Calcutta

Calcutta
Presidency: Bengal
Coordinates:	22.572625°N, 88.363893°E
Altitude:	9 m (30 ft)
Present Day Details
Place Name:	Kolkata
State/Province:	West Bengal
Country:	India
Transport links
East Indian Railway (Howrah) Bengal-Nagpur Railway Calcutta and South Eastern Railway (Sealdah) Eastern Bengal Railway (Sealdah) Calcutta Port Commissioners' Railway Arrah-Sasaram Light Railway Barasat-Basirhat Light Railway Futwah-Islampur Light Railway Howrah-Amta Light Railway Howrah-Sheakhalla Light Railway See page Calcutta Railways & Stations for details

FibiWiki Maps
See our interactive map of this location showing places of interest during the British period
Calcutta

Calcutta (present day Kolkata) is a large city in north-east India. Calcutta was the headquarters of the Government of the Bengal Presidency. It was also the capital of British India until Delhi became the capital on 12th December 1911. The city had a large European mercantile community.

Spelling Variants

Modern name: Kolkata
Variants: Calcutta, Kulkuttu

FIBIS resources

• FIBIS database: Percy-Smith/Bullock papers Graves and Monuments contains some entries from the "Church of Our Lady of Delores, Baithakhana, Calcutta and Surah Cemetary. Hand written transcript taken and rearranged from 'The Registers & Inscriptions of the Church of Our Lady etc. by Rev H. Hosten Calcutta 1915", refer Churches and missions, Roman Catholic, below. This church was founded in 1810 and some of the records date back to that early period. Entries were noted in Inscriptions Volume 1, but it is not known if there are additional entries in other volumes
• Images of Calcutta in Fibiwiki collection
• "Eliza Fay: New Aspects" by David Atkinson FIBIS Journal Number 24 (Autumn 2010), pages 1-11. For details of how to access this article, see FIBIS Journals.
• "The Imhoff Inheritance" by Pippa Milnamow FIBIS Journal Number 27 (Spring 2012), pages 3-13. Includes details of Belvedere House, now the National Library.

Military history

Battle of Calcutta 1757
3rd Carnatic War

Location

Calcutta is now known as Kolkata in modern day India and is situated at 22°33′N, 88°20′E in the Ganges Delta.

Places of interest

Calcutta in 1862

The Maidan

The site of Fort William, the Maidan was (and still is) the centre of Calcutta. It was bounded on the west side by the Hooghly River and the Strand Road, and on the east side by Chowringhi Road. Government House, the Governor's residence, was at the north end of the Maidan and Belvedere, the residence of the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, was near the southern end.

Eden Gardens

The Eden Gardens were started by Lord Auckland's sisters and are beautifully laid out. They were the main gathering place of Calcutta Society in the time of the British Raj. They are also the home of India's oldest cricket ground, the Calcutta Cricket Club, and have a lake which was the home of the Calcutta Rowing Club. Beside the lake is a Burmese Pagoda brought from Prome and set up in 1856. There were many statues in the Gardens. Calcutta Eden Gardens Links to a postcard of Eden Gardens in the Fibiwiki images collection

Churches and missions

Images of Churches can be found in FIBIS Gallery, FIBIS Database and Fibiwiki

Anglican

• St James Church - see FIBIS Journal 5, "The Man Who Built St James Calcutta"
• St John's Cathedral Church - consecrated 1787. - (for links to some digital images and transcriptions of church registers see external links below).
• St Paul's Cathedral - completed in 1847.
• St Peter's Church, Fort William - built 1828. 1835 Watercolour (British Library). Photograph c 1850 (flickr.com)
• St Thomas’ Church, part of the Free School , completed 1831
• 'Old' Mission Church - see article in FIBIS Journal 7, includes a list of graves. Also see Kiernander's Church asiaticus.blogspot.co.uk.
• St Stephen's, Kidderpore. Photographs: Kidderpore Church: 2008 (flickr.com)
• Church Districts in Calcutta (as from September 1847) Page 26 Bengal Chaplain's Vade-Mecum, or a collection of extracts from various sources which will guide a chaplain in the performance of the duties of his office, and also be of use to him in other respects by Joseph James Carshore, Chaplain on the Bengal Establishment 1857 Archive.org.
• The contact details for the Church of North India in Calcutta is given in the website of the Diocese of Calcutta, CNI, or Diocese: Calcutta anglicancommunion.org

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  Exterior View of St James Church

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  Pulpit at St James Church

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  Interior View of St James Church

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  Altar of St James Church

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  Early Vicars of St James Church

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  Font of St James Church

Roman Catholic Church, Dhurrumtollah Street, Calcutta

Roman Catholic

• RC Cathedral (Virgin Mary of the Rosary) - built 1797. Also known as the Portuguese Church, it was located in the area called Murgihatta (Murghihatta, now Murgighata).
• St Patrick's Chapel, Fort William - built 1857
• St Theresa - built 1893
• St Thomas' Church - (Middleton Row). Begun in 1841, adjacent to the Convent of Our Lady of Loreto
• Church of Our Lady of Dolours, Boitakhana (Baithakhana), founded in 1810, as a Portuguese mission church. The address of the Church was 147 Bipin Behari Ganguly Street (Old Bowbazar Street). It is situated quite close to the Sealdah Station, and near the Railway Barracks where most of the Anglo Indian who were employed by the Railway lived. A book was published in 1915 in Calcutta The Registers & Inscriptions of the Church of Our Lady of Dolours, Baithakhana (1810-1914) by Fr H Hosten. A copy of this book is available in Calcutta at the Goethals Indian Library category Various Indian Missions subcategory Portuguese Jurisdiction, reference Id : 38L/135. At least some of the records appear in the FIBIS database, refer above, but it is suspected that only some of the records were copied by Percy-Smith and Bullock. From copies of baptismal records obtained from the Church in the 1960s, and held by the FIBIS research co-ordinator, it would appear that some of the registers in the 1800s were noted in Portuguese.

"Non-Christians in church flock" April 15, 2006. telegraphindia.com, now an archived webpage. Article about Our Lady of Dolours.

• Catholic [and other] Heritage Churches of Calcutta goethals.in
• The [Catholic] Archdiocese of Calcutta with contact details

Other denominations

• St Andrew's Church of Scotland - opened 1818. Website for St Andrew’s Church with contact details. Previously the website advised that the church holds the Scottish Cemetery Burial Register from its inception in 1826 and Baptism and Marriage Registers of St Andrew's Church, Kolkata and for small fee would search and provide a copy of an extract. St Andrew's also holds the Baptism and Marriage Registers and some other documents for Church of Scotland cantonment Churches throughout India, Ceylon, Burma and some Gulf stations. Note however this wording no longer appears. It is believed the St. Andrew's Church burial registers (11 volumes) may have been digitised some years ago, (possibly when restoration work was done by INTACH in 2013-14) but currently (2019/01) they are not known to be available online. In the past a researcher reported a lack of response to emails, so a personal visit may be necessary. Note also that this church is now part of the [Anglican/Protestant] Church of North India, refer above.
• Greek Church - established 1780.
• Holy Church of Nazareth (Armenian) - built in 1724. Dr. Reuben Khachaturyan/Liz Chater have transcribed all the baptisms at this church. They can be viewed on the FIBIS database. Liz also has many photos of graves at the Nazareth Church on her website.

Missions

• Church Mission Society
• Free Church of Scotland - started in 1830
• London Missionary Society
• Oxford Mission - Church of England
• Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (Anglican)

External links

• Churches and Cathedrals of India Part V - Eastern India by 'ChurchesofIndia' on You Tube includes Calcutta
• Virtual Serampore. Includes links to the Calcutta [Baptist] Mission including the Lal Bazaar Chapel, now known as tha Carey Baptist Church
• Calcutta (Kolkata) Churches Blog by Rangan Datta , December 19, 2012

Non-Christian places of worship

As well as the temples and mosques that served the general Indian populace, Calcutta also housed:

• Parsi temple
• Synagogue
• Chinese temple

Cemeteries

See Cemeteries in Calcutta. There is also information about the crematorium.

Church Records

• Digitial images of Church Registers from St John's Church Kolkata GLAM Wikimedia

Education

• "The Educational Establishments of Calcutta Past and Present" - article in the Calcutta Review Volume 13 (January-June 1850), page 442.
• "Reports on Colleges and Schools in India" , article in the Calcutta Review Volume 42 1866, page 57
• "Old Calcutta :It’s Schoolmasters" article in the Calcutta Review July 1913 held on website of Madge Family of Bengal. Also on Archive.org, page 338, 1913, July.

Colleges

• Bengal School of Art
• Bishop's College, Circular Road - run by the Oxford Mission
• Calcutta Medical College - formerly Bengal Medical College, founded 1835
• Doveton College
• Presidency College

Schools

Also refer Orphans and Calcutta schools c late 1700s

• Benevolent Institution School - see these two references from 1818 and 1851
• La Martiniere School - established 1836 Wikipedia, La Martiniere For Girls, Kolkata. Also see 'Historical books online' below
• St James' School - founded by Bishop Cotton in 1864
• St Lawrence High School
• St Thomas School, Kidderpore - founded 1789 as the Free School
• St. Xavier's Collegiate School - founded by the Jesuits in 1860
• History of Loreto in India began in Calcutta. Archived webpage.

Economy and business

Colootollah street , Calcutta

• Image: Taylor & Co.'s emporium in Calcutta by Charles D'Oyly (1781 - 1845). Watercolour. Calcutta, India, 1828 Victoria and Albert Museum, London
  • The shop in Loll Bazar is described c 1828 from page 92 Tom Raw, the Griffin: a burlesque poem, in twelve cantos, see Historical books online, below
• "Calcutta" Street's Indian and Colonial Mercantile Directory for 1869, page 9. Google Books
• "Old-Time Conveyances in Calcutta" [the famous Calcutta coach building firm of Steuart & Co.] by Frank Bushby Bengal Past and Present, Volume 41, 1931, pages 138-140 Archive.org
• "A Famous Calcutta Firm: Thacker, Spink & Co." by Evan Cotton Bengal Past and Present, Volume 41, 1931, pages 157-164 Archive.org
• Articles by Christine Furedy written 1979-1981 www.yorku.ca
  • "The Early History of Morrison & Cottle (Private) Ltd., a Producer-Retail Enterprise of Calcutta" by Christine Furedy, Bengal Past and Present, Volume XCVIII, Part I, 1979 html version; Original Microsoft Word document, a download to your computer, which must then be opened.
  • "Pioneers in Leather Goods" by Christine Furedy in B. Sarkar (ed.), Capital Book of Nostalgia, Calcutta, Capital Press, 1980, pp.16-17. html version; Original Microsoft Word document, a download to your computer, which must then be opened.
  • "Era of Mail-Order Shopping" "Series of Articles on the History of Retail Trade in Calcutta." Capital, Vol 183, No. 4587, December 24, 1979, pp 4-10. html version; Original Microsoft Word document, a download to your computer, which must then be opened.
  • "Retail Trade in Calcutta: Offshoot from the land of shopkeepers." Capital, Vol 183, No. 4587, December 24, 1979, pp 4-10. html version; Original Microsoft Word document, a download to your computer, which must then be opened.
  • "Development of Modern Elite Retailing in Calcutta, 1880-1920" by Christine Furedy The Indian Economic and Social History Review, Vol. XVI, No. 4 1980, pp. 378-394. html version; Original Microsoft Word document, a download to your computer, which must then be opened.
  • "British Tradesmen of Calcutta 1830-1900: A preliminary study of their economic and political roles" by Christine Furedy in C.B. Sealy (ed.) Women Politics and Literature in Bengal east Lansing: Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University, 1981, pp. 43-62. html version; Original Microsoft Word document, a download to your computer, which must then be opened.
  • "Hall & Anderson" by Christine Furedy in B. Sarkar (ed.), Capital Book of Nostalgia, Calcutta, Capital Press, 1981, pp.17-18. html version; Original Microsoft Word document, a download to your computer, which must then be opened.
• "The Calcutta Piano Trade in the Late Eighteenth Century" by Ian Woodfield from the book Music and British Culture, 1785-1914 Essays in Honour of Cyril Ehrlich 2000. Google Books.
• Bathgate & Co., Camac Street & Ballygunge Circular Road Bathgate & Co. were the first British chemists in the city of Calcutta, with the Scottish-owned firm starting business in 1811. double-dolphin.com
• Calcutta Businesses in 1933

Also see

• Fort William
• Bengal Pilot Service
• 1864 Calcutta cyclone

External links

Encyclopedia entries

• Kolkata Wikipedia
• History of Kolkata Wikipedia
• Maidan (Kolkata) Wikipedia
• "[Catholic] Archdiocese of Calcutta" from The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 3 1913. A transcription. ecatholic2000.com

Original publication Archive.org

Maps

• Calcutta Maps 1756,1839,1847,1883 from the website of Prof. Frances Pritchett, Columbia University
• Calcutta Map 1832 by J.B. Tassin. Published in Calcutta Harvard Digital Maps (HOLLIS ID 011490109)
• Calcutta Map 1842 David Rumsey Collection
• Calcutta Map 1852 Published In London under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge by George Cox. Harvard Digital Maps (HOLLIS ID 011490122)
• Plan of Calcutta, shewing the latest improvements as existing in 1854 ; with part of the environs, Calcutta, 1854 by R Smyth. Click through the images of this map for the four quarters, or the direct links are RH top quarter, LH top quarter, RH bottom quarter LH bottom quarter. The River Hoogly is on the left hand side of this map. With an alphabetical list of streets. The maps may use a Tiff format. If you can't see them you will need to download a suitable plug-in. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek - Bavarian State Library
• Plan of Calcutta, shewing the latest improvements as existing in 1854 ; with part of the environs, Calcutta, 1854. Published by Samuel Smith & Co for the New Bengal Directory. British Library Online Gallery
• Old Maps of Kolkata oldmapsonline.org. Includes links to a number of maps, including some from the British Library’s Online Gallery.
• Plan of Calcutta from actual survey in the years 1847-1849, revised to 1857, by Frederick Walter Simms, published 1858. Library of Congress. Webpage 1 Webpage 2
• Sketch of the Environs of Calcutta Circa – 1858 Reduced from Mr Simm’s large Map of the Survey 1847 to 49. Includes Drainage of Calcutta 1857. Survey of India reproduction map.
• Ian Poyntz’ Historical Maps of India contains 1893 and 1924 maps of Calcutta, and the environs (Scroll down)
• Calcutta Map 1909 Digital South Asia Library,University of Chicago.
• Kolkata, Google Maps Map with many buildings marked
• A plan of the docks, slips, and dock yard, constructing at Calcutta 1777 by Henry Watson Harvard Digital Maps (HOLLIS ID 012604436)
• Map of Churches and institutions in Calcutta, c 1879. Use the search terms Keyword =Calcutta; Subject = Maps. From The Cooperative Digital Resources Initiative of the American Theological Library Association
• Calcutta Tramways Company: Route map : Calcutta & Howrah 1910. Harvard Digital Maps (HOLLIS ID 011491101)

Guides and directories

See Directories online for links to many directories with information on Calcutta.

• Handbook of the Bengal Presidency. With an account of Calcutta City by Edward E Eastwick, published by John Murray 1882 Archive.org
• Thacker's Guide to Calcutta (1906) by Rev W.K. Firminger a noted historian. This book gives the historical background of Calcutta, area by area. Read online or download Archive.org
• Tourist guide and shopping list : where to go, what to see, where to shop in Calcutta and Burma 1920 Southeast Asia Visions

Images

• Search the British Library Online Gallery APAC Collection for Calcutta
• Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta The Memorial is the largest repository in India for a visual history of Calcutta
  • The Calcutta Gallery, now an archived webpage, displays the history and development of Calcutta up to 1911, when the capital was moved to Delhi. The gallery also has a life size diorama of the view of the Chitpur road in the late 19th century. Chitpur was then the main business centre, presently known as the Burabazar area. Note, it is unclear whether this Gallery still exists.
  • Views of Calcutta and its Environs, now an archived webpage. A series of 28 Lithographs (click to view all) by Sir Charles D'oyly, 1781-1845, published 1848. An amateur artist of superb talent, he served in India between 1803 and 1838
  • Aquatints made by Thomas and William Daniell in the late eighteenth century, mainly views of Calcutta. Now an archived webpage. There appear to be additional online paintings by the Daniells on the VMH website, in the category "Western Painting".
• A collection of photographs from India Illustrated: Being a Collection of Pictures of the Cities of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, Together with a Selection of the Most Interesting Buildings and Scenes throughout India, published by Bennett, Coleman, & Co., publishers of the English language newspaper Times of India, c 1905. University of Houston Digital Library.
• A collection of Indian Glass Plates mainly of Calcutta c 1912 Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland. Includes photographs of buildings lit at night for the Royal visit in 1912, see Delhi Durbar - External links for details.
• Photographs: Calcutta An album by DBHKer flickr.com. British Raj era buildings. Includes a present day map indicating where the buildings are located.
• Calcutta with images from Prof. Frances Pritchett’s webpage
• Calcutta Faces and Places in Pre-camera Days by Wilmont Corfield 1910 Archive.org
• Clyde Waddell photograph album of Calcutta, 1945-1946 Penn Libraries, University of Pennsylvania. Clyde Waddell was the personal photographer of Lord Louis Mountbatten who was the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in India–Burma during WW2.

Calcutta 1947. Photographs, at least some of which appear to come from the above album, on flickr.com.

• Calcutta from Great Mirror
• Writers' Building, Kolkata Photographs from Skyscrapercity.com, now archived.

Other

• Calcutta, from fort to city: A study of a colonial settlement, 1690-1750 by Thomas Andrew Mansfield 1 October 2012 Phd thesis, University of Leicester.
• '"App brings Kolkata’s history alive'" by Shiv Sahay Singh November 29, 2015 The Hindu. Install Timescape: Kolkata. Free App, for use in Calcutta.
• Robert Ivermee on Hooghly: The Global History of a River Live History India Book Club. Contains a YouTube video (50 minutes). Includes the establishment of Calcutta.
• The Black Hole of Calcutta by Richard Cavendish History Today Volume 56 Issue 6 2006. This incident occurred on the night of 20 June 1756 at Fort William.
• "Town planning and public health in Calcutta in the 18th and 19th centuries" by Dr Partho Datta Wellcome History Issue No.22 February 2003, pages 2-4, archived.
• Changed street names, old and new Calcuttaweb.com archived, Calcutta Yellow Pages archived.
• Articles, with photographs by Dibyendu Banerjee. noisebreak.com. Scroll down for individual entries, and click to expand each entry. There is more than one page of entries for each category.
  • Churches & Synagogues Of Colonial Calcutta
  • Legend Of The Lost Businesses, including department stores, restaurants, hotels etc , from the past.
  • Heritage Schools Of Colonial Calcutta
  • Heritage Clubs Of Calcutta
• Heritage Buildings of Calcutta (Kolkata) double-dolphin.com
• "The Writers' Building, Kolkata" by Srinath Perur 10 April 2015 theguardian.com
• "Restoring value to the Currency Building" by Shiv Sahay Singh February 11, 2015 The Hindu. The Currency Building was built in 1833 for housing the Agra Bank and then the Reserve Bank of India till 1937
• Second World War
  • Calcutta 1940’s Oral history site
  • Policing Wartime Calcutta [WW2] by Peter R. Moore oldmartiniansassociation.co.uk, now archived.
  • In the Skies of Calcutta : A tribute to Maurice Pring by Joydeep Sircar. Details the bombing of Calcutta in December 1942 bharat-rakshak.com
  • The bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese by Katyun Randhawa bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar
  • Japanese Air Raids on Kolkata during WWII indianvagabond.com.
• Kolkata Sports Heritage Scribd.com, also available pdfslide.net and dokumen.tips.
• Royal Calcutta Turf Club Indiarace.com, archived.
• Calcutta Rowing Club
• Kolkata’s finest gentlemen’s clubs by Ashwin Rajagopalan 12 June 2011 gqindia.com, archived.
• Tollygunge Club, founded in 1895; [Memories of] Tollygunge club by Belinda Wright, probably written 2006; Photograph of the Tollygunge Club, Calcutta: Inside one of the old buildings built during the British Raj flickr.com
• The Sons Of Mystery: A Masonic Miscellany From Old Calcutta by Pratap Chandra Chunder 1973, archived.
• Empire Theatre and Theatre Royal, Calcutta joydiv.org
• "A merry journey: Take a walk down memory lane as we evoke the ghosts of Christmases past" [Calcutta at Christmas] by Suktara Ghosh and Tania Bhattacharya The Telegraph, Calcutta 25 December 2011, now an archived webpage.
• Cliff's Calcutta: How Richard's singing career actually began in the British Raj by Steve Turner 13 January 2013 dailymail.co.uk. The singer Cliff Richard , born Harry Rodger Webb in 1940 lived in India until the family left (c 1947). Also see Anglo Indian
• Calcutta Tramways Company Limited was established in 1880. Archived webpage.

Historical books online

Also see
Bengal (Presidency)
Newspapers and journals online for many Calcutta publications including the Calcutta Review

• "Calcutta" Imperial Gazetteer of India, Volume 9, page 260 c 1909
• "Bengal and Fort William" , page 1, A new account of the East Indies, being the observations and remarks of Capt. Alexander Hamilton, who spent his time there from the year 1688. to 1723. Trading and travelling, by sea and land, to most of the countries and islands of commerce and navigation, between the Cape of Good-Hope, and the Island of Japon, Volume II 1727 Google Books. Archive.org: reprint edition of 1739 edition, (from Digital Library of India).
• The early annals of the English in Bengal, being the Bengal public consultations for the first half of the eighteenth century, summarised, extracted, and edited with introductions and illustrative addenda by Charles Robert Wilson Archive.org. Volume 1 1704-1710 1895, Volume 2 Part 1 1711-1717 1900
• The Good Old Days of Honorable John Company; being curious reminiscences illustrating manners and customs of the British in India during the rule of the East India Co. from 1600 to 1858; with brief notices of places and people of those times, &c. &c. &c. Compiled from newspapers and other publications by W. H. Carey. Archive.org. These books principally refer to Calcutta.
  • Volume 1 1906 (reprint of original published 1882), Volume 2 1907 (reprint of original published c 1882-1887), Volume 3 1887
• Selections from Calcutta Gazettes : showing the political and social condition of the English in India Volumes I-III by W S Seton-Karr; Volumes IV-V by Hugh David Sandeman. Volume I 1784-1788 1864; Vol. II 1789-1797 1865; Vol III 1798-1805 1868; Vol IV 1806-1815 1868; Vol V 1816-1823 1869. Archive.org.

[Volume VI] The Days of John Company. Selections from Calcutta Gazette, 1824-1832 Compiled and edited by Shri Anil Chandra Das Gupta 1959. Archive.org

Selections. The Supplements to the Calcutta Gazettes 1871-1874 1874 Archive.org.

• "A Genuine Narrative of the Deplorable Deaths of the English Gentlemen, and Others, who were suffocated in the Black-Hole in Fort-William, at Calcutta, in the Kingdom of Bengal, in the Night succeeding the 20th Day of June 1756", page 251-276 India Tracts by Mr Holwell and Friends. Second Edition 1764 Google Books

List of Europeans and others in the English factories in Bengal at the time of the Siege of Calcutta in the year 1756 by S Charles Hill 1902 Archive.org.

• 1794 boundary of Calcutta page 313 Parliamentary Papers: Indian Law Commission: Session 2 February- 24 August 1843 Google Books
• Asiaticus: in two parts. Part the first, ecclesiastical, chronological, and historical sketches respecting Bengal… by [John Hawkesworth] 1803. Google Books 1869 Reprint with title Calcutta in Days of Yore with commentary. British Library Digital Collection.
• Calcutta in the Olden Times Two articles in the Calcutta Review available on Google Books
  • Its Localities Calcutta Review Vol 18, July-Dec 1852, p 275
  • Its People Calcutta Review Vol 35, Sept-Dec 1860, p 164
• Historical and Topographical Sketch of Calcutta by H. James Rainey 1876. Englishman Press, Calcutta. Reprinted from The Englishman’s Saturday Evening Journal. A chronological account of events and social matters to 1835. Google Books.
• Echoes from Old Calcutta: Being Chiefly Reminiscences of the Days of Warren Hastings, Francis and Impey by Henry Elmsley Busteed 1882 edition. The 1908 Fourth edition is much enlarged and this version has correctly rotated images. Other versions available Archive.org.
• Narrative of the Life of a Gentleman Long Resident in India by G F Grand. 1814 edition, 1910 edition edited , with Notes, for the Calcutta Historical Society by Walter K Firminger. Archive.org

"Grand, George Francois (1748?-1821)" page 174 Dictionary of Indian Biography by C E Buckland (Indian Civil Service, retired) 1906 Archive.org. 1766 Bengal Army; 1776 nominated to a writership; 1779 court action involving his wife (see Busteed's book Echoes immediately above); subsequently divorced and she went to Europe and married Talleyrand; 1782 Collector of Tirhut and promoted the indigo manufacture in Bihar to his own advantage;1788 appointed Judge and Magistrate at Patna, and eventually dismissed.

• The Early History and Growth of Calcutta by Binaya Krishna Deb 1905 Archive.org
• Calcutta, Past and Present by Kathleen Blechynden 1905 Archive.org.
• Calcutta, Old and New: A Historical & Descriptive Handbook to the City by H E A Cotton 1907 Archive.org. Some pages are poorly filmed. 1980 Edition edited by N R Ray Archive.org
• The Thackerays in India and some Calcutta graves by Sir William Wilson Hunter 1897 Archive.org

The Ritchies in India; extracts from the correspondence of William Ritchie, 1817-1862; and personal reminiscences of Gerald Ritchie compiled and edited by Gerald Ritchie 1920 Archive.org. William Ritchie was of the Calcutta Bar and Inner Temple, Member of the Council of the Governor-general, appointed Advocate-General c 1856 and twenty years resident in Calcutta, who died March 22, 1862, age 45. His mother was a Thackeray. Gerald Ritchie was a Bengal Civilian 1875-1901.

• The history, design, and present state of the religious, benevolent and charitable institutions, founded by the British in Calcutta and its vicinity by Charles Lushington 1824 Google Books

Some Account of Endowments and Institutions in connection with the Diocese and Archdeaconry of Calcutta by John H. Pratt, M. A., Archdeacon of Calcutta 1865. Archive.org, mirror from Central Secretariat Library, Government of India. Catalogue title includes Inntitution. Includes details of some schools in other areas.

• Notes on the medical topography of Calcutta by James Ranald Martin, Presidency Surgeon 1837 Archive.org

Official report on the medical topography and climate of Calcutta : with brief notices of its prevalent diseases, endemic and epidemic by James Ranald Martin, Presidency Surgeon 1839 Archive.org

• Extracts from the topography and vital statistics of Calcutta : embracing observations on these subjects formed at different periods, and officially submitted to the local authorities by F P Strong, Surgeon 24-Pergunnahs. A collection, published c 1849, of previously published papers in journals noted on the book webpage, written from 1828 to 1848, but not in chronological order. Archive.org
• Recollections of Calcutta for over half a century by Montague Massey 1918 Archive.org
• Calcutta in the 19th Century by P Thankappan Nair contains extracts by many authors. The contents is digital page 10, and the index is digital page 1028. Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Old Calcutta Cameos by B V Roy 1946 Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection.
• Bygone Days in India by Douglas Dewar 1922. Archive.org. Extracts from accounts by various authors. Includes Calcutta. Covers the period early 1800s to c 1857.
• Memoirs of William Hickey. Editions edited by Alfred Spencer, published 1913-1925. Note however the comment that a later version, edited by Peter Quennell, London 1960, is to be preferred to that edited by Alfred Spencer, in which some of Hickey’s racier reportage is expurgated. Quennell’s edition was a one volume selection, with a slightly expanded edition in 1975.

Edited by Alfred Spencer: Volume 1 1749-1775 Index Archive.org, Volume 2 1775-1782 Index Google Books. Volume 3 (1782-1790) and Volume 4 (1790-1809) Volume III archive.org; Volume 1V Archive.org.

Edited by Peter Quennell: The Prodigal Rake: Memoirs of William Hickey 1962, 2nd file. This appears to be the USA title. UK title Memoirs of William Hickey 1960. 1984 reprint of 1975 edition. All Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.

A subsequent edition, edited by Roger Hudson, was published in 1995 under the title Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, and is available at the British Library UIN: BLL01007249327

• Letters from the Island of Teneriffe, Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope, and the East Indies by Mrs. Kindersley 1777 Archive.org. The letters from India commence with Letter 18 in Pondicherry June 1765 and conclude with letter 67 from Calcutta in 1768. Letters 20-21, and 64-67 are written from Calcutta. Jemima Kindersley was the wife of a Bengal Army Officer. For further details, including letter transcriptions see Travel accounts online.
• Calcutta in 1774 page 41 Genuine Memoirs of Asiaticus by Philip Dormer Stanhope 1784. Google Books. The book contains letters written from 1773 to 1778.
• A voyage in the Indian Ocean and to Bengal, undertaken in the years 1789 and 1790. Containing an account of the Sechelles Islands and Trincomale ... To which is added, a voyage in the Red Sea. Including a description of Mocha, and of the trade of the Arabs of Yemen ... by L de Grandpré, an officer in the French Army. 1803. Volume I, Volume II. Includes chapters on Calcutta. Also published with a slightly different title. Archive.org
• Calcutta in September 1800, Part 10, page 41 from Cursory Remarks, on board the ship Friendship by Mary Anne Reid, continues part 11 and part 12 Google Books. (Full details in an India List post.)
• Indian Recreations; Consisting Chiefly Of Strictures On The Domestic And Rural Economy Of The Mahomedans & Hindoos by Rev William Tennant, lately one of His Majesty’s Chaplains in India. Second edition, enlarged and corrected 1804, first published 1803. Volume I With a Glossary Of Indian Terms page vii Contents page xxi. Contains chapters on Calcutta. (Volume II, Contents page v). Google Books.
• "A Young Civilian in Bengal in 1805" by Isaac Henry Townley Roberdeau, appointed Writer 29th August 1799, page 110, Bengal Past and Present-Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society, Jan-June 1925. Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection.
• Calcutta in 1810 commences page 131 Journal of a Residence in India by Maria Graham 2nd Edition 1813 Illustrated by Engravings. Google Books
• ‪Sketches of India; or, Observations descriptive of the scenery, &c., in Bengal. Written in India in the years 1811-14. With notes on the Cape of Good-Hope and St. Helena… ‬1816 Google Books. By an unknown author. Also available as a British Library digital file. The author has been described as "... certainly not in the services, shows no sign of having been in Company employ (although he is published by the booksellers to the HEIC), and gives no indication as to the purpose of his visit to India. We can only presume that he was a well-informed, and well-connected gentleman of means.
• The Original Letters from India of Mrs. Eliza Fay A new edition with an Introduction and notes by Rev Walter Firminger 1908 Archive.org. Originally published in 1817 as Original letters from India; containing a narrative of a journey through Egypt and the author's imprisonment at Calicut by Hyder Ally. To which is added, an abstract of three subsequent voyages to India. By Mrs. Fay. Calcutta, 1817. A further edition, edited by E M Forster, was published in 1925 which is available Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India . A Review page 109 BPP Volume 30, 1925 Archive.org, indicates the latter edition is preferable.
• Calcutta c 1819 commences page 106, Sketches of India by 'An Officer for Fire-Side Travellers At-Home' [Captain Moyle Sherer] 2nd edition, with additions 1824 Archive.org. The author's Wikipedia page indicates he was with the 34th Regiment of Foot.
• Calcutta in 1836 commences page 7 of Book 2 Travels in South-Eastern Asia, embracing Hindustan, Malaya, Siam, and China: with notices of numerous missionary stations, and a full account of the Burman Empire; with dissertations, tables, etc by Howard Malcolm 2nd edition 1839 2 volumes in one Google Books
• The stranger in India : or, Three years in Calcutta by George W. Johnson, Advocate of the Supreme Court at Calcutta. 1843 Volume I, Volume II Google Books
• An Anglo-Indian Domestic Sketch. A letter from an artist in India to his mother in England [by Colesworthey Grant] 1849 Archive.org. Includes the artist's sketches and descriptions of domestic life in Calcutta, and description of places such as the various Bazars, including the Burra Bazar "occupied or visited by merchants and travellers from all parts of the East".

Portrait Sketches of the public characters of Calcutta, published in the "India Review", "India Medical"... from 1838 to 1850 by Colesworthey Grant. Catalogued 1863, but possibly earlier. Text followed by the Portrait Sketches. HathiTrust Digital Library. (2nd part of book file is Sketches of Oriental Heads by Colesworthey Grant). Text only Archive.org

The names have been transcribed for a FIBIS Database

• Yesterday and To-day in India by Sydney Laman Blanchard 1867 Archive.org. He was in India c 1854-1864. He was initially editor of the Bengal Hurkaru. Sidney Laman Blanchard (1825–1883) victorianresearch.org
• See Food and Drink for a 1864 Food and Drink catalogue from Payne & Co., a Calcutta business.
• "Adulterated Liquor sold to Sailors and Soldiers in the Bazars of Calcutta" and "The dangers to which Sailors and Soldiers are exposed in the Bazars of Calcutta" from On the preservation of the health of seamen, especially of those frequenting Calcutta and the other Indian ports by Norman Chevers MD, Surgeon, Bengal Army 1864 Google Books
• Indian Gods Sages And Cities by C Cesary 1881. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India . Contains much information about Calcutta. Includes Third Part page 101 which includes the area around Calcutta, and Fourth Part. Notes. On Calcutta and Its Suburbs page 156. The latter includes on page 172 information about Catholic schools and orphanages. This book was reprinted in 1987, Google Books sample pages only.
• Jottings and recollections of a Bengal “Qui hye!” by Louis Emanuel [1886] British Library Digital Collection.
• Indian Sketches and Rambles by J Bowles Daly 1896 Archive.org. Contains chapters on Calcutta, including "The General Hospital" page 60
• Calcutta Paperchasing Records by “X” 1909. Archive.org. Author is catalogued as Sabretache, b. 1867. The Calcutta Paperchase Club was descended from the old Calcutta Hunt.
• Hotch Potch and Kedgeree “being mainly Sir Allan Arthur’s personal experience in the “Land of Humour” in Scotland, India and elsewhere…Also a number of Caricatures and Sketches by Mr F C Macrae and others”. Catalogued 1916 Archive.org, K.K. Venugopal Collection. Contains many references to Calcutta, including the Calcutta Scottish [Volunteer Regiment] and Royal Calcutta Turf Club.
• The Sheriffs of Fort William from 1775 to 1926...and other matters relating to the city of Calcutta during the past century by Charles Moore. 2nd edition 1926. Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection
• John Barleycorn Bahadur: Old Time Taverns in India by Major H Hobbs [Harry] 1944 (2nd edition with Index, first published 1943?) Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection.

Indian Dust Devils by Major H Hobbs 1937 Archive.org. Reminiscences of a time 40 or 50 years earlier.

Some other, but not all, publications by this author, published in Calcutta, are available at the British Library. Author details in photograph description from Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland.

• Report of the Commissioners for the Improvement of the Town of Calcutta Third Half-yearly Report 1850, Fourth Half-yearly Report 1851, Tenth Report, for the year 1853 Google Books
• Selections from the Records of the Government of Bengal: no 10: Report on the Establishment of Water-Works to Supply the City of Calcutta 1853 Archive.org
• Report on the Drainage and Conservancy of Calcutta by David Boyes Smith M.D., Sanitary Commissioner for Bengal 1869 Google Books

Drainage problems of the East : being a revised and enlarged edition of "Oriental drainage", [Volume 1] by C C James 1917, first published 1906. Archive.org. Includes chapters relating to Drainage of the major cities in India including Calcutta, and other cities in the region. Drainage problems of the East, Volume 2- Plans by C C James 1917 Archive.org

• Municipal Calcutta: Its Institutions in their Origins and Growth by SW Goode 1916. Archive.org, mirror version from Digital Library of India.
• "The City of Calcutta" from Bengal and Assam, Behar and Orissa : their history, people, commerce and industrial resources by Somerset Playne, J W Bond, edited by Arnold Wright 1917 Archive.org.
• While Memory Serves by Lieut.-General Sir Francis Tuker. Digital reprint edition reproduced by Sani H Panhwar, originally published 1950. Archive.org. Original edition Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India. Covers the two years 1946 and 1947, "told by one who watched events from the Headquarters of Eastern Command" of the Indian Army, (he was G.O.C. in C.), including riots in Calcutta. Tuker appears to have been physically based in Delhi, but visited Calcutta, and there is much information about Calcutta.
• Monsoon Morning by Ian Stephens 1966. A picture of India in 1942-44 by the editor of The Statesman, mainly depicting events seen from Calcutta. Archive.org Lending Library.
• Bengal Past and Present-Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society

Bengal, Past and Present, Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society was first published 1907 and is a very valuable source of information. Volumes are available at the British Library. There are published indexes, each of one volume, as follows: Volumes 1 (July 1907)-8 (June 1914); Volumes 9 (1914)-18 (1919); Volumes 1 (1907)-85 (1966); Volumes 1 (1907)-104 (1985). In addition, the British Library has an index for Volumes 19-29.

(Note that a different Journal, with a somewhat similar name, is the Calcutta Historical Journal, published by the University of Calcutta, first published July 1976, available at the British Library, with some available online, see further on).

A broken range of volumes to 1988, plus a few later, is available online, see Bengal, Past and Present, Journal of the Calcutta Historical Society

• Transcriptions from Registers of St John's, Calcutta by E W Madge as they appeared in Bengal Past and Present. Each listing contains many pages of biographical notes. Some articles are available online, as mirror editions on Archive.org, originally from Digital Library of India. Other articles are available at the British Library. Note: Records for Baptisms 1767-1777 have been transcribed and are available on the FIBIS database in the category Publications.
  • Baptisms 1713-1758 BPP Volume XXI, pp 143-159. Archive.org/DLI
  • Baptisms 1759-1766 BPP Volume V, pp 325-332 jstor.org. Archive.org version, another Archive.org version
  • Baptisms 1767 -1777 BPP Volume XXV, January-June 1923, pp 130-155, Archive.org/DLI
  • Baptisms 1778-1782 BPP Volume XXVI 1923, pp 142-168. Archive.org/DLI
  • Baptisms 1783-1785 BPP Volume XXVIII, pp 193-221. Archive.org/DLI
  • Baptisms 1786 to 1788 Volume XXX, 1925, pp 79-107. Also contains an addendum for the years 1783-1785
  • Marriages 1713-1754 BBP Volume IX, Part II, Serial No 18, Oct-Dec 1914 pp 217-243. Also Marriages 1713-1754-II pages 282-284. Archive.org/DLI. Note on page 218 it is stated that in the 18th century, 'Mrs' is often used to denote a young unmarried lady of quality. "'Miss' appears but rarely in these early registers".
  • Marriages 1759-1779 BBP Volume IV, July-Dec 1909 pp 486-512. Archive.org/DLI
  • Additional notes to Marriages in Bengal 1759-1779 BBP Volume V, Jan.-June 1910 pp 143-150 Archive.org/DLI (U Calcutta)
  • Marriages 1780-1785 BPP Volume VII, pp 164-171. Archive.org/DLI
  • Marriages 1786-1792 BBP Volume XVI, Part I, Serial No 31, Jan-March 1918 pp 41-71. Archive.org/DLI
  • Marriages 1781-1800 (Supplementary Register) BBP Volume XXI, pp 76-141. Archive.org/DLI.
  • Burials 1713-1755 BPP Volume X, Jan-June 1915, Serial Nos 19-20, pp 257-284 . Archive.org/DLI.
  • Burials 1759-1761 BBP Volume V, pp 136-142 jstor.org. Archive.org version, another Archive.org version
  • Burials 1762-1774 BBP Volume VI 1910, pp 92-126. Archive.org/DLI.
  • Burials 1775-81 BPP Volume 31 (Jan-Jun 1926) pages 130-156. Archive.org/DLI.
  • Burials 1782-88 Volume 32 II (Oct-Dec 1926) pages 109-132. Archive.org/DLI.
• Baptisms, Marriages, Burials Archive.org mirror versions of the above articles.

• The Calcutta Historical Journal Volumes 1-14 1976-1989 published by Calcutta University. Archive.org
• The Story of the Lall Bazar Baptist Church, Calcutta: Being the History of Carey's Church from 24th April 1800 to the Present Day by Edward Steane Wenger 1908 Archive.org. Includes An Alphabetical List of members of the Church and other lists, following page 575. Index
• "Slavery Days in Old Calcutta" by Syud Hossain, Bengal Past and Present, Volume II, Part II 1908, pages 271-276, Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection.
• John Williamson Palmer was an American doctor and author who wrote c 1858 "The Chorus of the Palanquin Bearers", a description of his transit through Cossitollah Street, Calcutta. Photograph: Man in palki or palanquin, Calcutta. Click through to 2nd image. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Learning Lab website.

"Old-Time Conveyances in Calcutta" by Frank E Bushby pages 138-141 Bengal Past and Present, Vol-41 January-June 1931. Archive.org

• ‪Rules and Regulations of La Martiniere, Founded in Calcutta Under the Will of Major General Claude Martin: With an Extract of the Will of the Testator, the Decree of the Supreme Court with Regard to the Same, and Other Documents‬ 1835 Google Books
• There are many references to Calcutta, including Catholic churches, in History of The Portuguese in Bengal by J J A Campos 1919 Archive.org. 2nd file, Archive.org, mirror from Central Secretariat Library, Government of India.
• The Black Hole of Calcutta : a Reconstruction by Noel Barber 1965. Archive.org Lending Library.
• Printing in Calcutta to 1800 : a description and checklist of printing in late 18th-century Calcutta by Graham Shaw 1981. Archive.org Lending Library.
• Calcutta : the Profile of a City by Nisith Ranjan Ray 1986. Archive.org Lending Library.
• Calcutta And Calcuttans From Dihi to Megalopolis by Oneil Biswas 1992 Archive.org
• For reports on Rats in Calcutta, in connection with plague research, see Scientific books online.
• Tom Raw, the Griffin: a burlesque poem, in twelve cantos: illustrated by twenty-five engravings, descriptive of the adventures of a cadet in the East India company's service, from the period of his quitting England to his obtaining a staff situtation in India by “ a Civilian and an Officer on the Bengal Establishment” (Sir Charles D'Oyly) 1828 Archive.org
• A novel: Life in India; or, The English at Calcutta by Anne Catharine Monkland 1828 Volume I, Volume II, Volume III Google Books