When did Christian services start in Tellicherry and its Fort?

Figure 1, St John's Church, Thalassery in 2009.
  Photo courtesy Jissu Jacob

Who built St John's Church at Thalassery?

It is widely believed by many that it was Edward Brennan, the Harbour Master at Tellicherry during the 1860's. This "fact" appears in countless websites, tourist guides, etc. etc. but I believe masks a much earlier series of places of worship on the site.

While it is true that Brennan rebuilt the church in the 1860's, his was definitely not the first church at Tellicherry.

Figure 2. Edward Brennen's memorial plaque
 inside St. John's Church, Thalassery

There are several different Christian Churches in Thalassery today. Each one represents a different form of Christianity, Catholic, C.S.I Protestant, & Basle Mission. All make claims for their foundation dates that are at best questionable, and at worse incorrect.

St. John's Church besides the fort is a Protestant Church. The formal state religion of England had been the Protestant one from the days of King Henry VIII in the 1530's. There were short periods in English history when the Catholic Religion returned during the reigns of Queen Mary I, and King James II, but these were short lived, and most English & Scottish officials will have been Protestant at home before they left for India.

In settlements under the East India Company rule, the official garrison church was therefore always a Protestant Church.  However the East India Company always struggled to recruit enough Protestant men to fill its military units, so that in practise there were often large numbers of Indo-Portuguese, Irish & English Catholics serving in these settlements as soldiers and as lower ranking officials.  These Catholics were accommodated by Catholic Churches, as was the case at Tellicherry, where St Joseph's Catholic Church was built besides the Protestant Church, both within the outer defensive walls of the fort at Tellicherry that we can all visit today.

One of the best preserved monuments & grave stones is that erected (as it would have originally have been set into the ground vertically, is that of Captain Gaspar Moritz Gleetz 1730-1768.

Figure 3. Captain Gaspar Moritz Gleetz 1730-1768

During the middle of the 18th Century there was huge disruption in Germany caused by the many wars that were taking place there. Germany was not a single country, but was dozens of often mutually antagonistic states. Parts of Germany like Hanover were ruled by the King's of England, who ruled both states.  Many German's became full time professional soldiers and officers.

When the British government was mobilising for each new war on Continental Europe, it would need to conscript tens of thousands of often unwilling English, Scots & Irish.  These huge recruiting drives increased competition for the available men in the community.  

Very often a ban was placed on the EIC in London to stop them recruiting in competition with the British Army, and this forced the EIC to recruit in Germany. They had recruiting agents who travelled into Germany, often up the Rivers Rhine, Elbe and Oder in an attempt to find suitable recruits. They were in competition with similar agents acting on behalf of the Dutch VOC, army & navy, who had similar issues finding enough men to fill their armies both in India, the Spice Islands as well as in Europe

Quedlinburg, where Gaspar came from is a town situated just north of the Harz Mountains in Germany mid way between Hanover & Leipzig. At this period many of the officers in the East India Company infantry companies came from Europe where they had often gained extensive experience during the wars in that part of the World.

Figure 4. Childhood home of Gaspar Moritz Gleetz

Modern sources all suggest that Harbour Master Edward Brennan had St John's Church built in the 1860's. This however cannot have been the case as there was a previous church on the site before 1820, constructed by the Reverend Francis Spring, which had been built over the alignment of an earlier wall that encircled the fort facing towards the sea, which had formed part of the defences to the Fort. The fill on either side of the wall had not been adequately compacted on either side of the foundations of the old wall, so that the earlier church broke its back over the old wall, some years before Edward Brennan funded the construction of the current church. 

Figure 5. Location map for Quedlinburg, Gaspar Gleetz home town. The survival of the early gravestone for Gleetz in the graveyard which was set up in 1768 suggests that this area was already consecrated ground by 1768, and possibly much earlier, and that worship was going on close by.

Life expectancy for new arrivals in India during the 18th Century was often less than three years, although those who survived the first three years could stretch to a further twenty years or more in India. Less than 30% of those who arrived from Europe could expect to return there. This means that at least 70% are buried in Tellicherry or nearby.  Somewhere around 10 new people would arrive from Europe each year, sometimes it was more, at other times less. In some other EIC forts like Fort St David, it is known that in the absence of a church, the Gunner's Room was used as a makeshift chapel on the relatively rare occasions that a parson was passing through the settlement or arrived as a chaplain on a passing East India Company ship. Some EIC officers will have taken services  for their men too.

Figure 6. Tellicherry Fort during the latter part of the 1720's preserved at the British Library. The painting was by Samuel Scott, and was one of a number of official paintings done in London which were hung on the walls of the EIC headquarters in Leadenhall Street. Scott had not been out to India, but must have been working from drawings made by an officer on board a visiting East India Company ship. 

Notice the large buildings inside the fort, which have subsequently disappeared. Notice also that there are a number of garden terrace or defensive walls between the fort wall and the sea, in the area where St. John's Church currently stands. It was one of these walls that the Rev. Spring's 1820's church broke its back over. 

The East India Company who arrived at Tellicherry in 1699, were taking over an earlier French settlement that was founded in about 1677 in the area that is now covered by the central bazaar, would have been very wary of worshipping in public, for fear of upsetting the religious sensibilities of both the Hindu's and Muslims.

This concern about Indian objections to Christian religion being outwardly conducted was a very serious, so that the EIC Directors in London made a considerable effort to stop missionaries and clergymen from going out to India.  This policy remained officially in place until the 1830's.

This policy was often deeply unpopular with many of the EIC officials and men who would have attended church services once a week on Sunday every week of their lives. Many will have lived in homes were the head of the family had a bible, and would say family prayers every evening for his family and his servants. 

With death & illness an ever present threat in Tellicherry, many men, especially those who were ill and were close to death will have been very concerned that there was no clergyman to administer to their needs or to administer the Last Rights. Men who were probably not very religious throughout most of their adult life, would suddenly become desperately anxious to be blessed, as it was firmly believed that they would not otherwise get into Heaven.

Christening were not possible, and marriages could not be formally solemnised.

The EIC local employees were however able to get around the official EIC ban or restrictions on clergymen. All along the Malabar coast there were many ports belonging to other countries, or native states, and these ports often had entirely different policies on the presence of priests or parsons in their settlements. Most of these parsons came from Protestant states in Germany, just like Gleetz had. Although they were employed by either the Dutch or English companies, many of these soldiers & parsons were not Dutch or English, but ethnic Germans. 

From time to time one of these Dutch / German missionaries would be invited to Tellicherry were they would give services which the garrison and merchants would attend.

Gunner's were a separate part of the military garrison, and they considered themselves superior to the infantry. They received higher pay, and their NCO's were allowed to distill Arrack which they could retail to the visiting crews of EIC ships anchored in the bay.

They had their own room inside the Fort. The gunners were never expected to leave the settlement, having to live next to the all important cannon, on whose effectiveness the survival of the settlement depended, unlike the infantry who could be sent elsewhere. The gunners barrack rooms were generally much better quality than those allocated to the infantry.  

It is known that at the same period, in other forts like Fort St David's were my 5 x great grandfather Captain John De Morgan (a French Huguenot, who served in the EIC garrison at Fort St David from 1711 until 1746), that officers like De Morgan would hold weekly services for their men inside the Gun Room, in much the same way that Royal Navy officers often do to this day in the absence of a chaplain. 

Figure 7. Captain John Sibbald of the 34th Regiment who died in December 1843 

By the 1780's with the preaching of men like John Wesley, the Established Protestant Church began to reform itself.  It did however split as a result, in the officially recognised church and into the Non-Conformist churches like John Wesley's Methodist Church.  The increased competition from the newer churches caused the Established Anglican Church to have to reform itself, and to reinject itself with new energy.  One of the effects of this reconfiguration of the church in England was renewed pressure on the EIC Directors to allow missionaries and clergy to officially travel out to India directly in EIC shipping. The Reverend Francis Spring was one of the first of these early "official" Anglican Protestant missionaries from this new generation of active and dedicated missionaries and clergy.

Spring was sent to Tellicherry and later on to Cannanore where he played an important role in establishing both of the St. John's churches in those locations. 

Up until about 1812 a substantial garrison had existed in both Tellicherry and Cannanore. By 1815 it appears that a decision was taken to move the army out of Tellicherry to Cannanore, where the existing site and fortifications could more easily accommodate the garrisons and prisons required.

However, the judicial community that was living in large comfortable house that they had built or acquired in Tellicherry were very reluctant to follow the garrison to Cannanore. It is believed that only about seven judicial officials remained in the town plus the harbour master by 1818.

We believe that Spring had arrived in Tellicherry in about 1817, and that he set about building a new church on the site of the former much older (1720?) garrison graveyard. This was to replace the old "Gun Room."  As Tellicherry was rapidly emptying of the churches potential source of a congregation, the raising of funds and the construction of the church may have taken a while, and the work may have been carried out in a less than competent manner. This may account for the fragile nature of the structure.

At the mean time the garrison at Cannanore probably numbered in excess of 500 European men, and needed a church of its own. The Rev. Spring became involved in promoting that church as well.

Spring himself appears to have left both Cannanore & Tellicherry during 1823 heading home to England. Responsibility for his churches was transferred to the Church Missionary Society [CMS], who subsequently supplied funding an clergy from England. Some of their reports are now available online dating from the 1820's, and I will explore those in later posts. 

As many of you are aware I have had an interest in the Thalassery and surrounding districts including the Wayanad for many years, and this has led to my becoming a focal point of contact for many other people who have similar connections with the town and the surrounding areas. 

Over the years these people have included former sepoys, teachers, bakers of the famous Victoria sponge cake, Mappila merchants, temple authorities as well as the descendants of former EIC officials and army personnel who served there over the years. 

Recently I have become involved in an informal project locally to try to improve the condition of several of local heritage sites in the town, which is succeeding in drawing a much greater of level of interest in Thalassery & internationally has been much than I had originally been expecting. 

 As I was taught at school, Brutus said to Cassius in Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' 

“There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune” 

Whilst I have not been a great fan of Shakespeare since I left school,that quotation has remained a very effective maxim to deploy in my subsequent life. I want to see if I can build on the momentum that people like Biju Thomas have been very successfully building up locally, especially as I have been getting a lot of very positive responses from the local community in Thalassery. 

I am trying to get into a position to hold a series of launch events in the autumn of this year, or January 2023, when I hope to be in the town for several weeks, working on my own research projects.

Figure 8. Catherine Maitland, wife of John Vaughan 1833.

Vaughan was the Principle Collector at Tellicherry throughout most of the 1820's and 1830's.

 Figure 9. A close up of the plaque on Catherine Maitland's tomb.

                               

One of the key sites that can be visited today is the former Protestant garrison church at St John’s Tellicherry. This church is sandwiched between the old East India Company Fort and the sea. When I was last in Tellicherry in 2006, it was in an appalling state.

Fortunately, in 2009 the local church and community authorities undertook a very thorough restoration of the structure of the church itself. This work is described in the following two blog posts that I made in 2009.

http://malabardays.blogspot.com/.../tellicherry-church...
and
http://malabardays.blogspot.com/.../tellicherry-church...

Since 2009 the church has had a number of further restoration efforts made, and the grounds have been maintained periodically.

Figure 10. Cecilia Lawrie's Tomb

The numbering on the tombs in red had been applied to many of the monuments and grave stones by 2009. The highest number that I am aware of is about 50, but the person who took this photo told me that he believed that there had been far more gravestones in the graveyard orginially, but that only the most robust ones had been numbered.

Figure 11. St John's Church under restoration in 2007.
Photo by Lindsay Gething.

The next door school, St Joseph's Higher Secondary School, Thalassery which has origins as an Anglo-Indian school going back to the 18th century, and which is run under the management of Latin Diocese of Kannur, has taken an interest in St John’s Church which is located in the heart of the town of Thalassery beside the original Tellicherry Fort.

The Bishop of CSI church for North Kerala Diocese has recently expressed his interest in the project and wishes to talk about how to ready the British Heritage assets in his churches for the proposed north Kerala tourism development in a way that would be helpful to the society and his community Members. Depending on the response from interested parties, we might try to develop a process to roll out our project to encompass other nearby churchyards from other denominations. If you have connections with Tellicherry or have ancestors buried in these churches, and feel that you might like to take part please email me at balmer.nicholas@gmail.com

Figure 12. Eliza Wills, wife of Henry Crewe
who died at Tellicherry in 1874

At present I have no knowledge of Henry Crewe's life. Does anybody know anything about him?

Figure 13. James Ward Esq, Indian Navy

It is hard to be certain which part of the Ward family this man came from.  There are several references to a Lieut. Ward in "The History of the Indian Navy 1613-1863" by C. R. Low, which suggest that Lieut. Ward had spent a lot of time as a marine surveyor in the Bombay Marine off Socotra and Aden at the mouth of the Red Sea.  Surveying the shores of the Indian Ocean was a very important part of the work of the Indian Navy at that time.

As they approached retirement age, many former Indian Navy officers left their ship based activities for shore based posts and became Harbour Masters, so it is entirely possible that he was Harbour Master at Tellicherry at some point between Mr. Oakes and Mr. Brennen who were also Harbour Masters at Tellicherry.  C.R. Low also mentions a Lieutenant C.Y. Ward, who compiled the "Gulf of Aden Pilot" published by the Admiralty in 1863. He might be either James Ward's brother or even son.

Many people who had become seriously ill in other parts of India or the Indian Ocean, made sea voyages to Tellicherry from places like Bombay. The voyage alone was believed to be good for you, and was often prescribed by Company Doctors, and the voyage often cured many illnesses.  Tellicherry had been seen for many years as being a particularly healthy station compared with most other coastal EIC port settlements.

As Ootacamund developed into a summer hill station by the 1840's, many people from places like Bombay who were already ill travelled via Tellicherry or Cannanore to Ootacamund via the Wayanad, and their letters and diaries often contain some of the best descriptions of the Tellicherry area at that time. It is possible that James Ward had been passing through Tellicherry when he died.

Figure 14. A close up shot of the inscription on James Ward's monument

Like so many children, Elizabeth Schmidt had died aged just 10 months and 15 days old in 1822. One can only imagine the heart ache at this gravestone for her parents.

Figure 15. Elizabeth Frances Schmidt.  Schmidt is a German name that means smith.

Many earlier tomb stones have probably crumbled or been pushed aside in recent years.

Figure 16. James Crawford (possibly). 
He may have been related to Mr H Crawford who was Commercial Agent
 for the Travancore Government at Alleppey

Figure 17. James Stevens, who was the senior judge
 at Tellicherry in the early 1800's.

James Stevens played a very important role in leading the establishment of EIC law the former local rulers estates in the aftermath of Tipu Sultan's invasions. Under huge pressure to deliver, inadequate numbers of staff and with the Pazhassi Rebellion under way at the time it must have been a tough assignment. My 4 x great uncle Thomas Hervey Baber was 3rd Judge at the same time that Stevens was 1st Judge. They were of very different generations and mindsets. They did not get on very well at times.

Figure 18. James Stevens grave monument.

James Stevens modern descendants live in Australia, some of them visited this tomb about a decade ago. The dark stain was caused by the use of water to try to make the text readable. It will have dried away shortly afterwards.  You can see how the heavy rains and sun are taking the toll of the chunam plaster exposing the laterite blockwork underneath.

Figure 19. Margaret Eleanor John, who was born in 1837 and died in 1911.

Figure 20. Mary Brown, daughter of Francis Carnac Brown. This photo dates from quite recently, and shows how it was over painted in recent years.

Mary Brown's grandfather Murdoch Brown had been a really colourful character whose life would make a good film or novel. He bought a lot of slaves at Alleppey from local slave dealers, for use to cultivate his new plantation at nearby Anjarakandy. 

Figure 21. This was Mary Brown's plaque a few years earlier.
It is a great pity that it was painted over. I wonder if the paint could be removed?

By seeking to use slave labour in 1797, Murdoch Brown was following centuries old, local custom and practice. 

Thomas Baber who had only relatively recently arrived from England where he appears to have absorbed the early campaigns of anti-slavery campaigners of the Clapham Sect. He went on to take out a private prosecution against Brown in the Madras High court. 

Brown organised for an army officer (with a severe debt problem, and a reputation for fighting duels to try to pay off his crippling debt.) called Billy Robinson to challenge Baber to a duel that was fought.

As a young officer Francis Carnac Brown also challenged Baber to a duel a couple of years later. Brown and his two accomplices were prosecuted, again privately in Madras, and to the disgust of many in court Thomas Baber secured a successful prosecution, sending Brown and the other two to prison.

Francis Carnac Brown seems to have quickly recovered from his time in prison, and as an older and no doubt wiser man, he went on to play a major role in establishing planting in the Wayanad and elsewhere. He wrote several really interesting books on planting & other issues facing EIC expats in late 1830's Kerala.

One can only imagine what the scene was like in this church with the Brown family sat in one pew and the Baber family nearby in another pew.

Figure 22. Patrick Henry Gordon who died in 1876. A planter, Patrick appears to have made it back to Acton to the west of London, where he died and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.  It is evident that his former fellow planters regarded him highly enough to put up a plaque in St John's Church.

Does anybody know where Polly Coon was in Tellicherry?

Figure 23. St John's Church Tellicherry in 2006-2007

This was the state of St John's Church when I visited in in 2006. At that time I though that the church was probably beyond recall.

The growth of scrub in the grave yard was chest high when I climbed into the grave yard. The place was full of mongooses, and my dear local host was beseeching me to get out of the graveyard as fast as possible, as it must be full of snakes to be able to support so many mongooses.

Thankfully the community at Thalassery have taken substantial steps to look after this church in recent years, and they should be thanked for having done so much to preserve this part of our shared heritage.

Especial thanks are due to Dr. Denny, the Principle, and the pupils of St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School who are looking after the graveyard currently.

Figure 24. Here is one of the other tombs but sadly the inscription is not readily seen in this photo.
The church under restoration in 2009 can be seen in the background.
Note the amount of rubble from tumbled down tombs lying around.

Helen Baber, her life & final resting place

Helen Baber's grave stone, the English Church, Tellicherry. 

Photo courtesy of Jissu Jacob.

Throughout much of history there have been strong wives who have supported their husbands through thick and thin. These husbands would not have been nearly as effective as they were without their wives.

It is quite clear that Thomas Hervey Baber, was extremely fortunate in his choice of wife, and that Helen Somerville Baber must have been a remarkable woman in her own right.

Like so many of these wives, however it is extremely hard to discover their complete story because she was essentially a private person in the manner of those days, and one who was hidden away from sight. She only very rarely appears in the official records, and then we only occasional catch tantalising glimpses into her life. Yet when she does enter the records, the strength of her character, and the enduring nature of her love and support for Thomas Baber comes though very clearly.

Thanks to a great deal of good luck, and a great deal of kindness on the part of Jissu Jacob a local man from Periah, Helen has suddenly been brought into view.



View of Helen Baber's table tomb, in the newly cleared church yard.

On my visit to Thalassey in 2006, I had been so overwhelmed by hospitality, that I had run out of time for adequately exploring the town. Reaching the fort as dusk fell, and only able to view over the fence into the overgrown churchyard as dusk was falling, I had feared attempting to climb into the churchyard, lest I fell down a hole, or encountered a snake.

As a result of this blog, I have been having a substantial correspondence with quite a few local people from Kerala and especially Thalassey. One of these Jissu Jacob, a local historian and tour guide was good enough to go recently to the churchyard and to take the photos in this post.

We know very little about Helen Baber's early life beyond the following passage in a note book kept by my great great great grandfather Henry Hervey Baber, Thomas Baber's elder brother.

On February 7th 1798 Henry in England, records that his father had received the following letter from his brother: -

“Feb. 7 Father hears from Tom -- Letter dated Bombay August 1797 – about the same receives a letter which came overland enclosed (by just favour) with government dispatches, requesting his consent to marry a Mrs Cameron (wife of a Major Cameron who was lately killed in an excursion down the country) she is not 18 the daughter of Mr. Fearon of Edinburgh & niece of Mr Douglas of Fitzroy Square London. She had been married to the Major about a twelvemonth.
” [1]

Thomas’s fiance, whose maiden name had been Helen Somerville Fearon, had previously been married during 1795 at the age of only 15 to Captain Donald Cameron, of the Bombay Army at Portsmouth. With the East India Company recruitment camp on the Isle of Wight nearby, this many have been a last minute affair prior to Cameron boarding an East Indiamen before setting out on the long journey east.

It had not been uncommon for girls, especially daughters of soldiers aged 15 or less to marry soldiers during this period, however it was much less common for officers to marry such young girls. Her father came from Edinburgh, and one wonders if she had perhaps run away with the Captain.

Following her marriage, she must have almost immediately boarded the East Indiaman for the voyage to India. One can only imagine what it must have been like for a teenage girl, who would still have been at school had she been born today. She would have travelled in a tiny cabin constructed towards the stern of the ship, divided from her fellow passengers by temporary timber and canvas curtains.

The ship would have been crammed full of soldiers, sailors and fellow travellers.

Conditions on-board would have often been cold, wet, and the air fetid with the smells coming up from the other decks. The relative seniority of her new husband probably meant that she ate with the ships captain and the other senior passengers in captains stern cabin. She will have been able to visit the upper deck for exercise, where no doubt she would have been an object of curiosity to the sailors.

The war with France was raging, and Britain had not yet achieved naval supremacy, so she faced not just storms and the possibility of shipwreck, but also capture by the French.

Helen will have arrived in India during 1796, probably arriving first and Surat where her husbands Battalion was stationed.  Very soon after her arrival, the Battalion was mobilised to proceed to Tellicherry. Presumably Helen travelled on with the Major to Tellicherry. Given the smallness of the fort, at Tellicherry, it is quite possible she lived in tents with the Major. However, she was not to experience married life for long, for hardly had she arrived in India than she had become a widow.

Major Cameron was killed on the 18th of March 1797 whilst fighting his way down the Periah Pass. (See http://malabardays.blogspot.com/2006/12/death-of-major-cameron.html )

One can only image the pain and grief that she must have experienced at that moment, on learning that her husband was missing and was believed to have been killed.

One can only imagine how frightening, must have been her situation, she was only 17, widowed. She was in a foreign town thousands of miles from her family, and she was dependant on the charity of others.

It is not clear how Thomas first met Helen Cameron. However it is very likely that she was staying either in Tellicherry, or at Cannanore with its fort and cantonment.

As Helen had only become a widow in March 1797, and that we know that Thomas was already writing to his father via Bombay by August 1797, we can only presume that their courtship was brief and intense as are many wartime courtships.

There were very few unmarried European women living in India at this time, and those that were their were considerably out numbered by European men, so Helen Cameron must have attracted quite a lot of attention from the single officers and officials in the settlement, who would otherwise have had little opportunity of marrying, until they either went on leave after ten or more years, or chose to live with a local woman.

Aged only 20 and with only a very small salary, it must be wondered how Thomas Baber expected to be able to support his new wife. East India Company staff generally had to wait for many years and have achieved promotions before they were in a financial position to be able to marry.

Helen will have had only a very small pension entitlement from the annuity that the East India Company would have set up for her following the Majors death, and a sum from Lord Clive's fund.

This would only be payable in England, and Helen would have been expected to return to Great Britain on the first available ship.

The Major's uniform and associated belongings would have been auctioned and the proceeds handed over to his widow following his death to his fellow officers, and in other similar occurrences, it was not unknown for very high prices to be paid for items like swords at these auctions by brother officers as a way of giving support to recently widowed survivors.

Sadly we don’t know what Thomas father wrote in reply to his letter. Thomas however had not waited for his father’s permission, for as Henry wrote on 24th August 1798: -

“Father heard from Tom – when he informs us of his being married Jan 16 – 1798 to Mrs Helen Cameron – soon afterwards was appointed assistant in the revenue department at Callicut - Mrs Baber writes to my Mother.”

During December 1798 Helen was delivered of a daughter, possibly on the 1st of December, or shortly before. It has not been possible to trace this daughter beyond this brief notice, so we must presume that she died shortly afterwards, like so many other children in India in those times.[2]

Throughout the early years of their marriage Thomas was fighting the Pazhassi Rajah who was trying to oust the English from his territory. Helen must often have been left on her own, and with every chance that she would become a widow once again.

We don't know where they lived before 1809, but by then they were living in the fort.

Thomas was by then a magistrate.

Most of Thomas Baber's East India Company colleagues would have lived in houses in the fort or in bungalow's nearby. The unmarried ones would have shared houses, and probably lived a male dominated life, which probably included a fair amount of drinking and hard living.

Surviving Bungalows inside Tellicherry Fort, one of which may have been the home of Helen & Thomas Baber

It is very likely that Thomas had missed out on much of this communal life, with its echos of an English boarding school common room. This was because following his arrival in Calicut in 1797 he had almost immediately been sent out into the district near Ponnani many miles down the coast to the south, in the company only of his Indian bodyguard and subordinates.  Once he married he was living with his wife and was therefore living away from the other officials.

This may account for his having very different attitudes to those held by his colleagues on many issues such as slavery. These attitudes in turn may well have had the effect at setting him at odds with these same officials.

His ability to retreat to his home and to the support of his wife, probably enabled him to survive in the face of the active hostility of his fellow officials. for years.

Thomas and Helen Baber’s first son, Thomas Francis was born on the 12th of May 1802 at Tellicherry.

Writing in 1832 [3] Thomas recorded how he had first learnt of the existence of slavery in the Malabar quite by chance, when out riding one day in 1803, he had met a man by the roadside who tried to sell him two slaves.

Appalled, he bought the two slaves, a boy and a girl in order to free them. He appears to have sheltered them, and to have provided them with an education, as he recorded how one later rose to become a gentleman’s butler and the other an ayah.

Helen must presumably accepted these two children into her household, and to have played a large part in developing them. One begins to wonder if she was not just as committed a reformer as he was.

By 1808 Thomas and Helen’s eldest boy had reached the age at which he was old enough to travel back to England to commence his education. Henry, the boys uncle, recorded his arrival in England on 27 August 1808: -

“Returned to town & saw my nephew at Mrs Jones’s – this little fellow arrived in England 14th augst: he went to his grandfather augst – 29.”

Aged only six this little boy must have had some tales to tell to his uncle and grandparents when he arrived in England. He had just sailed half way around the world in the midst of a convoy at the height of the Napoleonic Wars.

The boy appears to have been sent on to school almost immediately. On 14 October 1808 his uncle Henry recorded: -

“Took my nephew to school at Mr Rowes’s Bromley – Kent.”

It must have been a terrible moment for Helen as she had to part with her boy, knowing well that they would not see each other for many years, and quite possibly never again, should either of them die.

Life must have often been very anxious for Helen, as for instance when smallpox raged through Tellicherry and the district.

Judicial from 29th February 1809. 59261.

Soon after he was established in his Cutcherry at Tellicherry the smallpox broke out and raged with considerable violence, throughout the Zillah, Mr Baber made great efforts to stop its progress by the introduction of vaccination, in which his conduct was highly approved by the Court of Directors. [4]

Thomas and Helen's attitudes towards the Indian's and slavery caused a substantial rift with his fellow English & Scottish colleagues, and I expect that a lot of the local EIC officials came to see him as both as a threat and well as a very great nuisance.  After all, judged by the standards of 1809, what was wrong with having a few slaves? There were masses of slaves in the Americas, and West Indies, and the Indian’s had had slavery themselves for centuries.

Everybody knew that you went to India to make money. The previous generation of Nabob’s like Barwell, Clive and the others had been able to make many thousands of pounds.  Why shouldn’t they too also have the opportunity to make a fortune?

What was all the fuss about?

One of the disputes that Thomas had entered into came to a head in 1809, and led to his eventually fighting a duel.

Thomas Lumsden Strange later recounted the story of the duel.  The local officials and offices had taken such a dislike to Thomas that they recruited a army office who had a reputation for fightinf duels.  This was with an officer by the name of Fortune.  The two were placed back to back to measure out six paces each, when Fortune, after taking but a step or two, turned round and fired and wounded Mr Baber on the thigh, before immediately bolting.  Strangely enough his second encouraged him, saying “run Billy, run!”

Billy however in his hurry to escape fell, and Mr Baber came up to him and shook his pistol in his face saying that he would be justified in blowing his brains out. [5] 

Thomas survived the duel, and was morally vindicated by the mores of the time, but he was in mortal danger. Helen immediately began to nurse him back to health. She realised that it would greatly help if he could be taken up the Ghats to a higher and cooler location.

She travelled to Ponnani, and it was there that an extraordinary event occurred, which was related to me by one of the descendants of the Brahmin priest who had taken part in the events.

During 1809 the Rajah's of Travancore and Cochin had been ousted from power, by an official supported by the East India Company.  This official had them begun to persecute many of the inhabitants of Cochin and the surrounding districts.  The Queen Mother and Aunt of the deposed Rajah had at first tried appealing to the EIC official in Cochin to prevent these abuses, before writing to Madras to no effect.

After several months they determined to try another way of getting help. They had somehow learned that Thomas Baber was an EIC official who was sympathetic to the plight of the Indian's so they determined to send three local officials to seek him out, and to try to get his support.

The story goes that these officials found Baber at Ponnani in a house with two floors.  They arrived at the house to try to meet him, but were told that they would have to wait as Thomas was too ill to come down to see them.  After a few minutes Helen arrived at the head of the stairs carrying a baby in her arms, and invited them to come up the stairs to see Thomas Baber.

As the three Indians climbed the stairs, all of a sudden the baby gave a great wringle and fell from Helen's arms.

Fortunately at that moment the Brahmin was stood immediately below Helen and was able to catch the baby, preventing its tumbling to the foot of the stairs.

As the Brahmins descendant related to me in 2006, this broke the tension for them.

Eventually the truth of the situation in Travancore and Cochin came out and an expedition was mounted to remove its abusive ruler.

Helen was to go on supporting her husband for many years ahead, through both thick and thin, as I will relate in future blog posts.

[1]Henry Hervey Baber’s Memoranda relating to the life of Henry Hervey Baber.

[2] The Asiatic Annual Register, or a View of the History of Hindustan, 1799. Page 147.
[3]Thomas Hervey Baber “An Account of the Slaves Population in the Western Peninsula of India”, page 36.
[4]OIOC O/6/9 folio 6.
[5]OIOC Mss Eur D.358, 20^th Sept 1870 Page 131 to 133.

Private Lappe's Providential Escape following the outbreak of the Pyche Raja Rebellion

It is only very rarely that we can get a glimpse into the lives of an ordinary soldier in India, let alone come across their individual names.

Here is the story of one such man, Private Lappe, who was extraordinarily lucky to survive a ferocious ambush at the outbreak of the war between the Pazhassi Rajah and the East India Company at Tellicherry.

The date that the actual battle took place is unclear, possibly before the 4th of November 1796, but certainly by the 18th of January 1797.  The following account however only appeared in the Sussex Advertiser many years later on Monday the 1st of September 1800.[1]

Had Private Lappe by that time been invalided home?

Perhaps he told his story to the local Sussex  reporter.

We will probably never know.

PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE

A soldier, of the name of Lappe, who belonged to an European battalion, and who made his escape from the Jungle, after the action between a detachment of Europeans and Sepoys belonging to the Bombay Army, and the insurgents in the Cotiote country, has related the following" miraculous “ account of his gaining the British Military post, after the defeat of the detachment, given at Bombay, the 4th of November:—"I was shot, says Lappe) about noon, with a musket ball, in my right breast; and, to resist or escape being utterly impossible, as the only means left me to save my life, I threw myself down among the mortally wounded and the dead, without moving hand or foot. Here, in the evening, the Chief Surveying his conquest, ordered a Jamedar to begin instantly to dispatch those who were likely to survive. This fellow, having already killed Captain Bowman, and several other Europeans, left the remainder to die of themselves, or to fall a prey to the voraciousness of the wild creatures with which the Jungle abounds; for in places it is almost impenetrable. They then filed off to the right, towards the hills, carrying along with them five or six prisoners alive; I believe they were all Sepoys but one, with their hands tied behind their backs, of whom I never since have heard. When I apprehended these sanguinary rebels had entirely left the scene of action, it being very quiet, and rather dark, I found means, on my hands and feet, to creep out from among the carnage, for many men were killed that day by the Rajah's troops, owing to our force having been weakened by sending it in small detachments into the Jungle, where they had never before been, and the enemy firing at them in ambush, where it was impossible to trace them: I got at length at some distance from the place where I lay, and met another of our party, who was less wounded than myself, with whom, after some days wandering in torment and despair, not knowing which way to proceed for fear of being intercepted, we at last fortunately arrived at the military post, worn out with fatigue and the loss of blood, where, we understood, the account of the defeat had been received four days before.

The news slowly spread out from London to the regional towns of England and Scotland.  Many families with relations in India must have anxiously wondered what had been happening in the passing months, it took news to travel around the globe.

On Saturday 5th July 1797, readers in Norfolk came across the following report in their newspaper.

We learn from the Coast of Coromandel, that on the 18th of January [1797] the Rajah of the Cotiote had commenced hostilities against us, and that Captain Bowman and Lieutenant Bond, who had been sent to take possession of One of his strong holds, had, the perfidy of their guide, been led into defile, where they were both killed with most the Sepoys of their party. Captain Lawrence, who went to relief, was like wise led into a defile, from whence he fought his way to a pagoda, where passed the night and following day, till permitted to proceed with his party to Tillicherry. Captain Troy, on his return from a muster of the native troops, had been killed, and Captain Shean desperately wounded. Twenty-four Sepoys were killed, and 50 wounded and missing. General Stuart immediately appointed Major Anderson to march against the Rajah with 250 of the Bombay regiment, a detachment of light artillery, 1,000 Sepoys, and Mopals.

Over the following weeks, more details came out from Leadenhall Street. Readers of the Oxford Journal on Saturday the 29th of July 1797, were given more details about the outbreak started by the Pychy Rajah.

From the Madras Gazette, January 28. By letters from the Malabar coast of the 15th instant, we have been advertised of the revolt of the Cotiote Rajah on that coast, who is said to have commenced his refractory conduct on the 28th instant, by firing on a detachment of Sepoys under the command of Capt. Lawrence, in the neighbourhood of Cootiungarry. On the same day, Capt. Bowman and Lieut. Bond were sent with a detachment to take possession of a strong hold, near the last mentioned place, and were decoyed by an Hircarrah, employed on the occasion, into a narrow defile, where, a strong party of Nairs, in ambuscade, availing them selves of the disadvantageous situation of the detachment, and their mode of attack, beset the party with a ferocity peculiarly their own, when Captain Bowman and Lieutenant Bond were almost immediately overpowered and killed. Several Sepoys, it is also added, were killed and wounded on the spot. Captain Lawrence, on hearing the report of the musquetry, proceeded with all possible expedition, at the head of a body of grenadiers, towards the succour and support of Captain Bowman's detachment; but having experienced a similar breach of faith in his guide, was also attacked in the same defile, but after a warm and fortunate resistance effected his retreat, and took post in a Pagoda the whole night, and part of the next day, hemmed in by upwards of a thousand of the Rajah's troops. On the 9th, however, he was permitted to retire with his men to Tellicherry. In addition to the above melancholy relation, Captain Troy, who had been employed in mustering the native troops, and Captain Shean on his return from a visit, fell in with a party of these sanguinary savages, who having surrounded them, coolly and unprovokedly put the first to death, and wounded the latter in a shocking and barbarous manner. General Stuart, to whom the intelligence was sent to Cannanore, recommended to Major Anderson immediately to take the field to punish so daring an outrage. The force to be assembled for this purpose, will consist of 250 men of the Bombay regiment under the command of Captain Grammant. A detachment of artillery, with light guns, about one thousand Sepoys, together with a Corps of Mopals, consisting of about 200, raised expressly for the purpose of hunting and counteracting the Nairs in the woods and fortresses. The unhappy fate of so many officers, in being cut off from their friends' and relations, in this cruel and insidious manner, cannot be too much lamented; and provides a melancholy example of the inherent ferocity which has ever been the characteristic of the cast of Nairs.


[1] The Old Soldier's Story - Edward Bird (1772–1819), ca 1808.
[2] These reports and many more from British regional newspapers going back to 1700 are now available at http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

Forests, Conservators and other Evils

Kerala Rainforest picture courtesy of http://biggestteak-john.blogspot.com/2011/11/teak.html

Like so many of the other Englishmen sent out to India, Thomas Baber had an in-built love of hunting and therefore affection for forests. When he arrived in India in 1797 the areas immediately surrounding Calicut and Tellicherry had already largely been cleared of all the larger trees, which had previously felled for many miles around the actual settlements themselves.

These had occurred by the middle of the 18th Century when drawings clearly shown barren treeless hills.  The records of the factory at Tellicherry are full of correspondence arranging for the acquistion of wood for fuel from locations up the coast as far as Mt Deli, or from Calicut.

However further inland the situation was very different, as is apparent from the following account by James Welsh, written to describe his experience when marching through the Wayanad in 1812, where he assisted Thomas Baber and the other troops to put down the rebellion that had broken out there.

"On 15th, two parties formed, under Captain James and myself, Mr. Baber accompanying mine. We saw no more rebels in arms, but many of them came in with Mr. Baber, who appeared to know every man in the country; and pledged themselves to give up their leaders in six days on a promise of a pardon to the rest. This part of the country is strong, wild, and beautiful; consisting of a number of small hills, covered with jungle, and separated by narrow valleys, in which there are neither rivers or paddy fields. Yesterday in particular, we passed through a narrow defile, nearly a mile in length, in which we discovered trees of such enormous height and magnitude, that I am fearful of mentioning my ideas of their measurement, further, than that some of them did not commence spreading from the parent stem, until they had reached the height of the topmast-head of a man of war; the name of these trees is Neer parum, the wood of which is not valuable, and the Ayany, or wild jack, the tree from which the largest canoes are made, as well as the best beams for building".[1]

Welsh's observations must have been a regular experience for Thomas who had been travelling within these regions since 1797.

That Thomas Baber was aware of the great potential of the huge trees contained within these forests is demonstrated by the events in 1807.

"Extract of a letter from Sir E Pellew to the Hon’ble Wm Pole Secretary to the Admiralty dated his Majesties Ship Culloden Bombay Harbour 20th May 1808.

A twelve month since I had an opportunity of receiving much valuable information from Mr Baber at Cannanore one of the Coll’tors of the Province of Malabar by whom I was satisfied that great impositions had heretofore been experienced by the Confederacy & the Merchants on the Coast from whom as the only dealers in timber the Naval Service had been formerly supplied & he gave me management to make the experiment of procuring them by means of an agency which supported by his authority would enable me to obtain a considerable supply at a trifling comparative expense –

The result has proved most satisfactory, a native agent has been employed under my directions to cut 50 large spars for the use of the squadrons who has accomplished his undertaking by bringing the whole of them down to the beach in Tellicherry at an expense of less than 6,000 rupees from which they will be conveyed to Madras & Bombay by the men of war which touch thereon their passage along the coast without any further charge & creating a nett saving for His Majesties government of £18,730.

I have the honour to enclose a list of their dimensions and have not to observed the price at which 52 large spars have thus been procured, has heretofore been paid at Bombay for two only by individuals as well as for the King’s service.

I consider the supply has been obtained upon these very advantageous terms entirely under the Benefit of Mr Baber’s local authority in preventing imposition & by the aid he has been able to give to the agent & proceedings." [2]

The Royal Navy in the Indian Ocean was engaged at that period in a life and death struggle with the French Navy and privateers based on Bourbon and Isle de France.

In the days of sail, suitable masts were vital not just to victory, but also for very survival.

With the French in possession of most of Continental Europe's ports, and controlling the routes to the vital Baltic forests, which traditionally provided the masts so important to the Royal Navy, it was becoming difficult to refit the navies ships.

Although a large dockyard existed at Bombay, the nearby forests on the Konkani Ghats were exhausted, and masts had to be brought up from Malabar or half way around the World from a less than friendly America.

The merchants were taking the maximum advantage of the navies desperate need for new masts, by applying very high margins to the price of these mast timbers.

The details of the naval events in the India Ocean, are too complex to set out here, but are ably described in Stephen Taylor's recent book "Storm & Conquest, The Battle for the India Ocean, 1809."

Between 1807 and 1809 the East India Company and Royal Navy were to come within an ace of loosing control of the Indian Ocean, and suffered some appalling loses due to the unmanning and the weak condition of many of their ships.

Thomas Baber had more cause than most to dislike the French on Isle de France and Reunion. His younger brother John Baber (1783-1807) had been captured by French privateers operating out of Isle de Reunion.

It appears that for some reason John, possibly from ill health, who had arrived in India in 1802, as an EIC infantry officer was travelling aboard the East India ship Phoenix, which was captured on 20 Vendemaire an 14 (12th October 1805), by the French Corsaire ship “La Henriette.”

French records show that a “Jean Barber Lieutenant d’infanterie passager” was landed as a prisoner on “1er Brumaire an 14” (23rd October 1805) on the Ile de la Reunion.

Presumably Jean Barber was as close as the French clerk could get to spelling John Baber.

It is possible that John was already ill, or that perhaps the conditions in the prison killed him, for he died on 20 Pluviose an 14 (9th February 1806)

The records say “cet homme est resté malade à l’Ile de la Reunion – mort le 20 Pluviose an 14" [3]

There was considerable uncertainty over the date of his death. According to Hodsons' Index of officers of the Bengal Army, he died on Mauritius 16th July 1807.

It is clear that for a long time after the event that the Baber family in England had no idea what had become of their brother. In the flyleaf of his “Memoranda relating to the life of Henry Hervey Baber” is a rough draft by his eldest brother of a family tree. Sadly it is not possible to exactly date the tree, but from the dates given by later additions on January 28th 1809, it would appear that as late as January 1809, John was thought by the family in England to have “perished by some unknown means (supposed shipwrecked) in the East Indies.”

Thomas Baber in India, may have been the first to learn of the loss of the Phoenix.

The death of his brother, may well have strengthened Thomas resolve to get back at the French, or at least prevent this happening to others.

It appears that he identifed fifty suitable trees and organised for them to be brought down to the coast for shipment to Bombay.

"-- Of the Duty of a Conservator of Forests I never could understand that it extended beyond receiving and paying for timber felled in the Malabar Forests when brought down to the coast, the whole timber being contracted for with the proprietors and former timber merchants – A greater misnomer than conservator cannot be conceived, Mr Fell, to my certain knowledge, never has seen the Forests, and although his assistant Captn Pinch has occasionally visited them, it is the most ridiculous idea conceivable to suppose that it is in his or any mans power to superintend such a prodigious extent of mountain jungle as the Malabar Forests, with an establishment of 3 inspectors and about 40 peons (that is I believe at utmost extent) and if they could, eui bono when not a tree can be exported, nor brought down to the coast without permission from the Collectors of land or sea Customs – So that in fact all that the Conservator & his officers have to do is, to take care of the Timber, which can be done just as well, and to a great deal better by a Collector than any other person – That never was a more useless appointment or establishment than that of Conservator of Malabar, and if my opinion was allowed to have any weight it should be in favour of a petition from the Merchants I sent up to Government in 1808 praying to be restored to their rights in the Forests, and to be allowed to continue to trade in such timber as the Government do not its self require for naval purposes, and all such timber they offered to give to the Company at ---- cost, and to give security, required of them, that they would not cut down any trees than such as the Government permitted them to __ I know not what the profits to the Company are upon the timber they sell, but they must be very trifling and go a very little way to defray the enormous annual expense of the Conservator & his establishment. I never heard that the cost of Timber before it reaches Bombay is more Now then when the trade was open and the company were obliged to buy their wants from the Merchants – But the monopoly is so odious a measure and one that has given rise to so much discontent , that one sacrifice a little for the care and welfare of those whom we are bound to conciliate there is most objection which seems wholly to have escaped the Consideration of Govt and that is, that the monopoly has put a total stop to ship building amongst the coast merchants, and this indeed may be considered as one of the causes of the great stagnation of trade in Malabar – The old Bupee of Cananese wanted to build a new ship of 4 to 500 tons burthen, and applied to the conservator of the Forests for the necessary Timber – who answered He has no orders to sell timber – I send the original answer, as a specimen of the uncourtly reception the old Lady’s application met with." [4]

From our knowledge of Thomas Baber’s forthright opinions, and his directness, I imagine that poor Mr Fell must have felt the full weight of Tom’s displeasure on more than one occasion.

In his 1830 evidence to the House of Lords Thomas explained the difficulties brought about by the timber monopoly.

Was there not, during the Period of your Residence in Malabar, a Monopoly of Timber?

There was, both of the Timber and of the Forests, which were taken Possession of by the Government.

Did that Monopoly extend, not only to the Forests but to Timber in the Gardens and Fields of the several Proprietors?

It was not, I imagine, so intended in the first instance; but the Conservator, the Officer whose Province it was to superintend the Monopoly, extended it to Timber grown in Gardens; but I believe it was that Officer's own Act. Great Complaints were frequently made, but I never heard of any Redress, until Sir Thomas Munro abolished the Monopoly altogether. This, I think, was in 1823.

During that Time was the Price of Timber much raised, so as to stop Shipbuilding on the Coast of Malabar?

It was not procurable on any Terms. The Company took the whole Quantity, except what was called the Refuse, which was of little Use in Shipbuilding.

Was Shipbuilding stopped on the Coast of Malabar in consequence?

Entirely. I have seen Applications from the principal Shipbuilders to the Conservator of the Forests and to the Government, to sell to them, or to be allowed to purchase, Timber to build and repair their Vessels. They offered to purchase at any Price.

Since the Monopoly was taken off, has Shipbuilding improved?

Yes; Four or Five Vessels have been built, or are building.

What is the State of the Government Forests since the Cessation of the Government Monopoly?

The Forests were given up wholly to the Proprietors.

Are there no Forests belonging to the Government now?

In the Northern Part of Canara, that is, from the Subramanny Pagoda, East of Mangalore, there are; all the Forests to the Eastward, or on the Ghaut Mountains that is, are the Property of the Government; I never, at least, heard of any Individuals laying Claim to them. But the whole Tract of Forests South of Subramanny is claimed, and I have no doubt is the Property of private Individuals. I have seen many of these Title Deeds upwards of a Century old.

The Reason for the Monopoly originally was, that the Timber might be supplied at a lower Rate to the Dock Yard at Bombay?

The ostensible Reason given in the first Proclamation by the Principal Collector of Malabar, dated 18th July 1806, stated, "That The Honourable Company had Occasion for Teak Trees for the Purpose of building Ships, and therefore the Government had resolved to grant a Monopoly to one Chowakkara Moosa, in order that it might be furnished with the Trees it wanted at a low Price," &c. The subsequent Proclamation by the Madras Government, dated 25th April 1807, announced, "the Assumption, in pursuance of Orders from The Honourable Court of Directors, of the Sovereignty of the Forests in the Provinces of Malabar and Canara."

Was Timber cheaper in consequence of that Monopoly at Bombay than it is at present?

I rather think the Price was considerably enhanced to what it was before the Monopoly, owing to the Expense of the Conservator's Establishment.

Was the Conservator sent by the Government of Bombay, or by the Governor of Madras?

By the Governor of Bombay; the Forests were re-transferred to Bombay by Orders from the Court of Directors.

There was no Survey originally of the Forests?

There never was. I beg to refer their Lordships to a very able Minute, one of the Documents published in Sir Thomas Munro's Life, containing full Information on this Subject:

Once Thomas had decided on a course of events, or on the rightness of his opinions, he would pursue his cause, through thick and thin, and in the face of any amount of opposition.  No wonder he was often deeply unpopular.

[1]James Welsh, Military Reminiscences volume 2, page 12.
[2]Taken from the Appendix to the Report on Indian Affairs letter 188. OIOC Collection.
[3]I am much indebted to Philippe Lahausse,and Marina Carter for this information taken from the Mauritius archives.
[4]From letter written by Thomas Hervey Baber to Sir Thomas Munro, 5th May 1817. OIOC Private Papers IOR:MSS. F151 / 43 folio 30 -- 31. to Sir Thomas Munro