<P> Raffles returned to Bencoolen soon after the signing of the treaty and left Major William Farquhar in charge of the new settlement, with some artillery and a small regiment of Indian soldiers . Establishing a trading port from scratch was a daunting endeavor . Farquhar's administration was fairly funded and was prohibited from collecting port duties to raise revenue as Raffles had decided that Singapore would be a free port . Farquhar invited settlers to Singapore, and stationed a British official on St. John's Island to invite passing ships to stop in Singapore . As news of the free port spread across the archipelago, Bugis, Peranakan Chinese, and Arab traders flocked to the island, seeking to circumvent the Dutch trade restrictions . During the starting year of operation in 1819, $400,000 (Spanish dollars) worth of trade passed through Singapore . By 1821, the island's population had gone up to around 5,000, and the trade volume was $8 million . The population reached the 10,000 mark in 1824, and with a trade volume of $22 million, Singapore surpassed the long - established port of Penang . </P> <P> Raffles returned to Singapore in 1822 and became critical of many of Farquhar's decisions, despite Farquhar's success in leading the settlement through its difficult early years . For instance, in order to generate much - needed revenue, Farquhar had resorted to selling licenses for gambling and the sale of opium, which Raffles saw as social evils . Shocked at the disarray of the colony as well as the tolerance of slave trade by Farquhar, Raffles set about drafting a set of new policies for the settlement, such as banning of slavery, closing of gambling dens, prohibition of carrying of weapons, and heavy taxation to discourage what he considered to be social vices such as drunkenness and opium - smoking . He also organized Singapore into functional and ethnic subdivisions under the Raffles Plan of Singapore . Today, remnants of this organization can still be found in the ethnic neighbourhoods . William Farquhar was also stripped off his post . Farquhar later died in Perth, Scotland . </P> <P> On 7 June 1823, John Crawfurd signed a second treaty with the Sultan and Temenggong, which extended British possession to most of the island . The Sultan and Temenggong traded most of their administrative rights of the island, including the collection of port taxes for lifelong monthly payments of $1500 and $800 respectively . This agreement brought the island under the British Law, with the provision that it would take into account Malay customs, traditions and religion . Raffles replaced Farquhar with John Crawfurd, an efficient and frugal administrator, as the new governor . In October 1823, Raffles departed for Britain and would never return to Singapore as he died in 1826, at the age of 44 . In 1824, Singapore was ceded in perpetuity to the East India Company by the Sultan . </P> <P> The status of a British outpost in Singapore seemed initially in doubt as the Dutch government soon protested to Britain for violating the Netherlands' sphere of influence . But as Singapore rapidly emerged as an important trading post, Britain consolidated its claim on the island . The Anglo - Dutch Treaty of 1824 cemented the status of Singapore as a British possession, carving up the Malay archipelago between the two colonial powers with the area north of the Straits of Malacca, including Singapore, falling under Britain's sphere of influence . In 1826, Singapore was grouped by the British East India Company together with Penang and Malacca to form the Straits Settlements, administered by the British East India Company . In 1830, the Straits Settlements became a residency, or subdivision, of the Presidency of Bengal in British India . </P>

When did singapore became part of the british empire