right beside Leyden's grave, lies Olivia, the first wife of Stamford Raffles.
Olivia Mariamne Raffles (1771-1814)
Raffles' first wife was Olivia Mariamne Fancourt née Devenish. They got married in March 1805, one month before they set off for Penang, where Stamford Raffles was to serve as Assistant Secretary to the Governor in the new Presidency in George Town on Prince of Wales Island (Penang). Olivia had an earlier marriage with Jacob Cassivelaun Fancourt, an assistant surgeon in Madras which ended with Jacob's death in 1800. Olivia then went back to Great Britain where she later met Raffles. She seems to have led quite a colourful life before meeting Raffles and there are plenty of interesting stories and rumours about Olivia during her younger days.
By all accounts, the Raffles couple had a very loving relationship, and when Raffles became the Lieutenant-Governor of Java, she made an excellent 'first lady' that gave much grace and dignity to the office.
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| The Governor's mansion in Bogor (then known as Buitenzorg) where Thomas Stamford and Olivia Mariamne Raffles held court. Today, it seats in the lovely Kebun Raya Bogor (Bogor Botanical Gardens). (Photo taken 9th Oct. 2008) |
When she died suddenly in Buitenzorg (Present day Bogor) on the 26th November 1814, Raffles was devastated. It came near the end of Raffles' tumultuous tenure as the lieutenant-governor of Java. Stressed and overworked, coupled with the sudden loss of Olivia, Raffles fell seriously ill, and his friends feared for his life. He survived [5].
Olivia was laid to rest right beside John Leyden. The tomb seats on a raised octogonal platform. There used to be a roof sheltering the gravestone, supported by eight pillars [1]. The roof has since collapsed and the pillars shortened to become the stumps that you see in the photo.
On the plaque laid on the tomb, it is carved:
Olivia was laid to rest right beside John Leyden. The tomb seats on a raised octogonal platform. There used to be a roof sheltering the gravestone, supported by eight pillars [1]. The roof has since collapsed and the pillars shortened to become the stumps that you see in the photo.
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| Tomb of Olivia Mariamne Raffles in Museum Taman Prasasti, Jakarta. At the left end of the picture, you can see Leyden's tomb. |
SACRED
To the Memory of
OLIVIA MARIAMNE
Wife of
The Hon'ble THOMAS STAMFORD RAFFLES
Lieutenant Govenor
OF JAVA
and its Dependencies
Who departed this life in
Buitenzorg
the 25th day of November 1814
Most people will probably be more familiar with the memorial that Raffles commissioned, in memory of Olivia. This graceful edifice is on the grounds of the Governor's mansion in Buitenzorg, where the couple had so much sweet memories. Today, it is located within the Kebun Raya Bogor (Bogor Botanical Gardens). |
| The memorial to Olivia Mariamne Raffles on the grounds of the Kebun Raya Bogor (Bogor Botanical Gardens). Erected by Raffles. (Photo taken 9th Oct. 2008) |
References
[1] A. Heuken SJ, Historical Sites of Jakarta (Cipta Loka Caraka, Jakarta, 2007) Chap. XI
[2] C.E. Wurtzburg, Raffles of the Eastern Isles (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1954), p. 36
[3] J. Leyden (trans.), Malay Annals (Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London, 1821)
[4] C.E. Wurtzburg, Raffles of the Eastern Isles (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1954), p. 167
[5] ibid. p. 362
Date of Visit: 7th Oct. 2012, & 12th Oct. 2014. (Kebun Raya Bogor, 9th Oct. 2008)
