>From The Times of India 18 May 2008 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Neglected_graves_get_foreign_visitors/articleshow/3049880.cms ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India Neglected graves get foreign visitors CHENNAI: The All Souls' and St Stephen's church graveyards in Coimbatore and Ooty get visitors from Australia and the United Kingdom who come to track down their ancestors but the graves themselves get hardly any attention. "Most visitors come to visit their ancestors' graveyards in India. They learn about their India connection from family records and grab the first opportunity to visit India, not to visit the Taj, but to meditate before the graves of their forefathers," says Rev Philip Mulley. "In some cases, the family history may not be complete. So many visitors come with the hope of learning more about their forefathers from the tombstone," he says. In St Stephen's church in Ooty, lie founder of Ooty, John Sullivan's wife and daughter. He was devastated by the death of his wife Henrietta Cecilia and 16-year-old daughter Harriet Anne who died within 10 days of each other in 1838. The tomb erected in their memory will soon disappear as there is virtually no upkeep. The oldest grave at All Souls' belongs to Aaron Tozer Esquire. Church records show he died of cholera in 1814 and the tombstone identifies him as a surgeon in the East India Company. The Indian Monumental Inscription (IMI) identifies Aaron's wife as Mary Mackenzie whom he married in 1799. Three years later, Mary too died at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. Mulley is a friendly priest who keeps tabs on the colonial skeletons. "Though dead, they have fascinating stories to tell," he says, pointing to the grave of Captain Henry Handcock who was killed in Ooty by a tiger at the age of 24. At Podanur, 15 km from Coimbatore, is the grave of John Wilson who was killed by a tiger in 1868, 10 years after Henry's death. "His relatives come to visit the grave. They are all settled in Australia. We don't know how they found out about his grave," say a couple who live in the vicinity. "I've seen many visitors from the UK. Most of them leave after offering prayers," says Mulley. He remembers how the Freemasons restored the grave of Major General William Pitt MacDonald, a prominent freemason who died in 1867. All Souls' has two graves which show heart failure and hepatitis, both of which were not unknown in the 1800s. IMI refers to the death of Colonel R A Walter on account of hepatitis and Samuel Scott due to heart failure in 1881 and 1890 respectively. IMI also refers to a few murders and suicides involving the British. Nothing much is being done to keep the tombs in shape either at St Stephen's or at All Souls'. All Souls is supposed to have the grave of Richard Clive - a descendent of first Lord Clive, the Governor of Bengal and founder of British Empire in India. According to records, Richard died on August 6, 1831, and was buried at All Souls. But Clive's grave seems to have disappeared. The tallest tomb carved of Aberdeen granite erected in memory of William Patrick Adam, the erstwhile Governor of Madras who died in 1881, is an imposing structure at St Stephen's, but it too has fallen into neglect. Amidst these ruins, the grave of Josiah Goodwin, Swami Vivekananda's stenographer, alone remains somewhat better maintained. "Till sometime back, the British High Commission used to send us a cheque for Rs 500 for the upkeep of the graves every year. But there were too many procedures and formalities so we decided to forego the money," says All Souls' church manager Henry Prabalanathan. ============================================

"Till sometime back, the British High Commission used to send us a cheque for Rs 500 for the upkeep of the graves every year. But there were too many procedures and formalities so we decided to forego the money," says All Souls' church manager Henry Prabalanathan. Rs 500 How much is that in British Pounds? I can understand the central and local governments in India paying a pittance. But if the British government is doing the same, they must be from the same stock. Idris Attarwala USA Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar <bosham@gmail.com> wrote: >From The Times of India 18 May 2008 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Neglected_graves_get_foreign_visitors/articleshow/3049880.cms ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India Neglected graves get foreign visitors CHENNAI: The All Souls' and St Stephen's church graveyards in Coimbatore and Ooty get visitors from Australia and the United Kingdom who come to track down their ancestors but the graves themselves get hardly any attention. "Most visitors come to visit their ancestors' graveyards in India. They learn about their India connection from family records and grab the first opportunity to visit India, not to visit the Taj, but to meditate before the graves of their forefathers," says Rev Philip Mulley. "In some cases, the family history may not be complete. So many visitors come with the hope of learning more about their forefathers from the tombstone," he says. In St Stephen's church in Ooty, lie founder of Ooty, John Sullivan's wife and daughter. He was devastated by the death of his wife Henrietta Cecilia and 16-year-old daughter Harriet Anne who died within 10 days of each other in 1838. The tomb erected in their memory will soon disappear as there is virtually no upkeep. The oldest grave at All Souls' belongs to Aaron Tozer Esquire. Church records show he died of cholera in 1814 and the tombstone identifies him as a surgeon in the East India Company. The Indian Monumental Inscription (IMI) identifies Aaron's wife as Mary Mackenzie whom he married in 1799. Three years later, Mary too died at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. Mulley is a friendly priest who keeps tabs on the colonial skeletons. "Though dead, they have fascinating stories to tell," he says, pointing to the grave of Captain Henry Handcock who was killed in Ooty by a tiger at the age of 24. At Podanur, 15 km from Coimbatore, is the grave of John Wilson who was killed by a tiger in 1868, 10 years after Henry's death. "His relatives come to visit the grave. They are all settled in Australia. We don't know how they found out about his grave," say a couple who live in the vicinity. "I've seen many visitors from the UK. Most of them leave after offering prayers," says Mulley. He remembers how the Freemasons restored the grave of Major General William Pitt MacDonald, a prominent freemason who died in 1867. All Souls' has two graves which show heart failure and hepatitis, both of which were not unknown in the 1800s. IMI refers to the death of Colonel R A Walter on account of hepatitis and Samuel Scott due to heart failure in 1881 and 1890 respectively. IMI also refers to a few murders and suicides involving the British. Nothing much is being done to keep the tombs in shape either at St Stephen's or at All Souls'. All Souls is supposed to have the grave of Richard Clive - a descendent of first Lord Clive, the Governor of Bengal and founder of British Empire in India. According to records, Richard died on August 6, 1831, and was buried at All Souls. But Clive's grave seems to have disappeared. The tallest tomb carved of Aberdeen granite erected in memory of William Patrick Adam, the erstwhile Governor of Madras who died in 1881, is an imposing structure at St Stephen's, but it too has fallen into neglect. Amidst these ruins, the grave of Josiah Goodwin, Swami Vivekananda's stenographer, alone remains somewhat better maintained. "Till sometime back, the British High Commission used to send us a cheque for Rs 500 for the upkeep of the graves every year. But there were too many procedures and formalities so we decided to forego the money," says All Souls' church manager Henry Prabalanathan. ============================================ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to INDIA-BRITISH-RAJ-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

<<<< "Till sometime back, the British High Commission used to send us a cheque for Rs 500 for the upkeep of the graves every year. >>>> Rs 500 --How much is that in British Pounds? I can understand the central and local governments in India paying a pittance. But if the British government is doing the same, they must be from the same stock. - Idris Attarwala ==================================================== Idrisbhai, I heard of this only last month. A nice couple from New Zealand was here in Nagpur in late April and sought my help to visit the old Anglican cemetery at Kamptee, now a suburb of Nagpur, and at one time a very important army cantonment. The great grandfather of the gentleman from NZ was buried there in 1858. With the help of an extremely nice and energetic old priest, aged 83, who was in charge of the local church, we managed to make a long tour of the now-sadly neglected and much vandalised graveyard. During the course of our discussion, the old boy told us that lack of funds was one of the major reasons why cemeteries such as the one we had gone to at that time, could not be preserved and protected. Then he told us that besides some small local donations, all that he got by way of funds was the princely sum of Rs 500 (about ten USD or six point something GBP) from the British High Commission - not monthly, but annually! So it's a universal malady, it seems. ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

G'day Idris, On 18/05/2008, at 4:28 PM, IdrisAttarwala wrote: > How much is that in British Pounds? UKP 6.01 or USD 11.76 or A$ 12.30 ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.

Dear Listers, On the subject of graves, let me put down what I know from personal experience. In my hometown of Satara, there is a graveyard, properly walled and gated, which contained several British graves of the early 19th century, when there used be sizable British military presence in Satara. (The military was later withdrawn from Satara, leaving a number of standing bungalows in the area that is called Satara Cantonment even today, though there has not been anything like a real cantonment for more than a century.) I had, out of curiosity, visited the graves a couple of times several decades ago. At that time, many graves were standing in good repair and the headstones could be read. I remember one in particular of a young lieutenant who drowned in the river Venna. (This is a small river of about 30 miles length that rises in the Mahabaleshwar Hills and joins the bigger Krishna just outside Satara. I was surprised that it could drown anyone!) I paid a visit to the same site last year. The surrounding wall and the gate still stand and the site is supposed to be under the charge of the Police department. Of the graves, only blocks of masonry remain. Almost all headstones have disappeared. I could read only two: To the memory of James Arthur Lester, died 25th September 1851, aged 6 months and 10 days Sacred to the memory of Captain Henry ---nson 25th Regiment---who died at---aum on the 15th October 1839. Aged ---years. This tomb is erected by his brother officers. Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, May 18, 2008.