🧵 View Thread
🧵 Thread (4 tweets)
The history of Singapore roads and names, a thread https://t.co/9KH8PxTpV7
Novena is named after Novena Church - Novum is Nine in Latin, and Novena describes a tradition of praying for 9 days or weeks. It’s interesting to me that a Catholic Church has been able to get so many things named after it. It was recently reopened after a $54,000,000 renovation https://t.co/pawEmgchrg
Within Novena we have Balestier Road. While Singapore was colonized by the British, Balestier Road is named after an American, Joseph Balestier. He was a consul (re: American ships trading with EIC) owned a 1000 acre sugar plantation, and married Paul Revere’s daughter. https://t.co/1Z3hCm2XRJ
Thomson Road was named after John Turnbull Thomson. He was the Government Surveyor, and became Superintendent of Roads and Public Works in 1844. His report on the water supply led to MacRitchie Reservoir. He helped build a spire for St Andrew’s Cathedral, and lots of other things https://t.co/HgUa77uH2e
