Church of Our Lady of Rosary, Mazagaon, Bombay Snipped From http://www.rosarychurch.com/ParishHistory.asp On scrutiny of various published and manuscript documents touching on the history of the Church in Bombay, there are but stray references to the affairs of this parish. In large part, this is because the history of the parish has been non-controversial and somewhat uneventful. 1. Birth of the parish (1794) When Double Jurisdiction was introduced in Bombay Island in the year1794, the four existing Churches on the island were equally divided between Padroado and Propaganda. While Our Lady of Hope in the Fort and St.Michael's at Upper Mahim were given to Propaganda, Our Lady Of Salvation at Lower Mahim and Our Lady of Glory at Mazagaon came under Padroado. At Mazagaon the transfer to Padroado took place quietly in March 1794. But trouble broke out in the very next month. Apart from a few Portuguese and Goan families such as the de Souzas and the de Limas, the congregation of Nossa Senhora da Gloria seems to have consisted mostly of fisherfolk, who had their own Confraternities. At that time, Gloria Church stood, not in its present location opposite Byculla Station, but at a site close to the present Rosary Church. Even today a plaque marks the spot. In April 1794, the fisherfolk of Gloria Church requested the Government to allow them to remain under Propaganda. This request was granted and permission given to them to build a Church and Cemetery a few hundred feet northwest of Gloria Church. The Government correspondence of the time concerns " a piece of land asked for by the Christian inhabitants of Mazagaon for erecting a building for the performance of the religious worship" followed by a debate whether the piece of land chosen was not too large for the purpose. The first baptism in Rosary church was recorded in June 1794. The oldest dated tombstone belonged to 1798 and the earliest marriage occurred in 1811. 2. The 19th century (1) The parish cemetery closed: By invocation of the Act of 1865, and by order of the Governor- in- Council, the Municipal Commissioner for the City of Bombay, Arthur Crawford, on 25th August 1868 gave notice that after 31st December 1868, it would not be lawful to bury the dead in certain graveyards of the City. An appended list enumerated nine Roman Catholic, three Protestant, one Presbyterian and one Armenian graveyards. In this list was included the Graveyard of the Church of Nossa Senhora da Rosario. This graveyard was situated at the site occupied somewhat by the assembly area of the present Rosary School. Of the various tombstone and sculptured memorials there is now no trace. [snip] ==================== ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India