An economic depression in the 1840s causes…

An economic depression in the 1840s causes some in Singapore's European and Asian commercial community, who have been reasonably satisfied with the administration of the Singapore settlement under Bengal, to consider the merits of being administered directly as a crown colony.

The advent of the steamship has made Singapore less dependent on Calcutta and more closely tied to the London commercial and political scene.

The parent firms of most of Singapore's British-owned merchant houses are located in London rather than Calcutta by mid-century.

Following a visit to Singapore, Lord Dalhousie, the governor general of India, separates the Straits Settlements from Bengal in 1851 and places them directly under his own charge.