still evokes the grace and charm of the past. History The Tanglin Club was founded in 1865 to cater to the social and recreational needs of locally based British officials and expatriates. That year, an interim committee was formed, and it comprised Thomas Dunman (President), Herbert Buchanan (Vice-President), Lancelot C. Masfen, Jos. M. Webster, William Mulholland, Walter Oldham, Edwin A. G. C. Cooke and John R. Forrester. Although race was not stipulated as a criterion for membership, only Europeans were admitted. Club members however, were mainly British. While the exact foundation date of the Tanglin Club is uncertain, it is suspected that the date which had been determined by the Tanglin Club Centenary Celebrations Committee in 1865 was the most convenient day to hold the celebrations. Two letters, which appeared in the Singapore Daily Times on 11 and 13 November 1865, allude to the formation of the club, and that in October 1865, legal documents show without doubt this club to be the Tanglin Club. On 26 June 1866, a property was purchased in the District of Claymore from Arthur Hughes de Wind for 600 dollars. In December 1866, the trustees of the club borrowed 5,000 Spanish dollars to build a clubhouse with bowling alleys, billiards rooms and stables. The club was possibly named after a Tanglin tree where one might be growing on the spot where the clubhouse stood. About two years after its founding, the club's management committee was unable to repay the first installment of 2,000 Spanish dollars, which was due on 30 November 1868. The costs of construction of the clubhouse and the provision of amenities combined with the expenses involved in running the club must have placed a tremendous burden on its financial resources. The financial strain was made worse when the second installment of the principal mortgage sum was due on 30 November 1871; the club was again unable to pay both that and the sum of 2,000 dollars. Ten years after the loan of 5,000 dollars was drawn, the club could not afford to repay any of the principal sum borrowed. Even the staff's wages were left unpaid. An extraordinary general meeting of the club was then called on 20 June 1876 to resolve the club's indebtedness. The meeting passed four resolutions, including appointing a committee to enquire and report to an adjournment of this meeting whether any person will advance 5,000 dollars