The statue of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles was originally installed at the Padang. It was unveiled on 27 June 1887 by Sir Frederick Weld, then Governor of the Straits Settlements, to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee Day. The statue was then moved in front of the Victoria Memorial Hall at Empress Place in 1919 as part of the celebrations to commemorate the centennial of the founding of modern Singapore. It stood in a semi-circular portico supported by Doric columns and faced a marble-lined pool with fountain jets. The statue was briefly moved to the Raffles Museum (present day National Museum) in 1943 and reinstated at its spot in front of the Memorial Hall in 1946.
