Draft:Roland John Farrer

Farrer in 1934

Roland John Farrer (2 March 1873 – 25 July 1956) was a prominent civil servant in the Straits Settlements. Having arrived in the region as a cadet, he was appointed to various District Offices in the region before he was eventually employed at the Singapore Land Office. He began working for the Municipal Commission of Singapore in 1911 and later served as its president from 1919 to 1931. He also served as the chairman of the Mohammedan Advisory Board from its founding in 1915 to his retirement from civil service in 1931.

Early life and education

Farrer was born in Marylebone on 2 March 1873 to solicitor Frederick Willis Farrer and Mary Richmond. He first received his education at Eton College before studying at the Balliol College from 1892 to 1895, after which he studied at the University of Oxford. While in England, he resided at 16 Devonshire Place.

Career

Farrer came to Singapore in 1896 as a cadet with the Straits Settlements. He claimed to have come to the Straits Settlements as he had failed his Home and Indian Civil Service examination. In March of the following year, he was appointed Magistrate, Commissioner of the Court of Requests and Coroner at Penang. In August 1898, he was selected to perform the annual inspection of the Cocos Islands and Christmas Island. In October, he was appointed a cadet to the District office of Bukit Mertajam in Province Wellesley. He passed his Malay examination in December, after which he was appointed the District Officer at Nibong Tebal. On 2 August of the following year, he passed his final law examination.

In early June 1900, Farrer was appointed the District Officer of Dindings. He was appointed Superintendent of Education in Penang later that month. In June 1901, he served as the acting Second Assistant Colonial Secretary and was appointed Head of the Malay College in Malacca. He was appointed acting District Officer at Penang in May 1902. Farrer was made a Deputy Public Prosecutor in Singapore in July 1904. In September, he was made a District Officer of Bukit Mertajam. He began serving as a Senior District Officer of the area in September 1906. The Pinang Gazette And Straits Chronicle called this "another excellent appointment on the part of the Government." He was elected the president ex-officio of the Butterworth Recreational Club for the year of 1907. By May 1908, he had been appointed a District Officer at Butterworth. By March 1909, he had been made the acting collector of land revenue in Singapore. In June, he was appointed to the board of examiners in languages there. In August 1910, he was appointed a magistrate in Singapore.

Municipal Commission of Singapore

On 10 August 1911, Farrer left the Singapore Land Office to take up Municipal Assessorship. He was made a member of the Municipal Commission of Singapore in June 1913. Later that month, he was appointed the commission's deputy president. By August, he had been appointed acting president of the commission. In September, he was appointed the acting British advisor to the government of Kelantan. He left for Kelantan aboard the Calypso on 14 August. In February of the following year, it was reported that the Singapore Municipality was "not finding it easy" to fill in the vacancy left by Farrer on his departure. He was appointed the chairman of the Kinta Sanitary Board in Kinta, Perak in February 1919. In July, he was appointed the Deputy Director of Food Production in Singapore.

In June 1919, Farrer was appointed the president of the Municipal Commission of Singapore. In June of the following year, he was appointed the chairman of the Rent Assessment Board and of the Assessment Board for the Rural Area of Singapore. It was announced that he had been appointed the chairman of the newly-established Rice Distribution Board, which replaced the Rice Rationing Board, in July. In August, he was appointed the chairman of the advisory committee of improvement schemes for Singapore. A portrait of Farrer, which was to be hung in the then-under constrction Municipal Building, was commissioned from Russian artist Anatole Shister in September 1928.

As president of the municipal commission, he oversaw the completion of the Municipal Building, the St James Power Station, the Gunung Pulai waterworks and the Fort Canning Service Reservoir, in addition to various roads and bridges, as well as the extension of the local sewage system. He also oversaw the construction of the Elgin Bridge over the Singapore River. During his tenure, the Municipal reserve reportedly increased from $3 to $16 million. For his work at the waterworks on Gunung Pulai, which was to "ensure the city's water supply for very many years to come", the Malayan Saturday Post commended his "enthusiasm and unfailing interest in every detail", without which the project "could not have been the success it certainly will be". In July 1929, The Malaya Tribune wrote that his contributions to Singapore were "invaluable" and that it is "probably true to say" that, without Farrer, "none of the big schemes carried out by the various departments could have been done so expeditiously, so economically and without such foresight". The newspaper went on to state that he had been "much more a "mayor" than many who are legally entitled to that designation." He was a strong opponent of adopting a "Whole Island" policy for Singapore.

In January 1930, Farrer was conferred the CMG for his civil service. The Singapore Free Press wrote: "There is probably no officer in the Malayan Civil Service at the present time who has shown himself more fitted for the duties — and capabilities and tactful enough to surmount tha many difficulties attaching to them — of his appointment than Mr. Farrer." The Malay community threw a tea party at Karikal Mahal in celebration. Later that year, it was announced that on his retirement, he was to be replaced by William Bartley, who had been appointed the Under Secretary. Farrer retired as President of the Municipal Commission at the end of February 1931. His farewell was held at the Victoria Memorial Hall on 28 February. The venue was "packed to the verandahs" and there was "hardly a dry eye" when he gave his speech. The Straits Times wrote that his "great administrative ability was matched by a personality which won him not merely the respect of subordinates of all races but also a real affection, which was amply demonstrated at a farewell function." An event was held by the local Muslim community at Karikal Mahal on 22 March 1931. His last report for the commission was published in August.

Other activities

Farrer became the chairman of the newly-established Mohammedan Advisory Board in June 1915. The Malaya Tribune wrote in August that "what he doesn't know about the Malays' manners, customs, history and life generally would probably fill only a very small volume indeed" and that he "is credited with being one of the brightest examples today of British officials to make the interests of the inhabitants of the land of their adoption their interest and the lasting welfare of those in whose midst they find themselves a matter of deep concern." He was appointed a member of the Mohamedan and Hindu Endowments Board in November 1921. By August 1922, Farrer had been made the president of the Malay Football Association, a position which he held until at least 1925. The Singapore Free Press credited him in 1930 with being one of the "two of the few Europeans who greatly assisted and guided the Malays in football and other athletics", with the other being E. E. Colman. He also served as the president of the Singapore Cricket Club. He became involved with the club in 1923, officially joining its committee in the following year. In 1926, he was elected a councillor for the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.

Farrer was also a member of the A.P.C. committee of The Oxford & Cambridge Society of Singapore, as well as a director of the Rotary Club of Singapore. He was presented with an honorary membership to the latter club in March 1931. Farrer also served as the president of the Public Services Football Club, a role which he resigned from following his retirement. He also left his role as the chairman of the Mohammedan Advisory Board on his retirment from civil service. Farrer joined the board of directors for the British Malaya Trustee & Exeecutor Company by October 1931. In the same month, he was granted an appraiser's license. He then established Farrer & Griffith-Jones, an appraising and land valuing business, with cricketer Oswald Phillips Griffith-Jones in November. In April 1932, Farrer was elected a member of the Straits Settlements Association. In May, Farrer was appointed the president of the Rotary Club of Singapore. He resigned from his position on the board of directors of the British Malaya Trustee & Executor Company and as director of the Singapore Rotary Club in 1932 due to his departure from the colony.

Court cases 1934-1935? Defamation suit against Straits Echo

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/search?q=%22R.%20J.%20Farrer%22&type=article&df=1935-01-01&dt=1935-12-31&page=1&size=20&sort=Relevance

Personal life and death

Farrer married Margaret Jenkins on 12 February 1906. Together, they had one daughter and one son, Beatrice Farrer and Roland Sylvester Farrer. Margaret was "universally beloved" by the Malays of Kelantan as she frequently visited the state to "look after and inquire into" the welfare of local women and children who were in poverty. On Farrer's retirement, he moved to the Preanger Highlands in Java. 24 March 1931, following his retirement, he left for Europe, where he had planned to remain for around four months, on the Antenor. However, Margaret fell ill in 1931, prompting him to return to Singapore sooner than he had intended. After four months of suffering from the illness, she died at the Singapore General Hospital on 11 August, after which she was buried at Bidadari Cemetery. By October of the following year, he had made the decision to leave Singapore for Semerak in Kelantan. By January 1934, Farrer was living in Kota Bharu.

Farrer died at his son's residence on Saint John's Island on 25 July 1956. The funeral was held the following day, after which his body was buried at Bidadari Cemetery. The Farrer Park Field in Little India was renamed in 1935 honour of him. Farrer Road, as well as Farrer Court and Farrer Drive, and by extension Farrer Road MRT Station, were also named after Farrer.

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/singstandard19560730-1.2.66.1