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Firstly you need to identify the location. Use: http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~poyntz/India/maps.html#index
which will find Rampurhat, Birbhum, Bengal, map plate 29, Bc
It appears to me to be in the general vicinity of Murshidabad, of which you may find pictures. I think that Rampurhat is likely to be a very small place and there may not be any pictures.I’m afraid that it is much more difficult to trace what happened to people after 1920 or so.
Regarding Pearl’s parents – they married 22 May 1878 at Emmanuel Church, South Blacktown (Madras)Thomas Tranfield, bachelor, age 29, First Class Assistant Apothecary Bengal Medical Establishment** son of Samuel Tranfield, by licence to
Emily McCoy, widow, age 25, dau of ?Hamieton Hood
** Interesting that he is on the Bengal Establishment, yet living in Blacktown, Madras. Apothecary was a well known occupation/career path for men born in India, often Anglo-Indians.
However, Samuel Tranfield married 24 June 1844 in Calcutta and his occupation was “Bombardier H C Artillery” – i.e. he was in the Bengal Artillery and had probably attested in Britain. His bride was Ellen Picknett, and some of her family were witnesses at the marriage.
However, it is hard to determine her origins – her father was probably the Isaac Pignett who married 19 Jan 1828 to Harriot Campbell. He was a Drummer in the Bengal 8th Native Infantry. Almost certainly he was of mixed race. He dies in 1868.So-it looks doubtful that Ada Page (nee Thomson) is related to your Norah.
The Bycullah church films are only available through the LDS- original church records, they are not even part of the British Library collectio.As Norah was confirmed there in 1911, her family were probably in Bombay before this. Another approach would be to consult the trade directories (Thackers Indian Directory) to try and identify Frederick Page – his occupation, where the family were living etc, and trace them backwards through the annual editions of the directory. If you can’t get to the BL to do this, then I suggest that you send a request to Beverly Hallam, the FIBIS research officer [email protected] .Good luck
SylviaI am a little confused by your reference to the 1901 census – are you sure or just guessing that Nora Page, dau of Ada is your grandmother? This family comprises Charles THOMSON, and his sisters Alice TOWNSEND (nee Thomson) b. India about 1871 and her son Jack 10mths, and Ada PAGE (nee Thomson) and her children Nora,6, and Arthur 5, so it should be possible to establish the relationships here.
Original Baptism and Marriage registers are available on microfilm # 1989672 for Christ Church, Byculla which can be ordered through the LDS Family History Centres.
What do you know of Nora’s father – Frederick?Hello Steph – your question is a difficult one to answer, which is maybe why no-one has yet. Frankly, I don’t know how the appointment of Police people was handled. I suspect they fell into the broad category of Uncovenanted Civil Service, but am not sure.
Have you tried to find Edmund O’Brien listed in one of the East India Registers and Directories for the time period when you know he was in Calcutta? If not, suggest you do this – many copies are on-line and hot-linked through a Directories page in the FIBIwiki – I would begin by seeing if he appears in the Bengal lists of Civil Servants or in the ‘European Inhabitants’ – if the latter, then he is ‘non-official’. Also look to see if there is a section on Police.
SylviaThe other thing I meant to suggest was that you check out the New York Public Library. I know that they hold a substantial amount of very early books relating to Bengal, as these have been digitised and available on Archive.org (and maybe googlebooks – can’t remember). It is possible that they may have some more recent items of use to you.
Daniel
I live in Sydney, not Calcutta – so I am no more able than you are to decide which house on your map will be No.3 Wood Street. You need to rely on the information I quoted from the Thackers Directory. The map that you have looks good to me and provides rather a lot of detail. Unfortunately despite hunting around, I have only been able to find older maps of Calcutta, and not the 1895 one which is very large scale.Regarding the Thackers Indian Directory for 1895 – I use an old digitisation on CD-ROM. There is a section called Calcutta Street Directory within it, but I don’t know if this is digitised in versions you might find on Ancestry for example. I will try and upload a copy of the relevant part of the page. It is not inconceivable that the house of interest still stands. There are many old, Victorian era and earlier colonial buildings still in existence in Calcutta – or there were when I was last there in 2007.
You could also try joining the facebook group “Calcutta Photographs and Memories” and posting a pic of the house there. Please don’t overwhelm them with your stuff though – it is NOT a family history group, and moderated and run by a group of courteous knowledgeable local residents.
Hi Daniel – it took me a while to work through your long post which raised several issues.
Firstly – as to vital records in India – you have already discovered and used India Office Records on the Findmypast website. Have you also searched the French overseas archives – ANOM = Archives Nationales d’Outre mer? You can find these here: http://www.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/anom/en/Recherches/IREL.html . There was a French territory named Chandernagor(e) a little to the north of Calcutta, so if your GOT ancestors had vital events registered there, then they will appear in the ANOM.Have you managed to consult any of the Thackers Directories? These are essentially trade and residential directories for Bengal and then the whole of India which were published annually, However, not everyone was listed, and the annual updating was imperfect. I can tell you that in the 1895 edition there is just a single entry for the surname Got, and that is for C Got, Ralli Bros, residence: 3 Wood Street. Ralli Bros was a major firm, so next step is to see what his role was with them – however, the Commercial section entry just lists them as Merchants, 1 & 2 Church Lane, and then lists employees without allocating any particular role to any of them.
I have also checked the street directory for you. Wood Street seems to branch of Park Street (which is a major thoroughfare branching off Chowringhee Rd). C Got at No.3 is on the corner of Wood and Short Streets. His immediate neighbour at No.2 was A Campbell, and at No.4 on the other side of Short Street Surgeon-Lt-Col A F P M’Connell. The plots of land and houses in this area tended to be large and occupied by wealthy Europeans and wealthy Indians. I will endeavour to look out a contemporary map and copy a portion for you. (no guarantees as it is many years since I have looked at it.)
Hope the above is of some help to you.
Hello Alan – short answer – NO, your man will not be in Army Muster or Medical Lists.
For a fuller understanding of the ISMD, suggest that you read the section on Apothecaries in the FIBIwiki http://wiki.fibis.org/index.php/Apothecary. I think that for the later time period of his service that you may find James Kelly in the India Office Lists (directories).
You will also find source information in Baxter’s Guide and Fibis Fact File No.7 “Some major sources for Ancestors in the India Public Service” should also be helpful.This certainly does look like a problem Edward. I have not yet been able to find a marriage record for William Archibald and Caroline Louisa. What are the possibilities:
– they married in a remote location in India by a, for example, non-conformist or missionary chaplain who did not make a copy of his records to be sent to the India Office
– a record of their marriage in India was otherwise missed from being included in the copies sent to England
– they married outside of India – maybe in Britain?
which brings us to consider William Archibald’s life and career before 1881
– there is no clear evidence of him being born in India, though a William Smith was born & bap in Poona in 1850 to Bernard and Ellen.
– Careers in the Indian Railways often followed a period of Army service – many men took their discharge in India either with pension, or after a shorter limited period of service to join a railway company
– There was also direct recruitment of railway staff from Britain, so he may have responded to an advertisement there.
In either scenario it is quite possible that William married Caroline in Britain and brought her to India with him.btw: I haven’t been able to find a death for Caroline Louisa or a remarriage for her. Do you have any record of her later life and death?
Peter – I also searched the passenger records 1891-1894 without success. I doubt that the available records are a complete representation of passages. The other possibility is that he could have taken a ferry to Europe, train to Mediterranean port and ship from there, in which case he would not appear on an embarkation list.
How did his employment with Whiteaways come about? Did he answer an ad in a British newspaper, and go to pre-arranged employment, or go on spec?
Suggest checking the annual editions of Thackers Directories at the BL for hisfirst and last listings, then try and work out what became of him after he disappears from the directory.
SylviaWhat a delicious story! Were there any children born to AHB and Eva? I don’s see any baptisms on Familysearch.
Interesting – the newspaper report from the T of I on the Fibis database says St Pauls for the marriage: “Oct 8 at St Paul’s Church Fort William Calcutta, Arthur Henry Bennett to Eva Margaret Miller youngest daughter of the late Major Miller VC” – but this is probably an error in the paper or transcript, as St Paul’s was the Cathedral and would have been designated as such, and is NOT in the Fort.Unfortunately I know of no databases of divorce in India – I found one that I wanted in 1915 as a one line listing in a newspaper column of “High Court Cause Lists”. So, your best option is probably to search whatever Indian or other newspapers are available to you. However, unless the circumstances of the divorce were particularly noteworthy, there may not be an actual report.
Not sure if it is any help, but have found a listing for A H Bennett in the 1895 Thackers Indian Directory as an Assistant at Whiteaway Laidlaw & Co – which would fit with him being a draper. Given that the directory information is collected in the previous year, it looks as if Arthur Henry Bennett would have gone to India, Calcutta sometime between 1891-1894. Whiteaway’s were a very large firm of drapers etc with premises on Chowringhee Road – you would have no problem finding out more about them by googling.
Hope this helps
SylviaAngela- this response message of yours seems to have gone into a discrete forum entitled “support” which I don’t think existed previously, though I could be wrong. I was just replying to your message in the general forum by clicking on reply under the last posting.
