Canberra Road
I am not sure but Canberra School probably got its name since it was located near Canberra Road. But how come "Canberra"?
I did a little research and found that the road was named after Canberra House, now called [Old] Admiralty House, located in the area (Add: 345, Old Nelson Road, Singapore 758692), part of former British naval base. The house was the residence of the Rear Admiral of the Biritish Navy. The naval officer in question then should be Rear Admiral A.F. Pugsley as stated on the school plaque.
Old Admiralty House has been gazetted a national monument since Dec 2002. Currently known as Admiral Hill, a subsidiary of YESS Group Pte Ltd.
So the next time you visit Old Admiralty House, you know that Canberra School was somehow linked to it. :)
Bah Tan Road, Teo Lee Road, Eng Hock Road, Chong Pang Road
Canberra School's official address was at Bah Tan Road. What was the history behind Bah Tan Road?
Bah Tan Road should be named after Teo Bah Tan, the uncle of Lim Nee Soon. Teo Bah Tan was also the brother of Teo Eng Hock, the rubber magnate who gave Wan Qing Yuan to Dr Sun Yat Sen in 1905. (Interesting fact: Teo Eng Hock was also the great grand-uncle of our current Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean.)
Near Bah Tan Road was Teo Lee Road, if you remember. Who was Teo Lee? Or rather, Mrs Teo Lee (Mdm Tan Poh Neo) was the mother of Teo Bah Tan.
The famous Chong Pang Road nearby was named after Lim Chong Pang, son of Lim Nee Soon.
Further south was Eng Hock Road. All the famous names immortalised at one time but now expunged.
Landscape changes
So much has changed in the name of progress. I have scanned a copy of Sembawang area map from 1985 Singapore Street Directory. If you compared it with today's map, you can see how drastic the changes had been in the last 20 years. Sun Plaza now sits on the original site of Canberra School.
Hope you enjoyed reading this just as I have enjoyed looking for clues.
References:
Savage, V. R., & Yeoh, B. S. A. (2003). Toponymics: a study of Singapore street names (p. 274).
Singapore: Eastern Universities Press. (Call no.: SING 915.9570014 SAV)
History of Admiralty House (Wikipedia)
Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
Dr. Sun Yat Sen (Wikipedia)
Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall (Wikipedia)
Sun Yat Sen Villa, By Cornelius-Takahama, Vernon written on 2001-05-25
Chinese Villages in the North, By Thulaja, Naidu Ratnala written on 2003-11-07
Interesting reading:
History of Naval Base Secondary School Some interesting information of our neighbouring school.
Sembawang 1960s Some old photos of Sembawang.
