Ellenborough Market

Ellenborough Market
Ellenborough Market in the 1860s
Interactive map of the Ellenborough Market area
Alternative names
Teochew Market
New Market
Sin Pa Sat
Pasar Bahru
General information
LocationEllenborough Street, Boat Quay, Singapore
Coordinates1°17′20.391″N 103°50′47.928″E / 1.28899750°N 103.84664667°E / 1.28899750; 103.84664667
Named forEdward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough
Construction started
May 1845 (May 1845)
Demolished1891 (1891) (first)
30 January 1968 (30 January 1968) (second)
1997 (1997) (third)
Design and construction
EngineerCharles Edward Faber

Ellenborough Market (Chinese: 爱伦坡巴刹),[1] also known as Teochew Market (Chinese: 潮州巴刹), New Market, Sin Pa Sat (Chinese: 新巴刹) and Pasar Bahru, was a market at the former Ellenborough Street along the Singapore River in Singapore.

History

Pre-independence period

Construction of a market named after Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough began in May 1845 by engineer Charles Edward Faber.[2] Faber was criticised for shoddily constructing the market, with cracks in several parts of the walls.[2] The market was known for selling seafood, especially fish.[3] It was sometimes nicknamed Teochew Market due to the high population of Teochews in the area.[4]

The second Ellenborough Market in 1910

Between 1891 and 1894, Ellenborough Market was rebuilt.[4] The new market was called "Pasar Bahru" in Malay and "Sin Pa Sat" in Hokkien, both of which translate to "New Market".[2][4][5] It was also nicknamed "Teochew Market" as the Teochews populated the area.[2][5] An extension was built next to the building in 1899, and was made using a cast iron structure from an exhibition in Edinburgh, Scotland.[2]

In 1947, a proposal for an extension was made to modernise the market.[6] Construction of a one-way street around the market was approved in 1952 to speed up deliveries to the market.[7]

Contemporary period and demise

Aftermath of the fire at Ellenborough Market on 30 January 1968
The third Ellenborough Market in 1985

On 30 January 1968, the market was destroyed by a fire resulting from firecrackers set off during the Chinese New Year celebration.[8] The market was demolished, and a 22-storey residential flat was built over the site, which opened in 1972.[9][10] A new market was then built by 1978,[11] spanning two levels with a hawker centre on a third level.[12]

By 31 March 1997, Ellenborough Market was fully vacated to make way for the construction of the North East Line.[13]

Today, the site of the former market is occupied by Clarke Quay Central shopping mall and Clarke Quay MRT station on the North East Line underground.

Incidents

On 14 July 1898, the corpse of a Chinese man was found in Ellenborough Market.[14] The same year, on 6 October, another Chinese man was found in critical condition and died on the way to the Central Police Station.[15] On 25 July 1900, a woman and her son died in their house at 39 Upper Nankin Street after consuming rotten fish roe found discarded in the market.[16]

Legacy

Ellenborough Market Café, located at 20 Merchant Road, is named after the market.[17][18]

References

  1. ↑ "Ellenborough Market". www.languagecouncils.sg. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Cornelius, Vernon. "Ellenborough Market". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  3. ↑ "One-Way Traffic For Market Area". Sunday Standard. 2 March 1952. Retrieved 1 May 2022 – via NewspaperSG.
  4. 1 2 3 Arshak Catchatoor Galstaun (1910). "NEW MARKET (ELLENBOROUGH MARKET) , SINGAPORE". Retrieved 29 March 2026 – via National Archives of Singapore.
  5. 1 2 Yeo, Zoe (1 April 2022). "No Longer "Dirty, Unhygienic, Crowded and Messy": The Story of Singapore's Changing Wet Markets". BiblioAsia. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  6. ↑ "S'PORE MARKETS TO BE MODERNISED". The Singapore Free Press. 30 July 1947. Retrieved 1 May 2022 – via NewspaperSG.
  7. ↑ "MARKETS' GOOD BUSINESS 12,000,000 Catties Of Wet Fish Sold". The Straits Budget. 25 July 1940. Retrieved 1 May 2022 – via NewspaperSG.
  8. ↑ "Suffering, loss for many". The Straits Times. 3 February 1968. Retrieved 29 March 2026 – via NewspaperSG.
  9. ↑ "22-STOREY FLATS AT FORMER MARKET". The Straits Times. 27 July 1971. Retrieved 29 March 2026 – via NewspaperSG.
  10. ↑ "Low-cost houses for city centre plan". New Nation. 14 April 1973. Retrieved 29 March 2026 – via NewspaperSG.
  11. ↑ "Hon ballots stalls". New Nation. 9 September 1978. Retrieved 29 March 2026 – via NewspaperSG.
  12. ↑ "Mobbed by Teochews at lunch". The Straits Times. 26 January 1986. Retrieved 29 March 2026 – via NewspaperSG.
  13. ↑ "Affected rental tenants to quit by next March". The Straits Times. 7 March 1996. Retrieved 29 March 2026 – via NewspaperSG.
  14. ↑ "DEAD BODIES FOUND". The Straits Budget. 14 July 1898. Retrieved 29 March 2026 – via NewspaperSG.
  15. ↑ "THURSDAY, 6TH OCTOBER". The Straits Budget. 14 October 1898. Retrieved 29 March 2026 – via NewspaperSG.
  16. ↑ "POISONED". The Straits Budget. 26 July 1900. Retrieved 29 March 2026 – via NewspaperSG.
  17. ↑ "Ellenborough Market Cafe". The Straits Times. 19 June 1998. Retrieved 29 March 2026 – via NewspaperSG.
  18. ↑ "Just call him Mr Extra Mile!". The Straits Times. 23 November 1999. Retrieved 29 March 2026 – via NewspaperSG.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.