The Runnymede at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, formerly Northam Road, is the name for a group of buildings located by the sea front in George Town, Penang. It is famous because Sir Stamford Raffles, who later founded Singapore, used to reside there when he was living in Penang. In March 1805, Raffles was just an assistant secretary to the new Governor of Penang, then called Prince of Wales Island. He has just married Olivia Marianne Fancourt, a widow whom he met when she was submitting a petition for a pension from her late husband, Jacob C. Fancourt, a surgeon in Madras before he died. The newly-weds arrived in Penang together with Raffles's sister Mary Anne and found temporary accommodation in the Government Guest House before moving to an attap bungalow at the foot of Mount Erskine (then called Mount Olivia).
In 1807 Stamford Raffles commission a new home to be built along the North Beach. According to Olivia, in a letter to John Casper Leydon, an old friend of Raffles, it was to be a brick house which she hoped would be completed in eight to ten weeks.
The house was named Runnymede, after the field on which King John of England signed the Magna Carta. It was to be a single storey building with louvered wooden window shutters, carved balconies, deep cool eaves and large, open living spaces within. During their stay at Runnymede, Raffles' two sisters came to live with them, which adds to the liveliness of the place.
In 1811, Raffles was transferred to Malacca and Runnymede was put up for sale. It transferred ownership through many hands until 1921, when the roof of the house where Raffles used to stay in caught fire and the house was totally destroyed. After the fire, the surrounding buildings were bought over and renovated into a hotel. Two Scotsmen, W. Foster and H Parker, ran the hotel, called Runnymede Hotel, providing some competition to the Eastern & Oriental Hotel down the road.
The main three-storey seafront building was built in the 1930's. It houses a huge ballroom on the ground floor, with guestrooms on the first and second floors above. In 1935, the Runnymede Hotel has its own post office, telegraph office, hairdresser, book stall, reading room, billard room, railway ticketing office, and a fleet of chauffeured motorcars. There were cocktail dances every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with dinner dances every Thursday and Saturday.
The British Navy took over the hotel in 1940, but in 1942, with the Japanese occupation, the Japanese military used it as a base. It was again used by the British Government for military occupation in 1951 until 1957, when the British sold it to the government of the newly independent Malaya for a token sum of M$1.00. Since then, Runnymede was known as Wisma Persekutuan, and was used as a government resthouse. Recently the military has moved out, having secured a new site at Bukit Gedung, Penang, and so when we paid Runnymede a visit, it was temporarily between owners.
Runnymede Photo Gallery
The main 3-storey wing of Runnymede which was built in the 1930's.
This seafront building is said to be the closest to the original structure where Raffles lived in and which has since been destroyed by fire.
This seafront building is said to be the closest to the original structure where Raffles lived in and which has since been destroyed by fire.
Left: The Runnymede complex with the new EPF Building behind it. Below: The other buildings in the Runnymede complex.
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