November 1, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Penang Island is an interesting place, and is well known for its hawker food and beaches. And although its history only began in the late 18th century, the island has a storied past, filled with many interesting tales and bits of trivia. The little nuggets of Penang trivia include how Cannon Square got its name, why there actually is a Scotland Road in Penang and whether Padang Brown was named because of the colour Brown.
The Botanical Gardens in Penang was established in 1884 from an old quarry site
A recent article shed some light about the early days of Penang Island and the establishment of a botanical garden on the island that predates the existing one at Jalan Kebun Bunga. It was discussed in a talk by Australian-based historian Marcus Langdon entitled ‘Christopher Smith & Penang’s First Botanic Garden’ at the tourist pavillion-cum-visitors centre near the Penang Botanic Gardens recently.
Read the full article below:
It may come as a surprise to many people that the first botanic garden in Penang was established in the middle of the Air Itam valley in 1794, according to Australian-based historian Marcus Langdon.
He said Irish botanist Christopher Smith set up a small garden on a 10.5ha plot in the valley.
“Smith later set up another garden in Sungai Keluang in Bayan Lepas on a 158ha site,” he said.
He was giving a talk on ‘Christopher Smith & Penang’s First Botanic Garden’ at the tourist pavillion-cum-visitors centre near the Penang Botanic Gardens recently.
Langdon, who specialises in Penang’s early history under the East India Company from 1786-1858, said Smith chose Penang to be the nursery for thousands of nutmeg and clove plants brought in from the Molucca Island (Maluku Islands) in Indonesia over a six-year period.
“The responsibility of breaking the monopoly of the Dutch on the highly valuable nutmegs as well as cloves and delivering a new source of revenue to the East India Company fell almost solely on Christopher Smith,” he said.
According to reports on the Internet, the Maluku Islands, located between Sulawesi and New Guinea, were commonly referred to as Spice Islands and was once the only source of mace and nutmeg.
The Penang Botanic Gardens at Jalan Kebun Bunga were established in 1884 from an old quarry site under the supervision of Charles Curtis, who became its first superintendent.
Source: The Star
Photo (c) Khalzuri
Penang Historical Trivia
November 1, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Penang Island is an interesting place, and is well known for its hawker food and beaches. And although its history only began in the late 18th century, the island has a storied past, filled with many interesting tales and bits of trivia. The little nuggets of Penang trivia include how Cannon Square got its name, why there actually is a Scotland Road in Penang and whether Padang Brown was named because of the colour Brown.
The Botanical Gardens in Penang was established in 1884 from an old quarry site
A recent article shed some light about the early days of Penang Island and the establishment of a botanical garden on the island that predates the existing one at Jalan Kebun Bunga. It was discussed in a talk by Australian-based historian Marcus Langdon entitled ‘Christopher Smith & Penang’s First Botanic Garden’ at the tourist pavillion-cum-visitors centre near the Penang Botanic Gardens recently.
Read the full article below:
It may come as a surprise to many people that the first botanic garden in Penang was established in the middle of the Air Itam valley in 1794, according to Australian-based historian Marcus Langdon.
He said Irish botanist Christopher Smith set up a small garden on a 10.5ha plot in the valley.
“Smith later set up another garden in Sungai Keluang in Bayan Lepas on a 158ha site,” he said.
He was giving a talk on ‘Christopher Smith & Penang’s First Botanic Garden’ at the tourist pavillion-cum-visitors centre near the Penang Botanic Gardens recently.
Langdon, who specialises in Penang’s early history under the East India Company from 1786-1858, said Smith chose Penang to be the nursery for thousands of nutmeg and clove plants brought in from the Molucca Island (Maluku Islands) in Indonesia over a six-year period.
“The responsibility of breaking the monopoly of the Dutch on the highly valuable nutmegs as well as cloves and delivering a new source of revenue to the East India Company fell almost solely on Christopher Smith,” he said.
According to reports on the Internet, the Maluku Islands, located between Sulawesi and New Guinea, were commonly referred to as Spice Islands and was once the only source of mace and nutmeg.
The Penang Botanic Gardens at Jalan Kebun Bunga were established in 1884 from an old quarry site under the supervision of Charles Curtis, who became its first superintendent.
Source: The Star
Photo (c) Khalzuri
Tags: History of Penang, Marcus Langdon, penang, Penang Botanical Gardens