The colonial-era park was the brainchild of Alfred Venning, the British State Treasurer of Selangor in the late 19th century.

The British Resident Frank Swettenham agreed to the scheme and authorised a small grant from the State funds for the garden.

[2] Venning cleared the area of scrubs and lalang, and planted ornamental flowering trees and shrubs in the garden.

The scheme attracted public support, and a leading figure of the Cantonese community, Towkay Chow Ah Yeok, contributed a hundred chempaka and orange trees to the initial planting programme in 1888.

[2] The official residence of the then British government representative Frank Swettenham, now known as Carcosa Seri Negara, was located atop a hill here.