Purvis Farquhar » Antoinette NONYA Clement (1780-1852)

Personal data Antoinette NONYA Clement 

• She was born in the year 1780 in possibly Melaka, Sultanate of Johor (now.
• She died in the year 1852 in Singapore, she was 72 years old.
• A child of Clement and ??

Household of Antoinette NONYA Clement

She had a relationship with William Farquhar.

Child(ren):

1. ??  1801-1829
2. ??  1798-1861
3. Baby Farquhar  1797-1797
4. Elizabeth Caroline Farquhar  1797-1858
5. Esther Asther Farquhar  1796-1838 
6. ??  

Notes about Antoinette NONYA Clement

Antoinette Clement or Clemaine was Farquhar's mistress from approximately 1795 until his departure from Singapore December 28, 1823. Reputedly the daughter of a French officer and a Malay mother. <
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As at 31.12.2008 no evidence of her birth, or details of her parents have been found.

The scant information available about Antoinette is anecdotal and is contained in an open letter date
d June 30, 1989 addressed "To all Bernards stemming from Charles Grant Bugden Bernard (1855 - 1938)" written by George Farquhar Bernard (1908 - 1992). He drew on research conducted by (1) Una Sait (d
aughter of Henry Meyners Bernard) and (2) by Brian Fitzgerald-Moor (grandson of Francis Gumm Bernard). Henry and Francis Bernard were brothers and were grandsons of Farquhar's and Antoinette's daughte
r Esther.

About 1960 Una Sait provided George F Bernard (author of said open letter) with a copy of the Preface and Chapter 1 of a book which she had written, though not published as at that ti
me, entitled "A Spiritual Odyssey - Life and Letters of Henry Meyners Bernard". As ast 31.12.2008 no record of this book having been published has been found by the creator of this site.

Una st
ates: ".... though not wedded in accord with Western standards, [Farquhar] apparently lived in that manner with a lady who was Asian or Eurasian, There is a family tradition allegedly passed on by her
daughters to their descendants that our Eastern ancestress bore the title of Tunka Lung, meaning that she was a Malay princess related to the ruling house of Johore".

I have attempted to unders
tand the life of Antoinette Clement in the following essay:

Ford, Deborah. 'The World of Antoinette Clement: Colonia Mistress'. University of Queensland Historical Proceedings, Number 16, 2005.
(School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.)

Confirmed reference to her is contained in Farquhar's Deed of Settleme
nt, or Will, dated 17 August 1833, where she is named as Nonya ('Nonio') Clement or Clemaine. He bequeathed his house and contents in Kampong Glam to her in 'absolute property', together with an annui
ty of $Sp.350, paid half yearly in advance.

Reference to her is also contained in:

Meng, Leong Foke. ‘Early land transactions in Singapore: The real estates of William Farquhar (1774-1
839), John Crawfurd (1783-1868), and their families’. Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 77 (1), June 2004, pp. 23-42.

The reference to her in the above publication
is in 1851 and relates to a property transaction, by which time she would have been an elderly woman.

Reference to her is contained in Nigle Barley's book "Duke of Puddle Dock, Travels in the Fo
otsteps of Raffles", in which he writes: "[Raffles] was not above sneering at Farquhar's Malay wife and the children by her he had acknowledged. 'The Maya Connexion' he termed them archly".

Info
rmation about birth dates and spouses of her children are contained in:

Gibson-Hill, C.A. ‘Raffles, Alexander Hare & Johanna van Hare’. Journal Malayan Branch Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XX
VIII, Pt. 1, 1955, pp. 184-191. (Footnote to p. 188)

Bastin, John. 'William Farquhar: First Resident and Commandant of Singapore', (published privately) Eastbourne, UK, 2005. pp. 46-47

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Timeline Antoinette NONYA Clement

Click on the names for more info. Symbols used:  grandparents    parents    brothers/sisters    children