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Showing posts with label Armenian Church Singapore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Armenian Church Singapore. Show all posts

19 November 2019

The Unwanted Letter

The worst news possible. This type of War Office correspondence was not welcome during WW1.



This is the original letter that T.A. Stephen's new bride Lydia received after he had died of wounds in Belgium in 1917. They had only been married two years.

Thomas Alexander Stephen, son of Armenians from Calcutta Stephen Simon Stephen and Catherine his wife. They had died prior to his joining the war effort.

Placed for sale as war memorabilia, I purchased it to save another small piece of Armenian history from being lost. Note the crunched up creases on the paper. Could this have been Lydia's reaction to the terrible news? The agony of her loss, the cast aside letter screwed up into a ball and thrown away in disbelief.

And then retrieved.

Carefully and lovingly smoothed out and fixed to a piece of cardboard and stored. A focus for her grief.

T.A. Stephen's grandfather, Simon Stephens was the first recorded marriage in the register of the Armenian Church Singapore and he was also co-founder of Apcar & Stephens.

To read a detailed account of Armenians in Singapore and Malaysia, Nadia Wright's book 'Respected Citizens' is a must. You may also find her other book 'Armenians in Singapore: A Short History' also of interest. Obtainable on the same link.

30 March 2016

The Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy, Calcutta 1821 to Present Day.




This story is brought to you with the support of the
AGBU UK Trust.

In tribute and celebration of the 195th anniversary of the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy in Kolkata. Remembering the first Headmaster, Arratoon Kaloos and a selection of others associated with the school.

The list of Founders of the school.




  
A great deal has already been written about Arratoon Kaloos and it is not my intention to repeat it all here.  Suffice to say he was born in 1777 in Tokat in Anatolia, he started the first Armenian school in Calcutta in 1798[1]. (Mesrovb Seth’s “Armenians in India” can be downloaded here https://archive.org/details/ArmeniansInIndia_201402)
Arratoon was passionate about education and he was one of several Armenians in Calcutta who came together to create the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy.  More on the history of the ACPA can be read on their website. http://www.armeniancollege.edu.in/about-us/.

What is perhaps much less known about him is that he was one of the earliest financial contributors to the Armenian Church in Singapore. The Will[2] along with the Estate Accounts of Arratoon Kaloos clearly show that he was a named subscriber to the building and subsequent completion of the church.





The first paragraph of Aratoon Kaloos's Will.



Extract from the estate accounts of Arratoon Kaloos dated 1834[3]

The extract shows evidence of his financial support
to the building of the Armenian Church in Singapore


"11 April 1834 to cash paid to Mr. P Jordon the deceased's subscription to the completion of the Armenian Church at Sineapore (sic)."

This is the first time I have seen written in any estate accounts evidence of the support Calcutta Armenians, and in particular a named individual, gave to the community in Singapore for the erection of their own church. Normally a generalisation is made in reference material that the Armenian communities in Calcutta, Java and Singapore raised the necessary funds.

Arratoon Kaloos had been the head master of the Armenian College during the first years of its inception and it can be seen from his will and supporting accounts that he was a generous man of heart and mind. As well as supporting the school and the church, he and his wife adopted a child and brought him up as if he was his own. Ever grateful to Arratoon Kaloos for his kindness in offering him a home, the child Arratoon John Agacy, went on to marry and have children one of whom he named Kaloos in his honour.


A simply family tree chart


In his Will dated 9th February 1832, Arratoon Kaloos left a legacy specifically to the Armenian College. “To the Managers, for the time being, of the Armenian Philanthropic Academy in Calcutta, in trust, to be applied for and towards the maintenance and education of the indigent Pupils of the said Academy the sum of two thousand Sicca Rupees. Rs2000.0.0.”





The estate accounts indicate a small amount of interest had been made on the original legacy.



Another founding member of the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy in 1821 was Aviet Agabeg. Rarely remembered these days as one of several who changed the life path of so many, his obituary reflected his loss as well as his achievements.  Unlike others such as Arratoon Kaloos, Aviet Agabeg[4] did not leave any legacies in his will to the Armenian College, preferring to ensure his wife and children inherited his estate. During his lifetime Aviet was a staunch backer and supporter.

Aviet Agabeg's Obituary, written by an un-named ex student
of the Armenian College and Philanthrophic Academy


It should be remembered that Sir Paul Chater (or simply Paul Chater as he was then) took the bold step to bring six Armenian College students over from Calcutta to Hong Kong in 1899. Knowing that he could make a difference to peoples’ lives, he gave them commercial opportunities that would otherwise not have been available to them. Although Sir Paul never attended the Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy in Calcutta (his preferred school was La Martiniere in Calcutta), by investing personally and professionally in the future of six young students he demonstrated that he did indeed have very fond memories of the Armenian community in Calcutta where he once roamed as a bare foot orphan boy himself.

Chater suggested they give up their studies earlier than planned and take advantage of an offer he was making to them to emigrate with him to Hong Kong and fill jobs he had obtained and held for them at the Post Office in Hong Kong[5].

The students in question were:

Mr. G.M. Gregory (not to be confused with Rev. G. Gregory)
Mr. Tigran Matthews Gregory 
Mr. Stephen M. Joseph
Mr. Nazareth Malcolm Manuk
Mr. Mackertich Cyril Owen
and 1 other with a nickname "Goblin"

The Apcar ship 'Lightning'. Courtesy of John Schlesinger

They all arrived in Hong Kong in late 1899.  A coincidence in this small story is that they took the ship "Lightning", which was the same ship Chater sailed on in 1864 when he left Calcutta for Hong Kong.  Chater, an Indian Armenian pioneer in 1864 facilitated more Indian Armenian pioneers 35 years later.  The ship belonged to the Calcutta based Armenian company Apcar & Co, and thus the promise of a new life and prospective fortune was instigated and carried out by Chater and Apcar. Both, who were influential in their own right in the Far East, having paved the way for further Armenian settlers to seek their fortune in the Fragrant Harbour and also keeping it nicely within the Armenians of Calcutta community.


The students all took up their positions obtained for them by Chater in the Post Office in Hong Kong.  Five of them are listed in official papers of the colony[6].  They were all earning $40.00 per month with a $4 sorting allowance.  None of them stayed long in the Post Office, all of them ultimately making a good living, particularly Tigran Matthews Gregory.  Tigran started his own company T.M. Gregory & Co of which he was sole proprietor and he was also a well connected and established diamond merchant in Hong Kong during his lifetime.  Without that first leg up from Paul Chater, Tigran Matthews Gregory would not have been in a position to donate to the Armenian Church in Calcutta so generously upon his death, Tigran died in Hong Kong in 1962 and is buried in the same cemetery as Sir Paul Chater.  Thus, the Armenian Church in Calcutta acquired further generous donations which, ordinarily it would not have received but for Sir Paul.  




Nazareth Malcolm Manuk joined the Post Office briefly in 1899 but quickly obtained a position with the Chartered Bank of India.  After about 18 months he then joined The Dairy Farm, a company that Paul Chater had helped to start. Within a year of joining in 1905 Malcolm (who dropped his Christian name of Nazareth to fit more easily into the British establishment), was promoted to Secretary of the Company a position which showed that he was held in the highest esteem for his business abilities.  Malcolm dedicated 27 years of his life at the Dairy Farm Company and its rapid progress was in no small measure because of his responsibilities.  During WW1 he served in the Hong Kong Volunteer Corps in what was known as the Right Section Machine Gun Company.  He was well liked and thoroughly efficient.  He was also an extremely good marksman and won many shooting trophies.

Malcolm took a keen interest in theosophy and was the Presidential Agent of China of the Theosophical Society in Hong Kong where he often gave lectures.
 
The six men had a long and close friendship for the rest of their lives and in particular Malcolm Manuk and Tigran Matthews who later became his brother in law because Mrs. Gregory was Mr. Manuk’s sister Ripsey.  Malcolm Manuk died in Hong Kong in 1932[7].

After three years at the Post Office, Stephen M. Joseph felt confident enough in himself and his abilities to try his luck in Shanghai, but perhaps youthful exuberance, or slight immaturity held him back and he wasn't as successful there as he would have liked.  However, undaunted and unbowed, he left for Japan with one of the original six friends, and he secured a job with an American firm.  S.M. Joseph lived in Japan for 23 years and became extremely successful.  However, his brother, Abraham Joseph had a Shellac business in Jhalda and asked Stephen to join him.  He left Japan for India with approximately a lakh of Rupees in his pocket but tragically just prior to his leaving, he learnt of his brother's death by drowning which happened in 1927.  Shortly after this the big depression in trade set in and in 1930 all his savings where lost.  Stephen Joseph was now in serious financial difficulties and facing great hardship.  He received a letter from one of the original six friends that he had travelled to Hong Kong with from Calcutta, and who had heard of his hard times, the letter contained a job offer with a firm in Bangkok.  He immediately took the offer up and left for Bangkok to start his life all over again at the age of 60.  He became a successful businessman there.

Mackertich Cyril Owen, (known as Mack Owen) after his time at the Post Office, took a position as an assistant with the well known firm of A.H. Rennie & Co., Mack married in March 1909 at St. John’s Cathedral, Hong Kong to Phyllis Seth the daughter of the Court Registrar of Hong Kong, Arathoon Seth and his wife Catharine.  Arrathoon’s family was originally from Madras.

Other Armenians from India who settled and worked there during the lifetime of Paul Chater were Owen Elias Owen, Enos Seth, Harold Arathoon Seth, John Hennesey Seth, Seth Arathoon Seth and Aratoon Vertannes Apcar[8], to name but a few.

That friendship of six Armenian College students was solely due to Sir Paul Chater bringing them together, spotting their potential and giving them the chance of a lifetime to make something of themselves.  They in turn held each other in the highest regard all through their lives; that bond of friendship forged on the decks of the "Lightning" on that long journey between Calcutta and Hong Kong was etched in their minds for life.

Over the last 195 years the Armenian College has turned out numerous students who have made a difference in the world one way or another. With some patience and persistence one can find references to students and ex students in newspapers, journals, periodicals, institutions, repositories and libraries.

Congratulations Armenian College & Philanthropic Academy on your 195th anniversary, may you have many more years of education and celebration in front of you.

From little acorns, mighty oak trees do grow.




[1] Armenians in India by Mesrovb Seth. P.481
[2] British Library: L/AG/34/29/53
[3] British Library: L/AG/34/27/106/333.  See also L/AG/34/27/109/2, L/AG/34/27/169/81, L/AG/34/27/170/69.
[4] Oriental Observer (Calcutta, India), Sunday, November 18, 1832; pg. 520; Issue 47. Empire.

[5] Armenian College Old Boys’ Union Souvenir 1909-1959
[6] Hong Kong Government papers. Correspondence Respecting Increase of Salaries of Subordinate Officers in the Civil Service of the Colony. October 1900
[7] The China Mail 7 April 1932
[8] Hong Kong Government Gazettes

08 September 2014

Armenians in Rangoon

Elizabeth Carapiet Jacob’s legacy for a new Armenian Church in Rangoon.

Records of how the Armenian Church in Rangoon was funded and built after the disastrous fire of 1850 are all but lost. The original church was a wooden structure and was consumed by the unforgiving flames of that calamitous incident.



My chance finding of this Will and its contents give a unique and precious insight into how one individual of the Armenian community in Rangoon was desperately hopeful that her legacy could help to rebuild a new and better church for the local Armenians to worship at.




Source: British Library L/AG/34/29/86/87
In the name of the Lord God Amen. I Elizabeth Carapiet Jacob who was born in Rangoon and who am a resident thereof and an Armenian by nation and a Christian by faith being in a tranquil and perfect state of mind, make this my last will that the same may continue from after my deceased. I hereby direct that my respectable executors shall cause my body to be interred after my decease in the Armenian Burial Ground in this city [Rangoon] at a moderate expense and then call in and collect my entire estate and receive my dues and pay my debts and give and pay the residue to my heirs and successors in manner following, that is to say.

I give and bequeath the sum of one thousand and five hundred Companys Rupees to the Holy Deiparous Church of Rangoon to this end that they shall purchase a house in Calcutta with the said one thousand and five hundred Rupees and accumulate the net amount of the rents after payment of charges until the same shall have risen to five hundred Rupees when they shall lay out the amount at interest and on the said Holy Deiparious Church of Rangoon being about to be re-erected they shall give the said five hundred Rupees and the interest thereof whatever the same may amount to, to the managers of the Holy Deiparous Church of Rangoon in order that that sum being added to the amount of the national contributions the said church may be re-erected at Rangoon to the pride of my nation and the Glory of God and then afterwards they shall transmit the net produce of the rents minus charges from time to time to the managers of the Holy Deiparous Church of Rangoon for the purpose of supplying the necessaries and expenses of the said church.

Elizabeth made this bequest in her Will because in December 1850 the original Armenian Church was razed to the ground by a catastrophic fire that swept across the whole of the city.


Reports of the fire were carried in Indian newspapers as well as others around the world
Elizabeth's Will was written in the Armenian language by a local community member.
It was then read back to her in the Burmese language before she signed it.
The Will was translated into English in Calcutta by the Court appointed
interpreter George Aviet.


Later on in the Will Elizabeth goes on to say:

If the English Government restore or procure the restoration of our lost properties then I direct that my executors shall obtain my share and portion which will be more than fifty thousand Rupees and invest the same in the purchase of a few houses in Rangoon if that city remain under the Sovereign authority of the English but if it should not then they shall buy houses at Calcutta and with the net produce thereof minus charges establish a school at Rangoon for the purpose of educating the children of indigent Armenians gratuitously and the well regulated management thereof shall be assigned to patriotic and well disposed men to be elected and approved of by the nation.



And after making payments and distributions in this manner should the residue of my estate amount to more than one thousand Companys Rupees then I direct that my executors shall with that amount purchase one or two houses under the Flag of the English Government either at this place or at Calcutta and transmit the net produce minus charges thereof to my the officiating Priests of the Holy Deiparous Church in Rangoon but if it should not be more than one thousand Rupees then I give and bequeath the same subject to the pleasure of my respectable executors to be disposed of as they may think best.



In confirmation I affix my seal and signature to this my will in the presence of three witnesses this day the twenty seventh day of the month of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty two. Elizabeth [her x mark] Carapiet Jacob

We the undersigned bear testimony that she in our presence sealed and signed this will and acknowledged it to be her last will and testament at Rangoon 27th July 1852. C.P. Catchick J.S. Jordan Carrapiet Zecharia.

A true translation of the annexed Armenian will 8th September 1852. Geo. Aviet.
Elizabeth’s husband, Carapiet Jacob who had been born in Julfa, died in Rangoon in August 1850 leaving his entire estate, valued at around fifty thousand Rupees to Elizabeth. She appointed her nephew Stephen Gabriel Eleazar as power-of-attorney to enable her to obtain probate in the Courts of Calcutta for her husband’s estate. Stephen’s English and native languages (he lived in Calcutta rather than Rangoon) were likely to be more proficient than the two languages she knew which were Armenian and Burmese. It would seem that Carapiet and Elizabeth did not have children as besides the bequests by Elizabeth to the Holy Deiparious Church of Rangoon (the Armenian Church of Rangoon), she left legacies for various nephews; children of her sister Margaret.

Sharman Minus, whose family were very much part of the Armenian community in Rangoon has a very interesting blog that recalls history and a number of personal memoires of this almost forgotten Church, it can be found here Chasing Chinthes.

It is also quite a timely find because there will be an Armenian Pontifical visit to the Far East at the end of September. His Holiness, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians will be in Asia from September 28th to October 5th.

As announced on the respective Facebook pages of the Armenian communities in Hong Kong and Singapore - see links below.

ChinaHay
Armenians in Singapore - South East Asia

The following press release by the Henri Arslanian, Chairman of the Armenian Community in China says:

Dear friends,

We are pleased to announce that His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians will be in Asia from September 28th to October 5th.

You will see below the details of 2 important events that will take place in Singapore and Myanmar to celebrate the visit of His Holiness. As the dates coincide with the National Day Golden Week in China, I am sure that many of you will be interested in attending these events.

SINGAPORE - Sunday 28th September 2014 - time tbc - Holy Mass will be celebrated in the Armenian Church of Singapore. His Holiness will also bless two Khachkars recently installed in the Church gardens. Lunch will be served following the Holy Mass. Please rsvp with the community in Singapore if you will be able to attend: community@armeniansinasia.org

MYANMAR - Saturday 4th October 2014 - time tbc - Holy Mass will be celebrated in the Armenian Church in Yangon. More details will be announced soon.

I know that many of you will be very interested in attending these events due to their historical importance. I will of course attend both the Singapore and Myanmar events to represent the Armenian Community of China.

Look forward to seeing you all soon.

Henri Arslanian
President, Armenian Community of China



It is a very exciting time to have a current Catholicos scheduled to visit the Armenian Church in Myanmar. It has been a back-water for a number of years and has just a handful of Armenians who have chosen to stay in Yangon. It will be a wonderfully historic occasion. I cannot find a reference to a previous Armenian Patriarch visiting the Armenian Church in Rangoon. However, in 1876 there was a visiting Armenian Prelate to Hong Kong, who had already seen the communities in Penang and Singapore. It is likely that he also went on to visit the community in India perhaps he also made the journey to Rangoon.




Extract from the North China Herald and the S.C.&C. Gazette December 1, 1876

Report from Hong Kong


Among the passengers who have arrived and departed by the ‘Arratoon Apcar’, is the name of the Armenian Prelate, Archbishop Gregoris. The Right Reverend gentleman has come on to Hongkong as a traveller, to know and see something more of the Chinese and Chinese cities than he has done in Penang and Singapore. The few Armenian residents at Hongkong possessing no special place of worship, the Prelate was unable to hold any service, but he read prayers (of course, in the Armenian language), over the grave of S.A. Seth at the Protestant Cemetery, as the tombstone was being put up. The Right Reverend Father, in his full robe, and with a hat of a peak shape, presented a sight never before seen in this part of the world. Though an Archbishop, under whose See are the Armenian churches in India and Persia, he is only 42 years old, and has made a favourable impression on his few resident countrymen, to whom he made a pleasant address on Sunday last at the residence [Caine Road] of Mr. C.P. Chater. 


The grave of Seth Aviet Seth in Hong Kong over whose tomb the Archbishop said prayers.

The inscription says:

“Sacred to the memory of Seth Aviet Seth who was one of the earliest merchants of Singapore. He came to China in 1845. Born in Madras and died at Hong Kong on 11th February 1875 aged 65 years. Be ye also ready: for in such as hour as ye think not the son of man cometh. St. Matthew XXIV. 44.” 


For those interested in their Armenian family history roots in Burma, the LDS film number 1356948 [Item 2] contains the records of St. John the Baptist Armenian Apostolic Church in Rangoon. It will have a comprehensive list of the only recorded Armenian births, marriages and deaths in Burma that are still available. The LDS film has more entries than those held at the British Library.