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circa 1820: Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826). English colonial administrator. Executive assistant secretary to the 1st governor of Penang, Malaysia 1805, made lieutenant governor of Java 1811-16, lieutenant governor of Sumatra 1818-23, purchased and established Singapore in 1819 as a hedge against Dutch expansion. Returned to England 1824, founded the London Zoo and was its first president. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Thomas Stamford Raffles