About
Active Period
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Genre
Comedy, Dance, English theatre, Music
Subgenre
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Geographic Location
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About
Gaston Dutronquoy, a French hotelier and entrepreneur in Singapore during the 1840s and early 1850, established the London Hotel in Commercial Square (later renamed Raffles Place). In March 1844, he moved his hotel to another building (formerly Singapore Hotel) situated at the corner of High Street and the Esplanade (present-day Padang). It was at this site that he started Theatre Royal in London Hotel where he staged theatrical performances from 1844 to 1845. Later renamed Hotel d’Europe in 1865, and Hotel de I’Europe in 1880s
Venue Location
Corner of High Street and EsplanadeSingapore 178957 (Lat 1.289350, Lng 103.851340)
Dates
Construction Date
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Completion Date
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Opening Date
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Closing Date
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First Used For Performances
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Last Used for Performances
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Destruction Date
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Associated Performance(s)
Media
No media recorded.
Sources
- The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1835-1869), 29 February 1844, Page 1. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/singfreepressa18440229-1.2.2.2
Contributor
Last Updated on:
January 4, 2026 at 5:42 pm
Contributors:
Alvin Lim
To Cite:
, and Lim, Alvin Eng HuiAlvin Eng Hui Lim.
2026. “London Hotel – Corner of High Street and the Esplanade“. In Performing Archipelagos, edited by Kyueun Kim, Alvin Eng Hui Lim and Hedren Wai Yuan Sum. Singapore: National University of Singapore.
Performance
Archipelagic Agents
Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu — Cantonese opera or Yueju
British Malaya (1826-1941)
1867-1941: Straits Settlements as Crown Colony
Performance
Diasporic Identities and Intercultural Encounters
Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu — Cantonese opera or Yueju
British Malaya (1826-1941)
1867-1941: Straits Settlements as Crown Colony
Performance
Diasporic Identities and Intercultural Encounters
Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu — Cantonese opera or Yueju
British Malaya (1826-1941)
1867-1941: Straits Settlements as Crown Colony
Tour
Diasporic Identities and Intercultural Encounters
Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu — Cantonese opera or Yueju
British Malaya (1826-1941)
1867-1941: Straits Settlements as Crown Colony
Tour
Post-war Nation-Building and Cultural Diplomacy
Dance
Dance — Modern Dance
Federation of Malaya (1948-1963)
1945–1959: Malaya and Singapore: Postwar Transition and Reform
Performance
Archipelagic Agents
Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu — Cantonese opera or Yueju
British Malaya (1826-1941)
1867-1941: Straits Settlements as Crown Colony
Performance
Diasporic Identities and Intercultural Encounters
Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu — Cantonese opera or Yueju
British Malaya (1826-1941)
1867-1941: Straits Settlements as Crown Colony
Venue
Colonial and Empire Networks
Theatre
Theatre — Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu
British Malaya (1826-1941)
1867-1941: Straits Settlements as Crown Colony
Troupe
Diasporic Identities and Intercultural Encounters
Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu — Cantonese opera or Yueju
British Malaya (1826-1941)
1867-1941: Straits Settlements as Crown Colony
Venue
Diasporic Identities and Intercultural Encounters
Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu — Teochew opera or Chaoju
Dance — Ronggeng
Theatre — Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu
British Malaya (1826-1941)
Postwar pre-independent Singapore (1945-1963)
1867-1941: Straits Settlements as Crown Colony
1945–1959: Malaya and Singapore: Postwar Transition and Reform
1959–1963: Singapore Self-Governance and Malaya Independence
Up till 1895: British Colonial Consolidation
Festival
Diasporic Identities and Intercultural Encounters
Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu — Teochew opera or Chaoju
Dance — Ronggeng
Theatre — Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu
British Malaya (1826-1941)
Postwar pre-independent Singapore (1945-1963)
1867-1941: Straits Settlements as Crown Colony
1945–1959: Malaya and Singapore: Postwar Transition and Reform
Up till 1895: British Colonial Consolidation
Performance
Diasporic Identities and Intercultural Encounters
Chinese Opera or Wayang or Xiqu — Cantonese opera or Yueju
British Malaya (1826-1941)
1867-1941: Straits Settlements as Crown Colony