During the refurbishment of the building in 1989, archaeological evidence of older habitation in the area was uncovered with stoneware and earthenware dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries found.

Raffles would later persuade the Temenggong to move to Telok Blangah in 1823 as he planned for the land to be used for public and administrative purposes.

[3] The building was designed as a Neo-Palladian mansion by architect George Drumgoole Coleman for a Scottish merchant, John Argyle Maxwell.

Maxwell applied for a statutory grant to the site in 1827, and the Resident Councillor of Singapore, John Prince objected as the land was intended for government use.

[4] Later Maxwell's residence went up for auction which the colonial government won with a bid of $15,600 Spanish dollars, and the ownership of the courthouse finally transferred to Governor George Bonham and the East India Company on 10 October 1842.

[4] In 1839, a new single-storey annex was built on an adjacent plot of land, forming what is now the Former Attorney-General's Chambers building later incorporated into the Parliament House.