Orphans
It should be noted that the word orphan had a wider meaning than currently applies, and included children who had lost their father, but whose mother was still alive.
Bengal Presidency
Calcutta
Upper Orphan School
- Maureen Evers, "Four Orphan Schools in Calcutta and the Lawrence Military Asylum Sanawar, Part 1: History," FIBIS Journal No 22 (Autumn 2009), pages 1-14. "Part II: parents, conditions, prospects" FIBIS Journal No 23 (Spring 2010), pages 5-14. For details of how to access these articles, see FIBIS Journals.
- Etching of Kidderpore House in 1794 from the British Library's Online Gallery
- Photographic print of Kidderpore House in 1851 from the British Library's Online Gallery
- FIBIS Database: Bengal Military Orphan Society. Alphabetical list of all orphaned children of officers of the Bengal Army who had been/were in the care of the Bengal Orphan Military Society from the inception of the Society to 31 December 1798. Includes children both in England and India. Based on The Continuation or Supplement to the Code of Bengal Military Regulations by Henry Grace, pages 369-380, published 1799, with some additional remarks , probably added by Sir Patrick Cadell . The Continuation is available at the British Library, and also on the subscription website Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
- FIBIS Database: Bengal Upper Orphan School 1820-1857 . Alphabetical list of orphaned children of officers of the Bengal Army, 1820-1857. The data include Dates of Birth, Dates of Admission to and Discharge from the Asylum, Name of father, etc. These were orphans who had returned to Britain and whose guardians had received payment there from the Bengal Military Orphan Society. They were no longer physically in an Asylum, so the date of discharge from the Asylum is rather the date of discharge from the Society, when benefits were finalised..
- An advertisement for a teacher at the Upper Orphan School in 1789 may be seen at Calcutta schools c late 1700-Advertisements for teachers
- Rules and Regulations c 1851 concering admission. Bengal Almanc for 1851, page 483
Lower Orphan School
- Maureen Evers, "Four Orphan Schools in Calcutta and the Lawrence Military Asylum Sanawar, Part 1: History," FIBIS Journal No 22 (Autumn 2009), pages 1-14. "Part II: parents, conditions, prospects" FIBIS Journal No 23 (Spring 2010), pages 5-14. For details of how to access these articles, see FIBIS Journals.
- Etching of the Lower Orphan School at Howrah in 1794 from the British Library's Online Gallery
- Needlework of a very high standard was produced “by the directions of Mistress Parker School Mistress in the Orphan School near Calcutta”, believed to be the Lower Orphan School, circa 1790’s. A sampler by Anne Jennings is shown in Poor Relations, page 46.[1] Samplers & tapestry embroideries, page 35 by Marcus Bourne Huish 1913 (Archive.org) describes a group of six samplers completed in 1797, also under the supervision of Mistress Parker, with an illustration. These samplers are now in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.[2]. This India List post requests further information.
- A newspaper item which names 12 children in the hospital at 28 February 1806 is shown in Orphan newspaper items
- Rules and Regulations c 1851 concerning admission. (Scroll down page) Bengal Almanc for 1851, page 487
Free School
- Maureen Evers, "Four Orphan Schools in Calcutta and the Lawrence Military Asylum Sanawar, Part 1: History," FIBIS Journal No 22 (Autumn 2009), pages 1-14. "Part II: parents, conditions, prospects" FIBIS Journal No 23 (Spring 2010), pages 5-14. For details of how to access these articles, see FIBIS Journals.
- FIBIS Database: Calcutta Free School Prizes 1878 The description of these records states that there were 395 children on the school roll, of whom 130 were girls, and that there were 10 times as many applicants as places.
The Free School is now known as St Thomas' School, Kidderpore and the address is 4 Diamond Harbour Road, Kidderpore Kolkata 70023 West Bengal.
European Female Orphan Asylum
- Maureen Evers, "Four Orphan Schools in Calcutta and the Lawrence Military Asylum Sanawar, Part 1: History," FIBIS Journal No 22 (Autumn 2009), pages 1-14. "Part II: parents, conditions, prospects" FIBIS Journal No 23 (Spring 2010), pages 5-14. For details of how to access these articles, see FIBIS Journals.
Also see
- Calcutta, for brief mentions of Roman Catholic and other (orphan) schools
Lawrence Military Asylum, Sanawar
Madras Presidency
Madras city
Lawrence Asylum, Lovedale, near Ootacamund
Bombay Presidency
Bombay
The Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor, Within the Government of Bombay, known as the Bombay Education Society was established in 1815. It ran schools for boys and girls, known as the Central Schools.
- Establishment in 1815 Google Books
- November 1816 First Annual report Google Books
- A Military Asylum (Fund?) was established in 1820 to which soldiers and noncommissioned officers subscribed, which provided for the admittance of orphans to the schools, which were later at Bycullah. Google Books
- 1824 Military Regulations Google Books. Subscribers to the Military Asylum could be both officers and soldiers.
- Government Allowances were paid for military children when a boarder at the Central Schools of the Bombay Education Society Google Books 1824
- Foundation stones for the Schools at Bycullah were laid in May 1825 Google Books
- The Schools were opened at Bycullah in 1826 Google Books
- 1829 Google Books
- Twenty Fourth Annual Report 1839 Google Books
- Twenty Fifth Annual Report 1840 Google Books History page 7 in the 1840 report.
- Situation c 1853 Google Books
- Situation c 1857 Google Books
- Letters to the editor of a Bombay Newspaper 1859 Google Books
- Removal of the Military Asylum to Poona was considered in this 1864 Report Google Books
- With the foundation of the Bombay Volunteer Rifles in 1877, a Cadet Unit was established at the school, refer First Annual Report Of The Bombay Volunteer Rifles For Season 1877-78, page 36 Archive.org
- Times of India Calendar & Directory for 1888 page 441, transcribed by Sylvia Murphy in this India List link. Note that only one orphan belonged to the Military Asylum, funded by the Government.
- David King’s webpage states that in the early 1920’s a decision was made to move the Boarding part of the Schools away from Bombay to the cooler and healthier Deccan Plateau. In 1925 Barnes High School, named after the Venerable Archdeacon George Barnes, founder of the Bombay Education Society, was opened at Devlali. Much of the School land at Bycullah was sold . Christ Church School, Bycullah, with the parish church there, stand on part of the land given originally to the B.E.S. More details are in David King’s webpage about Barnes High School, Devlali.
References
- ↑ Poor relations: the making of a Eurasian community in British India, 1773-1833, page 46 by Christopher Hawes 1996 Google Books. A copy of anne Jenning's sampler is also shown in Stitched in Adversity: Samplers of the Poor. Exhibition at Whitney Antiques, Whitney, Oxfordshire, UK 2006. Item 13 Anne Jennings Circa 1795. The sampler contains three long texts. The first is headed Written by the King of Prussia at Breslaw and commences "Love by hope is still sustained zeal". The second consists of the words of the poem "To the Affluent" by M, from the Poetry section of Freemasons’ Magazine, or General and Complete Library, Volume 2, January 1794. The third is the poem "Gratitude" by Joseph Addison, published on August 9, 1712, in The Spectator, a London newspaper but appearing in this link in a book about English grammar. The sampler ends with the words ”Anne Jennings wrough this sampler by the directions of Mistress Parker School Mistress in the Orphan School near Calcutta in Bengal East Indias”
- ↑ Stitched in Adversity: Samplers of the Poor