Great Lives

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Factual: Life Stories

Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.

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Great Lives: Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore and London Zoo

Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore and London Zoo

BBC Radio 4 - Great Lives, Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore and London Zoo

The head of ZSL, Matthew Gould, picks the founder of London Zoo

Sir Stamford Raffles, born 1781, was an agent of the East India Company and often seen as founder of Singapore. He was also the first president of the Zoological Society of London

It's a famous name - there's Raffles Hotel and Raffles Hospital, plus the rafflesia, the largest flowering plant in the world, an ant, a butterflyfish and a woodpecker, as well as the Raffles Cup, a horse race in Singapore. He was born in 1781 and as an agent of the East India Company, Thomas Stamford Raffles rose to become lieutenant governor of Java during the Napoleonic war. He's also often named as the founder of Singapore and also London Zoo. But how did he achieve so much so fast?
Recorded on location at London zoo with Matthew Gould, CEO of the Zoological Society of London; plus Stephen Murphy of SOAS University of London and Natasha Wakely who talks about Matthew Gould's second choice, Joan Procter, first female curator of reptiles who famously used to take a Komodo dragon for walks on a leash.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

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Great Lives

Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore and London Zoo

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