Untold lives blog

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620 posts categorized "Journeys"

25 September 2024

Stories of Provenance Research: Henry Beddy, Baptist Missionary

On 31 May 1916, the India Office Library purchased seven items at auction from Hodgson & Co.  Lot 29 cost £1 10 shillings, with 9d postage.  The correspondence about the purchase is significant because it establishes that the items once belonged to the collection of Sir Alexander Johnston, Chief Justice and President in Council in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).  This provenance information had not previously been recorded in our catalogues and the link between the items had been obscured.

Notice of auction at Hodgson & Co - Westminster Gazette 27 May 1916Notice of auction at Hodgson & Co - Westminster Gazette 27 May 1916 British Newspaper Archive

Lot 29 included copies of letters relating to Baptist Missionary Henry Beddy.  Born in Dublin, he enlisted in the East India Company’s Bengal Army at 19, arriving in India in 1811 to serve in the Bengal Artillery.  Beddy married three times.  His first wife Mary Anne died in childbirth in 1816, and his second wife (also Mary Anne) died in 1822.  On 16 January 1823 he married Margaret MacDonough, and they had at least 11 children.

List of correspondence relating to Henry Beddy

List of correspondence relating to Henry Beddy -Mss Eur C92

Henry Beddy was baptised into the Baptist faith about 1827, and having left the Bengal Army was appointed as a Baptist Missionary to Patna in 1831.  Margaret’s younger sister Ellen (Eleanor) MacDonough lived with the Beddys from childhood and was closely involved in missionary work, running the Orphan Refuge.

Ellen became involved with government servant George Hutteman.  Henry Beddy tried to put an end to the relationship, but on 20 November 1847 Ellen eloped with George, married, and moved to Calcutta.  Beddy found it impossible to understand Ellen’s actions and wrote a number of letters to her, besmirching her character.  On 1 December 1847 he wrote ‘Not a member of my family shall ever speak to you with my permission... I shall impress on the children’s mind that their Aunt Ellen MacDonough is to them dead’.  Beddy was later to admit: ‘I had written language capable of being used to my discredit’.

The Huttemans attended the Lall Bazar Baptist Church in Calcutta.  The Minister James Thomas wrote to Beddy about his sister-in-law.  Beddy’s reply accused Ellen of falsehood and deception and stated that George was an ‘unbeliever’.  His hostile attitude led to an investigation into his conduct towards Ellen. 

Note by James Thomas introducing the collection of documents about Henry Beddy and Ellen MacDonoughNote by James Thomas introducing the collection of documents about Henry Beddy and Ellen MacDonough -Mss Eur C92

Thomas gathered together copies of correspondence from the various protagonists and witnesses, so they could be presented to a Baptist Committee in London.  Beddy’s own letters admitted ‘an intimacy, friendship and affection sprang up between us that led to great familiarity, and it is now lamentably true that this familiarity was looked upon by some persons as improper’, whilst Reverend Nathaniel Brice was of the opinion that ‘there are facts connected with the affair which would make your ears tingle...’.

Extract of letter from Henry Beddy to James Thomas 13 March 1848Extract of letter from Henry Beddy to James Thomas, 13 March 1848 --Mss Eur C92

Removed from Patna, Beddy and his family moved to Simla, where he became Pastor at the First Baptist Church.  He died there on 3 June 1857.

Ellen and George had three daughters, and after his death in 1866, she married Reverend John Lawrence of Monghyr.  She died in Christchurch, Hampshire, in 1879.

The India Office appreciated that the contents of the volume were problematic.  In a letter dated 26 January 1936 the Librarian H N Randle wrote that he hesitated to include the letters as part of the forthcoming catalogue of manuscripts as ‘there may be relatives alive, even after 90 years and it seems best to let these personalities rest in obscurity for another hundred years’.

Provenance research is more than acquiring a greater understanding of our collections and their history. It uncovers fascinating human stories along the way.

Lesley Shapland
Archivist & Provenance Researcher
India Office Records

Further reading:
Mss Eur C92: Volume compiled by Rev J Thomas, Calcutta, containing copies of correspondence relating to charges of misconduct against Rev Henry Beddy, missionary at Patna for the London Baptist Missionary Society
IOR/L/R/7/20, R961/16: India Office Record Department Annual Files, 1916
Mss Eur F303/23, p.137: India Office Library, Day Book, 14 Jul 1916
IOR/L/R/9/26, L36/37: Library Committee Papers & References, 1937
Missionary Herald, May 1832 
Full text of 'The story of the Lall Bazar Baptist Church Calcutta : being the history of Carey's church from 24th April 1800 to the present day'
India Office Library Catalogue of Manuscripts in European Languages. Vol. II, Pt. II: Minor Collections and Miscellaneous Manuscripts. By G. R. Kaye and E. H. Johnston. Section I, Nos. 1–538 (London: HMSO, 1937)

04 September 2024

Buried Treasure in Oudh

A previous post on this blog told the story of Alice Buckley who contacted the India Office regarding hidden stolen loot.  However, this isn’t the only such case which came to the notice of government.

In April 1905, the India Office received a communication from the Rev Dr Hume, a missionary of the American Board who worked in Ahmednagar and was then on furlough in America.  Hume was acting on behalf of Edward Dowling of 61 Henry Street, New York City.  At that time Dowling was 73 years old and infirm, and felt he needed to make a statement to government concerning some buried loot.  In November 1858, Dowling was a sergeant with the 54th West Norfolk Regiment serving in Oudh.  Along with three friends he had found and buried some loot, amounting to 3 bags of gold coins, a quantity of silver, and two packages of precious stones in the joints of hollow bamboos.  He said it would not be ‘either correct of politic’ for him to give the names of his comrades.  He offered to return to India and help officials there to find the loot.

Edward Dowling's first statement  - page 1

Edward Dowling's first statement - page 2Edward Dowling's first statement IOR/L/PJ/6/718, File 1152

The Government of India accepted this offer, but Dowling’s doctor then forbade him from travelling on health grounds, stating that ‘any attempt on his part to make such an extended trip would simply be suicidal’. 

Report on Edward Dowling's health by Dr J HuberReport on Edward Dowling's health by Dr J Huber IOR/L/PJ/6/718, File 1152

Instead, Dowling made a more detailed statement to aid any attempt to find the loot, and this survives in India Office files.  The statement is headed ‘Directions for finding loot hidden near the fort of Amathie, Oudh, India, on the 11th November 1858’.

Dowling's second statementEdward Dowling's second statement IOR/L/PJ/6/718, File 1152

Dowling and three comrades were spread out foraging in the vicinity of the deserted fort of Amethi, attended by a camp-follower.  The camp-follower came running towards Dowling shouting ‘Loot Sahib’, pursued by a rebel sowar who cut him down before Dowling could prevent it.  Near him they found loot consisting of gold and silver coins and precious stones.  Knowing the strict rules against looting, they carefully checked no-one was nearby, and then two men kept watch while the other two buried the loot.  It required a trench 8ft long and 2ft deep.  The surplus earth was thrown into a nearby swamp, and every care was taken to conceal the place.  However, one of the men was unreliable as he had a record of drunkenness and tended to blab when drunk.  So the two men who had originally buried the loot moved it half a mile to the west.  They didn’t have an opportunity of telling Dowling as his wing of the Regiment had moved to Fyzabad, while the other three went to Sultanpur.

Edward Dowling's map of the area  showing the location of the treasureEdward Dowling's map of the area showing the location of the treasure IOR/L/PJ/6/718, File 1152

The two men who buried the loot died without Dowling seeing them again, but one of them on his deathbed sent for the unreliable man and told him where the loot was.  He gave him £300 and instructed him to tell Dowling, which he evidently didn’t.  Dowling did not see or hear anything until March 1904 when he met the unreliable man accidently in the Bowery in New York.  Dowling said that he was in a deplorable condition, and he did what he could to help him. After a couple of weeks, he disappeared, and Dowling was unable to trace him and believed him to be dead.

On 18 August 1905, the India Office forwarded the information to the Government of India with the instruction to take what action they deemed advisable.  Sadly, there are no further papers in the files indicating what action, if any, was taken.

John O’Brien
India Office Records

Further Reading:
Offer of information concerning the position of valuable plunder said to have been buried in Oudh during the Mutiny, April 1905, shelfmark: IOR/L/PJ/6/718, File 1152.

 

13 August 2024

Indian Warrior Women who fought the East India Company

When the East India Company (EIC) invaded the South Indian kingdom of Sivaganga in 1772, they met with opposition from Indian warrior women.  These women were a diverse group from different walks of life - royal household, rural areas, across all caste groups.  Although many of their names and stories have not found a place in history, they have survived in local folklore, songs, bharathanatyam performances, and have been immortalised as deities in the local temples.

View of Sivaganga  Mysore  India. Wash-drawing by Colin MacKenzie  1800View of Sivaganga, Mysore, India. Wash-drawing by Colin MacKenzie, 1800 - British Library WD570.

Here is the story of three of these early female freedom fighters: Velu Nachiyar, Udaiyaal and Kuyili.  As the earliest women to rise against the EIC, their lives offer a glimpse into the beginnings of the anti-colonial movements, evoking an image of resilience and fortitude.

Rani Velu Nachiyar was a formidable Tamil Queen, who was both admired and vilified by the British for her valour and bravery in defending her kingdom.  She was born in 1730 to the Raja and Rani of the Ramnad kingdom. Skilled in the art of warfare and weaponry, Velu Nachiyar was also a scholar, and mastered several languages including English, French and Urdu.  At the age of 16, she married the prince of Sivaganga, Muthuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar. In 1750, Velu Nachiyar and her husband became monarchs of the Kingdom of Sivaganga.

Sword with double edged steel blade; iron hilt  guard  pommel and reinforcementsSword with double edged steel blade; iron hilt, guard, pommel and reinforcements. Two brass jingles below the pommel cap.Tamil Nadu (Sivaganga) India, 17th century. V&A Collections (Accession No. IM.11-1924).


In 1772, EIC troops, alongside the Nawab of Arcot’s son, invaded Sivaganga and marched towards the Kalaiyar Kovil Fort.  The Raja of Sivaganga was killed at the Battle of Kalaiyar Kovil on 25 June.  The kingdom fell under enemy control and the Kalaiyar Kovil Fort was plundered.  Rani Velu Nachiyar and her daughter Vellachi escaped capture through the sacrifice of Udaiyaal, a village woman who refused to reveal their secret hideout during interrogation and who was killed for her insubordination.  Rani Velu Nachiyar and Vellachi fled Sivaganga and sought refuge near Dindigul.

View of Dindigul. Tamil Nadu  India  1790View of Dindigul. Tamil Nadu, India, 1790 - British Library WD 640, f.3(16)).

During her eight-year exile, Rani Velu Nachiyar acquired influential alliances with neighbouring rulers (e.g. Gopala Nayaker, Hyder Ali) who supported her preparations for battle against the EIC, providing additional soldiers, weapons, resources and training. Rani Nachiyar built an army of fierce female warriors that she named after Udaiyaal.

Mausoleum of Haidar Ali near Mysore  Karnataka. Coloured aquatintMausoleum of Haidar Ali near Mysore, Karnataka. Coloured aquatint by J. Wells after A. Allan, 1794 -Wellcome Collections (Reference: 29869i).

In 1780, Rani Velu Nachiyar and the Udaiyaal army skilfully infiltrated Sivaganga.  Aware of the superior military prowess of the British, Rani Nachiyar used her knowledge of the terrain and employed guerrilla warfare tactics - spies, sabotage, ambush.  Rani Nachiyar’s military advisor was Kuyili, a woman from a lower caste background.  As a spy for the royal household, she had protected the Rani’s life on multiple occasions and soon rose to the rank of commander-in-chief of the Udaiyaal women’s army.  At the Battle of Sivaganga, Kuyili devised a strategy to attack the EIC’s weapons storage.  Disguised as a rural woman, Kuyili entered the secure storehouse unnoticed and set herself ablaze, destroying the EIC’s weapons and ammunitions.  The EIC and the Nawab fled from Sivaganga in defeat and Rani Nachiyar regained her Kingdom.  The Tamil Queen ruled Sivaganga for another decade before handing the kingdom to her daughter.

View of Shevagunga on the road to Seringapatam. Wash-drawing by Robert Home  1792.View of Shevagunga on the road to Seringapatam. Wash-drawing by Robert Home, 1792 - British Library WD3775[14].

In recent years India has honoured the memory of these women warriors through issuing commemorative stamps, installing monuments and memorials.

Rani Velu Nachiyar on Indian postage stamp 2008Rani Velu Nachiyar on Indian postage stamp 2008- Wikimedia Commons

The contribution of these women as warriors vanished at the intersection of colonialism and patriarchy, instead brown women were recast as helpless and in need of saving. I hope this blog post creates curiosity and the excavation of more stories of Warrior Women!

CC-BY
Theeba Krishnamoorthy
Research Fellow, University of East London

Creative Commons Attribution licence

Further reading:
Archer, Mildred. British Drawings in the India Office Library, Vol. 2: Official and Professional Artists (London: 1969), p474-475.
Letters received from Madras (28 Feb 1772 - 29 Oct 1773), including letters from General Smith regarding the Carracoil War. British Library, IOR/E/4/305.
Mishra, A., Mishra, M. and Paluri, L. (2021) 'Velu Nachiyar: The Veeramangai who petrified the British'. Turkish Online Journal of Qualitative Inquiry, 12(8).

NB In the British Library archives: (1) Raja (King) Muthuvadugananthur Udaiyathevar of Sivaganga is referred to as Nalcooty Polygar; and (2) Kalaiyar Kovil is spelt as Kella Coil or Carracoil.

 

10 July 2024

The Fund For Building a Protestant Church in Alexandria

On 12 April 1842, Captain John Lyons, Agent to the East India Company in Egypt, based at Alexandria, forwarded his quarterly accounts to the Secretary at East India House, London. He confirmed payment from Company funds of 10,000 Egyptian piastres - equating to £100 Sterling - in aid of a fund to build an Anglican Protestant church at Alexandria.

Quarterly accounts of Captain John Lyons confirming payment from Company funds of £100 in aid of a fund to build an Anglican Protestant church at AlexandriaQuarterly accounts of Captain John Lyons confirming payment from Company funds of £100 in aid of a fund to build an Anglican Protestant church at Alexandria -IOR/G/17/13, f 2 Factory Records: Egypt and the Red Sea, 1842-1844.

Receipt confirming payment from Company funds in aid of a fund to build an Anglican Protestant church at Alexandria.Receipt confirming payment from Company funds in aid of a fund to build an Anglican Protestant church at Alexandria - IOR/G/17/13, f11: Factory Records: Egypt and the Red Sea, 1842-1844.

Lyons’ primary role at Alexandria was to oversee the mail service between England and India, and to manage the Company’s agents who were located at key points along the mail and passenger transit route through Egypt from Alexandria to Suez.  He liaised regularly with the Egyptian Government over operational and some diplomatic matters, and often became involved in local matters involving the merchants and the British community at Alexandria, such as the church building scheme.

In September 1846, Lyons received a letter from Mr Saunders of the Alexandria Church Building Committee, asking for another contribution from the East India Company.  Saunders appealed to the ‘liberality’ and ‘good feeling and Generosity of the Honorable Company’, and described the current state of construction: ‘The front wall is now raised to the height of 33 feet, the Chancel 32 and the sides 28 feet. The quantity of materials are already sufficient to complete the Body of the Church, but the Timber for the roof is not yet provided’. Without further funds, the works would soon have to be halted.

Statement of contributions in aid of funds for building a Protestant Church in Alexandria.Statement of contributions in aid of funds for building a Protestant Church in Alexandria. - IOR/G/17/14, f 227. Factory Records: Egypt and the Red Sea, 1845-1848.

£2,595 had already been raised, but another £3,000 was needed to complete the body of the church, the west front, tower and enclosure walls.  Saunders appealed to Lyons’ ‘well known very kindly feelings towards all the English Residents and [his] active interest … in every thing relating to their welfare’.  Lyons was supportive in his message to the Company: ‘whilst the expense has greatly exceeded the expectation of the Committee the solidity and beauty of the Church is likely to be commensurate with the sum expended’.  Lyons had received from Saunders an engraving of the church, possibly similar to the one below, by its designer the British architect James William Wild.

Engraving of St Mark's Church AlexandriaEngraving of St Mark’s Church, Alexandria, detail, 1840s. Victoria and Albert Museum.

Wild spent many years in Egypt, travelling there in 1842 to work as an architectural draughtsman for Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius. He was commissioned in 1845 to build the Anglican church in Alexandria and his design was notably influenced by Islamic architecture.

South facade of St Mark's Church AlexandriaSt Mark’s Church, Alexandria. The South Façade, 1840s. Drawn by J W Wild and etched by John Henry Le Keux. Victoria and Albert Museum.

Drawing of James William Wild at the start of the Lepsium Expedition in EgyptDrawing by J J Frey of James William Wild at the start of the Lepsius expedition in Egypt, 1842 Wikipedia

Saunders’ request to the Company was on this occasion ‘negatived’.  The church, now known as St Mark’s Pro-Cathedral, was completed in 1854 without the campanile, indicating that perhaps Saunders’ wider fund-raising efforts met with limited success.

Correspondence reporting that Saunders’ request to the Company had been ‘negatived’Ecclesiastical Despatch to Bengal 8 September 1847 approving that Saunders’ request to the Company had been ‘negatived’ - IOR/E/4/793, f 543.

Photograph of St Mark’s Pro-Cathedral  AlexandriaModern photograph of  St Mark's by kind permission of St Mark’s Pro-Cathedral, Alexandria.

Wild may have been disappointed that his design did not come to full fruition.  However he could console himself knowing that he had already completed seven church projects by 1842, including, Christ Church in Streatham, south-west London.  A Grade I listed building, Christ Church is famous for its modern use of polychromatic brickwork and patterning and semi-detached campanile.

Scale drawing of the west front of Christ Church  StreathamScale drawing of the west front of Christ Church, Streatham, signed by Wild, 1841. Victoria and Albert Museum.

Close-up image of Christ Church Streatham showing the patterned brickwork

Image of Christ Church Streatham showing the front and side of the building, and the semi-detached campanile.Images of Christ Church, Streatham, copyright Amanda Engineer, May 2024.

Amanda Engineer
Content Specialist, Archivist
British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership

Further reading:
Egypt and Red Sea Factory Records British Library IOR/G/17/13 & IOR/G/17/14
East India Company correspondence IOR/E/4/793
St Mark’s Anglican Church in Alexandria, Egypt 
James William Wild - Wikipedia
Christ Church, Streatham, by James William Wild (1814-1892): Part I
Streatham, Christ Church - The Diocese of Southwark 
Owen Jones (architect) - Wikipedia
Christ Church, Streatham: a history and guide, Payne, Joan, 1917-; Hargreaves, Brenda, 1927--; Ivory, Christopher. 3rd ed. /revised by Christopher Ivory, c.2000

 

25 June 2024

Sulaiman al-Baruni: life of an Ibadhi scholar and statesman in North Africa and Oman

One of the distinctive features of Oman is that the majority of its population are adherents to the Ibadhi sect of Islam - neither Sunni nor Shi’a - which established itself in the early Islamic period on the periphery of Islamic empire and survives today in Oman and in North Africa on the island of Jerba, the Nafusa mountain range and the Mzab region. 

British India Office Records written in the 1920s and 1930s shed light on the life of one Ibadhi scholar and statesman', ‘Sulaiman al Baruni al Nafusi’,who traversed from Italian-occupied Tripoli to become an adviser in Muscat and Oman.


Cover of India Office file on Sulaiman al-Baruni and his relatives - 'Visitors, Suspects, and Undesirables'Cover of India Office file on Sulaiman al-Baruni and his relatives - British Library IOR/R/15/6/449

Al-Baruni was a notable author and had been a member of the last Ottoman parliament.  In November 1922 he wrote to the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, Taimur bin Faisal, that he was attending the peace conference in Lausanne, Switzerland and after that hoped to travel to Oman.

Translation of letter from Sulaiman al-Baruni to the Sultan of Muscat and OmanTranslation of letter from Sulaiman al-Baruni to the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, November 1922 - British Library IOR/R/15/6/449 f.4

In December al-Baruni again wrote, saying that his options were becoming more and more constrained by French, Italian and British hostility to him.  British officials noted with suspicion that he ‘seems to claim three nationalities, Turkish, French and Italian’.

Owing to his espousal of nationalist ideas antipathetical to British dominance, in 1923 the Government of India described him as a ‘prominent figure in the turmoil of politics in North Africa’ - an ‘undesirable intriguer’ and ‘a person whom His Highness the Sultan of Muscat would do well to refuse admittance to his country’; however al-Baruni gained entry anyway on a pilgrim’s ship from Jeddah in 1924.

After the First World War al-Baruni had spent time in the Hijaz with the Sherif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali, and in 1924 he visited his ‘old acquaintance’, Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali, recently installed by Britain as King Faisal I of the Hashemite monarchy of Iraq.  The British noted he was held in high esteem as of ‘religious consequence’ by both the Sultan of Muscat on the coast and the Imam of Oman in the mountainous interior.  In accordance with their strategic interests at the time, Britain had mediated a de facto separation of Muscat and Oman by the ‘Treaty of Sib’ in 1920.  From 1924-1932 al-Baruni served as Financial Adviser to the Imam of Oman in Nizwa. Sa’id bin Taimur, who became Sultan of Muscat in 1932, appointed him in 1938 as Advisor for Internal Affairs and Inspector of Walis.  The British surmised that it was part of Sa’id bin Taimur’s strategy to reunify Muscat and Oman.

Comment on appointment of al-Baruni as advisor for Internal Affairs and Inspector of Walis

Comment on appointment of al-Baruni as advisor for Internal Affairs and Inspector of Walis IOR/R/15/6, f 123

From September 1939 to April 1940 the British intercepted his correspondence with other members of Tripolitania diaspora as the circle of exiles contemplated the future and how they might be free of Italian colonial rule in Tripoli.  This included support of Muhammed Idris Al-Sanussi who was to become the first king of Libya when it gained independence in 1951.

Sulaiman al-Buruni died on his way to Mumbai with Sa’id bin Taimur in May 1940.  Today, on the island of Jerba, Ibadhi texts are still being collected, conserved and digitised for posterity by his descendants and the wider Ibadhi community, so his legacy lives on.

Francis Owtram
Gulf History Specialist, British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership

Further reading:
British Library, IOR/R/15/6/449 '15/3 Vol I XV - B/1 VISITORS SUSPECTS & UNDESIRABLES SULEMAN AL BARUNI AL NAFUSI & HIS RELATIVES Jan 1923 - June 1940.'
British Library, IOR/R/15/6/450 'FILE NO. 15/3 SULEIMAN AL BARUNI AND HIS RELATIVES'
British Library, IOR/L/PS/12/2990 Coll 20/30 'Muscat: Employment of one Suleman al Baruni al Nufusi'
British Library, IOR/R/15/6/264, 'File 8/67 MUSCAT STATE AFFAIRS: MUSCAT – OMAN TREATY.'

Al Muatasim Said Saif Al Maawali, ‘The Omani Experience of Multi-religious Coexistence and Dialogue: A Historical Approach to the Omani Principles and its Luminous Examples’, Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 11, no. 1 (2021). 59-78.
Adam Gaiser, Muslims, Scholars, Soldiers: The Origins and Elaboration of the Ibadhi Imamate Tradition (Oxford University Press, 2010)
Valerie J. Hofmann, The Essentials of Ibadhi Islam (Syracuse University Press, 2012)
Abdulrahman al-Salimi: From the First Renaissance to the Second: The Historical and Legal Basis for the Sultanate, in Allen James Fromherz and Abdulrahmen al-Salimi, (eds), Sultan Qaboos and Modern Oman, 1970-2020 (Edinburgh University Press, 2022)

 

18 June 2024

The last surviving East India Company Chaplain

When Edward Godfrey was born in Nettleton, Wiltshire, on 4 September 1820 it could perhaps be foreseen that he would go on to be a priest, following in the footsteps of his father the Reverend Daniel Race Godfrey.  But it is unlikely he could have predicted that he would become known as the last surviving Chaplain of the East India Company.

Edward attended Clare College, Cambridge achieving his M.A. in 1846.  He had already been serving as Curate of Chard in Somerset since 1844, and in 1847 was appointed to as Curate to St Peter’s in Plymouth.

Marriage announcement for the Reverend Edward Godfrey to Miss Emily Clare PayneMarriage announcement for the Reverend Edward Godfrey to Miss Emily Clare Payne, London Evening Standard 7 December 1844 British Newspaper Archive

That same year he applied for an appointment with the East India Company, and he was formally appointed as an Assistant Chaplain to Bengal on 29 March 1848.  He left England with his wife Emily Clare, daughter of Captain René Payne of the Bombay Army, whom he had married in 1844. They sailed for India aboard the Wellesley on 10 June 1848.  The couple already had two children, whom they appear not to have taken to India with them.  Their first child, Vaughan was born in 1846, and on the 1851 census is living in Bath with his paternal grandfather Daniel Race Godfrey.  Daughter Julia was born in 1847, and in 1851 was living in Cheltenham with her maternal grandmother Eliza Julia Payne.

Baptism of  second son Francis Edward Godfrey born at Meerut, Bengal 16 May 1849Baptism of  second son Francis Edward Godfrey born at Meerut, Bengal 16 May 1849 (their first child born in India) - British Library IOR/N/1/75 f.193

The couple would have six more children, all born in India between 1849 and 1871 as Edward held appointments across Bengal over the next 25 years serving in places such as Meerut, Subathoo, Ferozepore, Saugor and Landour.  He was promoted to Chaplain in 1869.

Godfrey was a keen amateur photographer.  His photographs of tribes of Central India were displayed at the London International Exhibition in 1862.  He also contributed photographs to The People of India, an eight-volume publication compiled by John Forbes Watson and John William Kaye between 1868 and 1875.

Edward retired from service in India on 20 October 1873, and on returning to England was appointed Curate of Stainsby, Lincolnshire in 1875.  However, this was not the end of his travels as in 1878 he was appointed Chaplain at Coblenz in Germany, transferring to Dusseldorf in 1880, and then to Milan in 1889.  He returned to England in 1891 serving at St Peter’s Hospital in Covent Garden before being appointed as Vicar of Great Tey in Essex where he remained until 1916.

Photograph of t Barnabas Church, Great Tey, Essex where Edward Godfrey served as Vicar from 1891 onwards.St Barnabas Church, Great Tey, Essex where Edward Godfrey served as Vicar from 1891 onwards. Wikipedia - attribution Robert Edwards, St Barnabas Church, Great Tey, Essex CC BY-SA 2.0 

Edward Godfrey died in Bedfordshire on 24 February 1918 at the age of 97.  He had followed his calling for over 72 years and at the time of his passing had been the very last living Chaplain appointed under the East India Company.  His wife Emily Clare passed away five years later aged 95.

Karen Stapley
Curator, India Office Records

Further Reading
The Chaplains of the East India Company, S.J. McNally, 1976 – British Library OIR 253.0954.
John Falconer, A Biographical Dictionary of 19th Century Photographers in South and South-East Asia.
London Evening Standard, 7 December 1844 – announcement of the marriage of Reverend Edward Godfrey to Emily Clare Payne British Newspaper Archive.
British Library IOR/N/1/75 f.193 - Bengal Baptisms – baptism of Francis Edward Godfrey, 2nd son of Edward & Mary Clare Godfrey.

St Barnabas Church, Great Tey, Essex

 

04 June 2024

Case of Edward Murphy, blind orphan at Southampton Workhouse

On 18 January 1879, C. Crowther Smith, Clerk at the St Mary Street Workhouse in Southampton, wrote to the India Office regarding a blind orphan youth named Edward Murphy. 

Letter about Edward Murphy from Mr Crowther Smith at the Southampton WorkhouseLetter about Edward Murphy from C. Crowther Smith at the Southampton Workhouse 8 January 1879, IOR/L/PJ/2/216, File 2542

Aged 19, Murphy had been sent to the Workhouse by the Superintendent of Police as he was destitute.  It appeared that he had been deported from India by the Madras Government and there was no evidence of his legal settlement in the UK.  Smith wished to know from the India Office of any course which could be adopted to prevent Murphy remaining a permanent charge to the parochial rates at Southampton.  The Workhouse Board thought it unfair that the burden of maintaining such cases should be thrown on the ratepayers of the port at which the vessel containing such destitute persons should happen to arrive.

Deportation request for a number of men including Edward MurphyDeportation request by the Madras Government Workhouse IOR/L/PJ/2/225, File 180

The India Office made enquiries.  On 2 April 1878, Major Balmer, President of the Committee for the Management of the Government Workhouse at Madras, had written to the Madras Government requesting approval for the deportation of seven men under the provision of the Indian Vagrancy Act. A short summary for each man was given, and Edward Murphy’s entry reads: ‘Register No.713, Edward Murphy, of Ireland, age 19, came out some 17 or 18 years ago with his mother to Rangoon; educated there til 17; was then employed on the Prome Railway, where he lost his eyesight.  The Doctor has recommended his deportation to England. Admitted 8th March 1878’.

India Office memorandum about Edward MurphyIndia Office memorandum about Edward Murphy - IOR/L/PJ/2/225, File 180

A memorandum records that Murphy’s parents were Irish, and his father Michael was a Drummer in the 50th Regiment of Native Infantry.  His father died in England, and his mother took Murphy to Rangoon to join an uncle who was a non-commissioned officer in the Telegraph Department.  His mother died shortly after arriving and his uncle placed him in a school there.  The uncle died in 1868, but the Orphan Society in Rangoon supported Murphy enabling him to complete his education.  At 17, he joined the Prome Railway as a Fireman, but after a year left with sore eyes and was admitted to the Rangoon Hospital, and later transferred to the Madras Eye Infirmary.  He could distinguish light from darkness but little else.  He had no one to support him and didn’t know what county or parish he was from.  Murphy was deported to England on the P&O steamer Cathay, leaving Madras on 2 December 1878.

The India Office was scornful of the complaints from the Southampton Workhouse, and in an internal memo, William Macpherson, Secretary to the Judicial & Public Department, noted ‘…there would scarcely seem to be any ground for complaint, as that Parish is best able to maintain the burden by reason of the great advantage the locality must derive from the fleet of the P&O Company sailing to and from that Port, and from the rates they must receive in respect of the Docks there’.  On 15 February 1879, the India Office wrote to the Workhouse stating that they could not advise on Murphy’s case, and that there were no funds at the disposal of the Secretary of State which could be applied in his case.

It appears likely that the Edward Murphy who was admitted, blind, to East London's Homerton Workhouse in April 1879 is the same man.  Murphy spent the next twelve years moving in and out of the workhouse, infirmary, and ophthalmic hospital. We lose track of him after the 1891 census when he is a workhouse inmate.

John O’Brien
India Office Records

Further Reading:
Letter from the Clerk at the Workhouse, St Mary Street, Southampton, regarding Edward Murphy, 18 January 1879, Judicial Home Correspondence, shelfmark IOR/L/PJ/2/216, File 2542.

Case of Edward Murphy, a vagrant sent from India to Southampton, 1878-1879, shelfmark: IOR/L/PJ/2/225, File 1807.

History of the Southampton Workhouse.

The registers of the Southampton Workhouse are held at Southampton Archives Office.

The National Archives - UK census returns for Homerton Workhouse.

London Metropolitan Archives - Poor Law Records.

 

21 May 2024

Across the Great Desert: an unlikely rescue on the coast of Oman

In late July 1892, a ship from the Seychelles wrecked on the coast of Oman.  Its two surviving crewmen- brothers named Melicourt and Despilly Savy- were stranded without food or water.

One month later, the pair walked into the British Consulate at Muscat, accompanied by the man who had saved their lives and guided them across 230 miles of harsh terrain; Salim-bin-Said-bin-Khatir [Sālim bin Sa‘īd bin Khāṭir], a Bedouin ‘of the Yal Wahibah tribe’.

This remarkable story, told through correspondence between British officials in the Gulf region, provides an insight into how those officials sought to encourage the protection of British subjects, and thereby reinforce imperial prestige.

On 24 June 1892, a sailing boat named Venice left ‘the Isle of Vaches’- most likely Bird Island- with a crew of six men and a cargo of eggs.  The ship was left crippled by ‘a very heavy sea and stormy weather’ and drifted north for almost a month.  Two men died aboard the ship, while another two died just after it had wrecked on the Omani coast.

Melicourt and Despilly likely would have met the same fate, if they had not been found by Sālim bin Sa‘īd.  The Bedouin took them to a nearby hut and hosted them ‘with great kindness and hospitality’ for eight days as they regained their strength.

Once the brothers had recovered sufficiently, the intrepid Bedouin led them on a lengthy journey across Oman to Muscat, where they could expect assistance from the British Consulate:
‘...he took them through the great desert of Oman to Mideibee [Al-Mudhaibi] in the Sharkiyyeh [Ash Sharqiyah], thence through the Baldan-al-Awamir [Buldan-al-Awmir] to Oman proper and through the Wadi Beni Ruhah [Wadi Bani Rwahah] to Semail [Samail], whence he has brought them safely to Muskat [Muscat]’.

Approximate route taken by the sailors and their rescuer from Ras Sarab to MuscatThe approximate route taken by the sailors and their rescuer from Ras Sarab [Ra’s Sirab] to Muscat. Image created by Hannah Nagle, Content Specialist Archivist. Map data ©2024 Google.


The journey took about 20 days, and they arrived in Muscat on 31 August 1892.  Sālim bin Sa‘īd seems to have gone to considerable expense to escort these sailors.  One of his camels died during the journey, and he even sold his dagger to pay for food.

The British Political Agent at Muscat decided to reward the kindness and risk-taking shown by Sālim bin Sa‘īd; his expenses were reimbursed, plus a 100 rupee present.  The Bedouin left Muscat wealthier than he had arrived, while the two sailors were sent home to the Seychelles via Bombay [Mumbai].

Photograph of the British Consulate at Muscat  taken in the 1870sA photograph of the British Consulate at Muscat, taken in the 1870s. 'Muscat Consulate & Agency' [‎22r-b] (1/1), British Library: Visual Arts, Photo 355/1/43, in Qatar Digital Library 

The Agent noted that the reward given to Sālim bin Sa‘īd was intended to ‘act as a stimulus to himself and others of his countrymen to exert themselves in a like manner in protecting British subjects’.  The Political Resident in the Persian Gulf went further than this, suggesting that ‘some special present’ should be sent from the Government of India to Sālim bin Sa‘īd.  He even proposed that the HMS Sphinx should be used to deliver this gift in Sālim bin Sa‘īd’s ‘own country’- ‘The wider the recognition given to actions so creditable... the greater is the prospect of the kind treatment of any who may be unfortunate enough to be shipwrecked hereafter’.  This proposal does not seem to have been taken further, primarily due to the difficulty of finding the Bedouin again.

Dan McKee
Content Specialist Archivist
British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership

Further reading:
IOR/P/4185 ‘INDIA. FOREIGN PROCEEDINGS. (External) Sep. to Dec. 1892.’

 

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