Kathleen Blechynden - Calcutta: Past and Present

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Kathleen Blechynden

Calcutta: Past and Present

Published by Good Press, 2020

EAN 4064066063177

Table of Contents

PREFACE

Table of Contents

In a field of research which has known the learned labours of Sir Henry Yule , Mr. J. Talboys Wheeler , the Record Commission, and Mr. H. Beveridge , followed by Dr. Busteed , the Rev. H. B. Hyde, and the late Mr. C. R. Wilson , it might have been thought that there was little room for other workers; yet, where the harvest is so abundant, a simple gleaner may venture to follow in the wake of these stalwart reapers, and bring her modest sheaf to the great storehouse of history.

Such a thought has encouraged me to put forward this little book. My aim has not been to give any account of the great deeds by which the men of old Calcutta laid the foundations of the British Empire in the East, but rather to try and depict the lives they led, their daily cares and amusements, the wives and daughters who lightened their exile, the houses in which they dwelt, the servants who waited on them, the food they ate, the wines they drank, the scenes amid which they moved, the graves in which they laid their loved ones or sank themselves to rest.

In gathering material for these pages I have had the great advantage of a family connection with Calcutta, extending over many years, which has placed at my disposal old diaries and other personal records, besides maps of the town on which changes and improvements were recorded as they were made. These, together with an intimate knowledge of the city, gained during several years' residence in it, have enabled me to construct a mental picture of the life of old Calcutta, which is so vivid as to leave an impression of having really borne a part in it myself. It is this picture, this sense of reality, which I have triedinadequate as I feel the effort has beento convey to my readers.

For the illustrations I am greatly indebted to the publishers, who have spared neither trouble nor expense in reproducing old portraits and engravings, as well as modern photographs. They will be found to be, some of them unique, and all, we believe, of great interest, and such as are not readily available to the larger number of those who are interested in the subject.

In conclusion, I may say that, wherever I have taken information or quoted from the published writings of others, I have been careful to acknowledge my authority. And if the book as a whole owes its inspiration to the labours of others, it is so in every department of human effort; for each fresh toiler must ever hear, echoing out of the past, the message that came to Kipling's builder from the wreckage of a former builder's plan, "Tell him, I too, have known."

K. B.

1905.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Table of Contents

page

General View of Calcutta, 1794

Frontispiece

From a coloured engraving, one of a series published by Baillie in 1794. The view is taken from Fort point, and shows the Supreme Court on the site of the present High Court. The stern of a vessel on the stocks can be seen on the strand at Cutchagoody Ghat, on the bank of the old creek, the site now occupied by the Bank of Bengal.

The Charnock Mausoleum

10

From an original photograph. The pavement round the mausoleum is formed of old tombstones. Many of the epitaphs are in raised lettering, and nearly all are legible.

Plan of Calcutta, 1742

32

Reduced from the inset map in Upjohn's map of Calcutta, 1794. Several landmarks of modern Calcutta may be readily recognized, notably the great tank in Dalhousie Square; the old pilgrim route along Chitpore Road, Bentinck Street, and Chowringhee; and "The Avenue," now Bow Bazar. The Kyd Street tank can also be identified at the southern end of the settlement, and near it, just on the southern boundary, a house with extensive grounds, known later as Sir Elijah Impey's Park, from which Park Street took its name. The plan also shows the batteries and palisades hurriedly constructed to defend the town against Suraj-ud-Dowlah in 1756, and the earlier works of 1742, when Mahratta raids were feared. There is also marked on it the line of Clive's march through the fog and darkness of the early morning hours of the 5th February, 1757, when he drove the Nawab and his great army to a hasty retreat.

The Holwell Monument and Bengal Secretariat 1905

44

From a photograph by Messrs. Bourne and Shepherd, Calcutta. The monument here shown is a replica in white marble of the brick-built monument which Holwell erected to mark the common grave of his fellow-sufferers in the Black Hole prison. The replica, erected by Lord Curzon in 1902, and by him presented to the city as a personal gift, is slightly taller than the original, to be in keeping with the modern faade and lofty domes which mask the old Writers' Buildings, now the Bengal Secretariat.

Plan and Elevation of the Holwell Monument

48

Reduced from an old print.

Lord Clive

57

Robert Clive, First Baron Clive of Plassey. From a portrait in the British Museum. Painted by Nathaniel Dance, engraved by Bartolozzi, 1788.

Admiral Charles Watson

65

Vice-Admiral of the White, Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's forces in the East Indies. From a portrait in the British Museum. Painted by F. Hudson, engraved by E. Fisher.

Government House and Council House, Calcutta, 1794

73

From an engraving by Baillie.

The Old Court House, about 1784

85

From a photograph of a painting by Lieut.-Colonel Mark Wood, published by Orme, 1805. Lieut.-Colonel Mark Wood surveyed the town of Calcutta for the Commissioners of Police in the years 178485, and it may be safely conjectured that it was about this period that he painted the view of the old Court House, which a few years later fell into decay, and was taken down in 1792.

Warren Hastings

91

Governor-General of Bengal. From a portrait in the British Museum. Painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, engraved by T. Knight.

Hastings House

95

From original photographs, 1895.

Mrs. Fay's House and Kidderpore House

98

Mrs. Fay's House from an original photograph, 1895; Kidderpore House from an engraving by Baillie, 1794.

Sir Philip Francis

106

From a portrait in the British Museum after J. Lonsdale, engraved by Freeman.

Council House and Esplanade, 1792

114

From an engraving by the Brothers Daniell.

Chowringhee from the Maidan, 1792

126

From an engraving by the Brothers Daniell.

St. John's Church, 1794

131

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