The Staits Times report on 11 September 2008 on the death of reknown historian, Professor Constance Mary Turnbull.

Expert on S’pore history dies at 81

Mary Turnbull, author of A History Of Singapore, died last weekBy Liaw Wy-Cin

HISTORIAN Mary Turnbull, author of a seminal work on Singapore’s history, died suddenly in England last week at the age of 81.

A one-time civil servant in colonial Malaya who later became a history professor, her work on chronicling over 150 years of Singapore’s past, including a book on The Straits Times, has been widely cited.

The Government, for example, called on her historical expertise and cited her work in presenting Singapore’s case to the International Court of Justice in the Pedra Branca hearings last year.

Professor Turnbull had been working on the third edition of her book, A History Of Singapore, when she died last Friday.

Contacted last night in London by The Straits Times, her daughter, Ms Penny Rayner, said doctors discovered a tear in Prof Turnbull’s aorta that afternoon during a routine check-up.

They scheduled her for surgery, but within five hours, she was dead, and did not even make it to the operating theatre.

‘Her heart just gave out,’ said Ms Rayner, 43.

She said that Prof Turnbull had been in good health in the days before her death. She even took Ms Rayner’s nine-year-old son to a museum the weekend before she died.

Said Ms Rayner: ‘She had even joked that she wanted a gin and tonic after her operation, but she never made it.’

Prof Turnbull, who was born in England, took up a post in the Malayan civil service in 1952, and remained there till 1955.

In an earlier interview, she said she was probably the first woman to be appointed to the overseas colonial service.

Later in the decade, the London University graduate switched careers and began teaching history at the University of Malaya and the then University of Singapore.

In 1971, she went on to teach at the University of Hong Kong, where she rose to become head of the history department.

In 1977, Prof Turnbull published A History Of Singapore, a book that has often been called an authoritative work on the country’s past.

The exhaustive work has often been cited as a ‘must-read’ for anyone wanting to learn about Singapore’s past.

Another of her works, The Straits Settlements, was cited in Singapore’s arguments in claiming sovereignty over Pedra Branca.

After her retirement in 1988, Prof Turnbull continued to lead an active life, her daughter said.

She continued writing books, doing book reviews and travelling around Britain and New Zealand. She also returned to Singapore and Malaysia for visits.

Among the books she wrote after retirement was a history of The Straits Times to mark the paper’s 150th anniversary in 1995.

She was asked to write it because of her intimate knowledge of Singapore’s past.

Called Dateline Singapore: 150 Years Of The Straits Times, the book took her a few years to complete.

The former editor-in-chief of Singapore Press Holdings’ English and Malay Newspapers Division, Mr Cheong Yip Seng, who worked with her on the book, said last night: ‘I’m very sorry to hear about her death.

‘She worked on The Straits Times book for two or three years with great enthusiasm, and I think she did a wonderful piece of work.’

He said he last heard from Prof Turnbull earlier this year.

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