By Tan, Bonny written on 17-Apr-1999
National Library Board Singapore

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Olivia Mariamne Raffles (nee Devenish) (b. 17 February 1771, India - d. 26 November 1814, Buitenzorg, Batavia, Indonesia) was Raffles' first wife. A widow, she purportedly met Raffles when seeking a widow's pension at the Secretary's Office in London. Despite almost a decade in age difference, with Olivia being the older, they married on 18 March 1805. Soon after, Raffles was posted to the East.

Early life
Olivia's father, George (or Godfrey) Devenish of Castle Dana, Co. Roscommon, probably met her Circassian mother in India. Her father's marriage to a Russian could have led to the family being ostracised by the relatively conservative Irish Devenish clan. Olivia grew up in England until she returned to relatives in India at the age of 22. She reportedly had an affair with the ship's master, Captain Hamilton Dempster on the voyage out to India and was then quickly married off on 26 May 1793, upon her arrival in Madras to Jacob Cassivelaun Fancourt, an Assistant-Surgeon for the East India Company. Unfortunately, the marriage was short-lived as Fancourt died in Punjab in 1800.

Marriage to Raffles
In need of monies, Olivia sought a widow's pension in 1804 from the East India Company. As fate would have it, she met the young Stamford Raffles who was then a clerk at the Secretary's office. Only six months after being awarded 25 guineas and receiving a pension of one shilling and three pence daily, Olivia was married to Raffles at St George's Church, Bloomsbury, London. Six days later, Raffles was to have a raise from £70  to £1,500 a year and was posted to distant Penang.

Rumours surrounded the marriage, claiming she was the mistress of Raffles' superior, William Ramsey. In return for marrying her, Raffles was paid-off with a raise and the coveted post in Penang. Wurtzburg discounts this rumour, highlighting Raffles' letter to Rev. Thomas Raffles, dating 13 October 1819, which specifically notes that, "My first wife was in no manner connected with Mr Ramsey...It gave me no connexions, no wealth but on the contrary a load of debt..(but) it gave me domestic enjoyment and thus contributed to my happiness." Furthermore, Wurtzburg argues that should Olivia have been Ramsey's mistress it would be unlikely that she would have been allowed to apply for a widow's pension through his department nor that Raffles friendship would have continued to be intimate not only with Ramsey but also Ramsey's son after such a marriage.

Soon after the marriage, Raffles sailed off to Penang on board the Ganges in April 1805. Raffles was at the brink of fame and higher positions in the East India Company. Despite the negative rumours, Olivia was highly regarded by noteworthies in both the English and local scene. She received accolades from such likes as Lord Minto, poet John Caspar Leyden with whom she exchanged letters and poetry, and Malay historian Munshi Abdullah who went so far as to say that "she did the duty of her husband; indeed it was she that taught him". Despite her being ten years older than Raffles, they seemed a suitable match or as Munshi Abdullah described them, "God had matched them as King and Counsellor".

Mount Olivia, a hillock in Penang was honoured after her. The couple had built a residential bungalow here, close to another hillock - Mount St Mary - where Raffles' sister, Mary Anne lived with her husband, Quintin Dick Thompson. After Raffles was made Lieutenant-Governor of Java in September 1811, they were known for entertaining regularly at Buitenzorg and travelling the range of Java together, her presence adding dignity to Raffles' visits to Javanese nobility.

Little is known of her, with only a few of her letters remaining. Some suggest that Raffles' second wife, Sophia Hull, may have destroyed any remnant memorabilia of her beloved's previous marriage, and point to the obvious lack of mention of Olivia in Sophia Hull's biography of Sir Stamford Raffles. It is not certain if she bore any children with Raffles, but if she did, they seemed to have died very soon after birth. Raffles was shattered by the loss of his beloved wife which followed quickly after the loss of his dear friend and later his mentors, Leyden and Lord Minto respectively.

Olivia was buried in Batavia (Jakarta today) in a cemetery at Tanah Abang. There is also a monument erected in her memory at the Botanic Gardens in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia.



Author
Bonny Tan



References
Wurtzburg, C. E. (1984). Raffles of the Eastern Isles (pp. 21- 22, 63 - 67, 115 - 116, 362 - 363, 744 - 746). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.570210924 RAF) 

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles: Book of days (pp. 20 - 22). (1993). Singapore: Antiques of the Orient.
(Call no.: SING 959.57021092 SIR) 


Further Readings
Bastin, J. S. (2002). Olivia Mariamne Raffles. Singapore: Landmark Books.
(Call no.: SING 959.5703092 BAS).

Hahn, E. (1948). Raffles of Singapore: A biography. London: Francis Aldor
(Call no.: R SING 959.570210924 RAF) 

Pearson, H. F. (1957). This other India: A biography of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (pp. 14 - 26, 34 - 44, 52). Singapore: Eastern Universities Press.
(Call no.: RCLOS 959.570210924 RAF.P) 



The information in this article is valid as at 1999 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the library for further reading materials on the topic.