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Joseph Balestier |
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Founded: |
ca1834 |
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Ceased: |
ca1849 |
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Updated: 11 May 2007
Notes:
Joseph Balestier was the first American Consul in Singapore [1837-1852]. [S04p45]
23 December 1833, he left Philadelphia to assume his duties as the American Consul for the port of Rhio (Riau) in the Dutch island of Bintang in the Malayan Sea. Since there was no significant trade there, he relocated to Singapore and urged the State Department to change his status to Consul at Singapore. [Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 38, part 2, 1965, pp 241 - 257 [Robarts - DS591 R63 vol 38]
Styled himself "Consul for the Port of Rhio and the island of Bintang and such other Ports as where nearer thereto than the residence of any other Consul for the United States of America." [H06p302]
May 1834, he arrived in Singapore as a businessman. He tried a cotton plantation then a sugar cane plantation.
November 1836, the Court of Directors in London recognized him as Consul
6 July 1836 he was officially appoint US Consul at Singapore and shortly there after, American ships were given equal rights to trade in Singapore. [A03p111]
In April 1848, his sugar plantation, Balestier Plain, two miles from Singapore, along the Kallang River, having been ruined by flooding, was sold. [S04p45] [H06p303]
His wife was Maria Revere. She was Paul Revere's daughter. She died in Singapore of malaria on 22 August 1847. [S04p46]
After his wife's death, in 1847, Joseph Balestier returned to the United States and settled in Pennsylvania.
August 1849, he is appointed as a special agent to South Eastern Asia for making treaties. He made a treaty with the Sultan of Brunei in 1849. [A03p120]
20 April 1950 he arrives at Bangkok on a mission for the Department of State of the USA. [A03p120]
21 January 1852 he resigns his post as US Consul at Singapore after 19 years. [A03p121]
From 1849-1851 he was sent as a Special Envoy to several countries in the East including Siam [March 1850].
He died In November 1858 At Age 71 and is buried In Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.
On 25 June 1848, Joseph Harvey Weed Esq., the acting American Consul, died at Singapore at age 32. He is buried in Singapore. [H02p259]
Balestier Road is named after him. [S04p45]
A03 Ahmat, Sharon, Joseph B. Balestier: First American Consul in Singapore 1833 – 1852. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 39 part 2, 1966, pp 108 -122 [Robarts - DS591 R63 vol 39]
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