In June 1870, the India Office received an address from India that had been sent directly to Buckingham Palace intended for the Queen.   It was not unusual for the India Office to receive addresses and petitions from people in India addressed to members of the Royal family or British politicians.  This particular address was from Aine, a pupil at the Secundra Female Normal School at Agra in what was then the North Western Provinces.  It had been sent to England by the Reverend Erhardt, Superintendent of the Secundra Orphanage on 21 April 1870, along with a sample of lace (which unfortunately is not in the file).

Address to Queen Victoria from Aine, a pupil at the Secundra Female Normal School at Agra - IOR/L/PJ/2/50, File 7/333.

The India Office provided a translation of the address for the Palace.  Aine began: ‘May the mercy of Jesus Christ be on your gracious Majesty!  Be it known to you that I am one of your subjects and a poor girl.  There is an orphan school here in which all the boys and girls are orphans.  Through God’s great mercy we have all been brought here and are very happy’.  Aine says that there were eleven classes in the school, consisting of 220 girls and 180 boys.  Mr and Mrs Erhardt taught them English, and two other female teachers taught them to read and ‘keep us from evil ways of every kind’.  Aine belonged to the normal class where she learned geography, sacred history and Hindi grammar.

Translation of the address by Aine to Queen Victoria - IOR/L/PJ/2/50, File 7/333.

Aine also described a visit to the school by Albert Edward Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria’s eldest son, who had toured India between November 1875 and March 1876. ‘ Be it known to you that Prince Alfred honoured the Secundrah School with a visit, that he came into our enclosure and then went to the boys, and then to the church where we sang a hymn and the Padre prayed for him.  He afterwards went away.’

Aine ends her address: ‘May God bless you and keep you and preserve you.   May the favour of our Lord Jesus and the grace of God and the help of the Holy Ghost for ever be with you and your family.  All the orphans send greeting.  This letter is written by your unworthy slave’. 

India Office file on Aine's address - IOR/L/PJ/2/50, File 7/333.

The address and translation were sent back to the India Office to be dealt with by the Secretary of State for India.  The official at the India Office seemed unimpressed by such a lovely document, and more concerned that the normal channels of communication had not been followed.  He advised that ‘as the present address asks for nothing, but contains an offering, and is only complimentary, it is submitted that it is better not to return it to the writer, as is done periodically in the case of petitions and such like.  From enquiry as to the course usually pursued in the Political Dept., it would appear to be best to take no notice of the communication’.

John O’Brien
India Office Records

Further Reading:
Public Home Correspondence for 1869-1870: address to the Queen from a pupil in the Secundra Female Normal School at Agra, shelfmark IOR/L/PJ/2/50, File 7/333.

Prince of Wales visit to India 

 

We met Chaund Bebee, commonly known as Bebee Shore, in an earlier story about her will.  She had four children with John Shore, an East India Company official who rose to be Governor General of Bengal: John, Francis, Martha, and George.

John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth, by Henry Edward Dawe circa 1823 © National Portrait Gallery, London NPG D40449

Sir John Shore left Calcutta for the final time in March 1798, sailing for England with his wife Charlotte and their children.  Shore died on 14 February 1834.  The only one of his ‘natural’ children to receive a bequest in his will was John, who received £50 for acting as one of the executors, although he wasn’t described as being Shore’s son.

John Shore junior was baptised  at Calcutta in October 1777.  In 1793 he was nominated by the East India Company Court of Directors as a writer for Fort Marlborough in Sumatra.  John was in India at the time and it is unclear whether he ever went to Sumatra, although he remained listed on the Company’s West Coast establishment until 1811.  In January 1797 he was appointed agent to superintend the unloading and loading of Company ships at Calcutta, and the following month he became Secretary to the Marine Board.  He also served as Marine Paymaster and Secretary to the Committee of Embarkation.

Elizabeth Shore, John’s ‘natural’ daughter, was born on 4 October 1803.  John quit his post in Calcutta in February 1808 and travelled to England with Elizabeth in the ship Castle Eden.

In 1812 John married Letitia Thwaits at St George Hanover Square.  They had four children - Letitia, Ellen, John, and Jessy Emily.  The family lived at 23 Guilford Street London, near the Foundling Hospital where John was a Governor.  He was also a director of Guardian Fire and Life Assurance Office, and he and his brothers Francis and George were all East India Company stockholders and active in the Marine Society.

Engraving by James Wyld of the parishes of St Giles in the Fields & St George, Bloomsbury (1824). Maps Crace Port. 15.4 BL Online Gallery. Guilford Street is in the top right corner of the plan.

In 1822 John Shore, described as ‘a Gentleman of fortune’ was found guilty of assaulting schoolmaster John Underhill during an altercation at Ramsgate Assembly Rooms where the election of a master of ceremonies was taking place.  Shore was fined one shilling and required to pay 40 shillings costs.

John Shore died on 7 April 1842.  Newspaper reports and his burial record give his age as 70 which, if correct, would make him born about 1772.  In his will John asked to buried in the vaults of St Pancras Church near to his daughters Jessy Emily and Ellen who had died in February 1829, aged eight and fourteen.  He left to his wife Letitia a house and lands in Cheltenham and the house in Guilford Street, as well as monetary assets.  Other beneficiaries included his daughter Letitia, wife of Reverend Frederick Hildyard in Norfolk; his son John; his daughter Elizabeth; his sister Martha’s widower Peter Mann Osborne; and his brother George.  As well as money, George received a gold snuff box and John’s copy of the Asiatic Journal.  John’s half-brother Charles John, 2nd Lord Teignmouth, and his cousin Reverend Thomas Shore of Paignton are mentioned in connection with trusts discussed in the will.

Sale details for 23 Guilford Street – ‘a well-built residence, very conveniently arranged, and in excellent repair’ - Morning Herald (London) 6 March 1852 British Newspaper Archive.  Sculptor Jacob Epstein was a later occupant.

John’s widow Letitia died at 23 Guilford Street on 27 December 1843 and was buried at St Pancras Church.  Their son John was still living in the family house in 1851 but the property was sold in 1852.

The next post in this series will look at the lives of Francis and Martha Shore.

Margaret Makepeace
Lead Curator, East India Company Records

Further reading:
IOR/G/35/36 Letter from Court of Directors to Fort Marlborough 5 June 1793 recording John Shore’s appointment as writer, and letter from James Cobb to Fort Marlborough 26 June 1793 forwarding covenants for John Shore.
IOR/D/34 p.409 Appointment of John Shore as writer for Fort Marlborough 9 April 1794.
IOR/L/MAR/B/296D Journal of the ship Castle Eden with passenger list from Bengal 1808 - John was accompanied by a servant Andrew Dias, probably the same man as the Andrew Deos who sailed to Portsmouth with Sir John Shore and his family in the Britannia in 1798.  William Hickey was a fellow passenger in the Castle Eden.
Records relating to John Shore junior’s service in Bengal – IOR/F/4/20/796; IOR/F/4/211/4721; IOR/F/4/309/7076; IOR/F/4/368/9208.
IOR/N/1/17 f.14 Baptism of Elizabeth Shore at Calcutta 16 November 1804.
British Newspaper Archive e.g. Assault on John Underhill  -Morning Advertiser 14 August 1822; Report of meeting of East India Company stockholders at the City of London Tavern Bishopsgate - London Courier and Evening Gazette 28 June 1833; Marine Society reports naming the Shore brothers – Morning Herald 9 February 1828 and New Times (London) 11 March 1830 and 11 February; sale of 23 Guilford Street - Morning Herald (London) 6 March 1852.
Will of John Shore proved 11 May 1842 in Prerogative Court of Canterbury (at The National Archives); also will and estate papers from court in Calcutta IOR/L/AG/34/29/73 pp. 343-365.

 

Dr David Price (1787-1870) was the son of a Welsh clergyman.  After qualifying, he initially practised in the East End of London and then in 1826 moved for health reasons to Margate, a seaside town in Kent.

'Margate Pier' by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy published London 1807 - British Library shelfmark: Maps K.Top.17.4.i. BL flickr

Price became a well-known and highly respected practitioner who gave his services to the local board of health, the town council, and the National Hospital for Scrofula (or Royal Sea-Bathing Infirmary).  He was described as ‘painstaking, earnest, and able, inspiring confidence by his manly bearing and pleasing manners, and extracting from all who knew him much reverence for his thorough honesty and uprightness’.

Presentation of a silver inkstand to Dr David Price in recognition of his services as chairman of the Margate Local Board of Health - South Eastern Gazette 9 February 1858 British Newspaper Archive

Price lived with his family at Hoopers Hill House, in Northdown Road Margate, and worked on anatomy and dissections in nearby Gloucester House.

JMW Turner was a regular visitor to Margate throughout his life.  As well as being a popular leisure resort, Margate was also known for its health benefits.  Turner was sent to school in Margate as a precaution against diseases such as cholera.   In later years, Turner would visit Margate regularly from London by steamship to relax and recuperate, painting many scenes of the stunning sunsets and maritime scenes he enjoyed.  He often stayed at a boarding house on the seafront near the harbour with widow Sophia Booth. Turner and Mrs Booth eventually had a relationship that would last until the end of his life.

In the spring of 1832, there was an outbreak of cholera in Margate. Sophia took special care of Turner at this time, particularly as both her husband and son had succumbed to the disease.  Though Turner had a reputable London physician, Sophia introduced him to David Price.  Sophia trusted and knew Price well, as he had acted as executor of her husband and son’s wills, and she had asked him to look after her inheritance.

From 1845, now in his 70s, Turner’s health started to decline.  He and Sophia increasingly relied on Dr Price for nursing and medication to aid recovery.  Turner became a very good friend of Price, who called him ‘Mr Mallard’.  In 1846, Sophia and Turner moved to Chelsea in London. When Turner caught cholera, they rushed back to Margate for the dedicated support of Dr Price. Turner survived and went to recuperate at Deal, where Price continued to visit.

Shortly before Turner’s death in December 1851, Price diagnosed heart disease.  Turner then succumbed again to cholera.  Price travelled from Margate to see Turner in Chelsea on 18 December.  His friend died the next day.

Price attended Turner’s funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral, riding in one of the mourning coaches.

Report of JMW Turner’s funeral Express (London) 31 December 1851 British Newspaper Archive

Turner left an unpaid bill of more than £500 owed to Price, who took the executors to court to get it paid.

Dr Price died in 1870 at the age of 83 in the Margate house he had lived in since 1826.  His death notice in the East Kent Gazette outlined his valuable services to the town beyond his medical duties.

Death notice for Dr David Price - East Kent Gazette 11 June 1870 British Newspaper Archive

David Price is buried in the family vault at Margate Cemetery.  His sons Peter Charles, David Simpson, and William Preston followed their father into the medical profession.

Family vault of David Price in Margate Cemetery - photograph by author

Alison Shuttle
Independent researcher
Volunteer steward and guide at Turner’s House, Twickenham

Further reading:
Dr David Price from Plarr’s Lives of the Fellows Royal College of Surgeons
British Newspaper Archive
Franny Moyle, Turner; The Extraordinary Life and Momentous Times of JMW Turner (2016)
Stephen Channing, Turner’s Margate through contemporary eyes – the Viney Letters (2009)
For more information on cholera in Margate, there is a fascinating account found in the files of Margate Local History
JMW Turner and Sophia Booth

Turner’s restored house in Twickenham is open to visitors.