This is a short letter from Sir Stamford Raffles to Alexander Laurie Johnston, addressing Johnston’s efforts at erecting a brick building in his compound. Johnston was one of the early settlers of Singapore and the founder of the firm A.L. Johnston and Co. in 1820. He was also a close confidant of Raffles who appointed him as one of the members of the Town Committee in October 1822 and a Magistrate in January 1823. Since the beginning of 1823, Raffles was preoccupied with the implementation of his town plan and was adamant that his plans should be followed. As Raffles refers to Johnston’s planned construction as “objectionable”, it probably ran counter to the detailed plans he had, which he first shared with the Town Committee (comprising of Johnston, Captain Charles Edward Davis and Samuel George Bonham) in a letter dated 4 November 1822. It is not known whether Johnston ceased construction of the building after his dinner with Raffles.
