Ellenborough Market was a market and trading centre along Ellenborough Street by the Singapore River, located in the Central Region of Singapore where Clarke Quay stands today. Ellenborough Street and Fish Street by the Singapore River, lay on either side of Ellenborough Market. It was a wet market, well known for selling fresh fish and dried seafood products.
On the site of Ellenborough Market in the present day stands The Central, a swanky shopping mall and the Swissotel Merchant Court hotel. Presently, the only reminder of the market’s existence is an eatery named Ellenborough Market Cafe at Swissotel Merchant Court.
History[]
The market was named after Edward Law, also known as Lord Ellenborough, the 1st Earl of Ellenborough and the Governor-General of India from 1841 to 1844.
The original Ellenborough Market was first built in 1845 but was later extended with another structure by its side in 1899. A fire destroyed Ellenborough Market on 30 January 1968 resulting in the loss of approximately S$253,000 and affecting 1000 hawkers and stallholders. The remains of the market were demolished some time later, and Housing Development Board flats were constructed on the site in the early 1970s.
While Ellenborough Street was being laid, construction of the first Ellenborough Market began in May 1845, built by Captain Charles Edward Faber. In April 1846, he was criticised for the bad construction, as cracks in several places were found on the walls of this new market. A cast iron structure from an Edinburgh (Scotland) exhibition was purchased in its entirety. It was dismantled and reconstructed as a building extension in 1899, set up by the side of the original market. Both were open-sided buildings.
Lau Pa Sat and Sin Pa Sat[]
The construction of Ellenborough Market probably gave Lau Pa Sat (“Old Market” in Hokkien) its name.
Opened in 1825, Lau Pa Sat, then known as Telok Ayer Market, was the first market established in colonial Singapore.
20 years later, in 1845, when Ellenborough Market was built, it became known to the local population as “New Market” or “Sin Pa Sat” in Hokkien, because it was newer than Telok Ayer Market, which then became referred to as Lau Pa Sat. Correspondingly, Ellenborough Market was called Pasar Bahru in Malay, which also means "New Market".
Teochews populated the area, and as a result, the market was nicknamed "Teochew Market", and nearby hawker-stalls specialised in well-known Teochew food.
Activities in the late 1960s[]
Writer Irene Hoe reminisces[1]:
"The traders would start their work at night and you’d see huge baskets holding vegetables sitting by the roadside. So they’d be all done by mid morning, and ready to sit down to their dinner. This was one place where you could have dinner served to you at breakfast time. And what a dinner!
One of my most memorable meals was taken there in company with two famous names in the food business from France, and our mutual friend Violet Oon. Imagine tucking into roast suckling pig, braised goose, ngo hiang and hae chor, with orh nee to finish — at around 9am."
See also[]
References[]
- Vernon Cornelius, "Ellenborough Market", Singapore Infopedia[2].
- Henedick Chng, "The little-known Ellenborough Market near Clarke Quay has a special relationship with Lau Pat Sat", Mothership, 29 January 2017[3].
- Buckley, C. B. (1984). An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore: 1819-1867 (pp. 430, 441, 452). Singapore: Oxford University Press. (Call no.: RSING 959.57 BUC)
- Makepeace, W., Brooke, G. E., & Braddell, R. St. J. (Eds.). (1991). One hundred years of Singapore (Vol. 1, pp. 20-21, 333). Singapore: Oxford University Press. (Call no.: RSING 959.57 ONE)
- Tyers, R. K. (1993). Ray Tyers' Singapore: Then and now (pp. 20-21). Singapore: Landmark Books. (Call no.: RSING 959.57 TYE)
- Firmstone, H. W. (1905, February). Chinese names of streets and places in Singapore and the Peninsula. Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 42, 86, 88. (Call no.: RSING 959.5 FIR-[IC])
- Sheppard, M. (Ed.). (1982). Singapore 150 years (p. 212). Singapore: Times Books International. (Call no.: RSING 959.57 SIN)
- Singapore Year Book (p. 224). (1966-1970). Singapore: Government Printing Office. (Call no.: RCLOS 959.57 SIN)
- Plan to help 1,000 Hawkers. (1975, May 5). The Straits Times, p. 10.