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Showing posts with label Armenian genealogy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Armenian genealogy. Show all posts

22 January 2022

Hidden tombstone in Kolkata: Manuk Aratoon David

 


I was reminded today of a particularly frustrating tombstone transcription that I had been trying to unravel for some time.

 

I was in Kolkata in September 2017, visiting the Armenian Holy Nazareth Church. I had previously visited this church several times over the years, and had photographed all the tombstones in the church compound 10 years earlier with a view to helping people with their Armenian genealogical family queries. Most of them are now available on my website. However, this one was very well hidden, and I had missed it on all my previous visits. As can be seen from the photograph, it was recessed in a shallow alcove underneath some stone steps in a corner of the Nazareth churchyard. Initially it looked like an empty void; a storage space between ground level and the rising stairs. Crawling on the ground, I discovered these two forgotten graves. The gap was only large enough to reach my arm through. Hoping there was nothing in there that might bite, I blindly stretched my arm as far as it would reach, and leant on my eternal optimism that the auto-focus on my camera would not fail me. I had just one opportunity here. I was not able to view the images until I returned to my hotel in the evening. One had broken lettering, the other was completely covered by tools. Even with several people helping me, it was impossible to see the name on the stone with lettering.

It looked like a completely impossible tombstone to read, the angle was very difficult. Over many months I returned to these images regularly to see if I could make anything out. Enlarging, enhancing and occasionally tracing, until small fragments of words and dates slowly became visible. I finally managed to make out just enough to cross-reference the date and month of death with the same in my database, and almost two years later to the day in 2019, with some patience and a little persistence, I managed to unravel this closely covered stone. I had finally cracked it.

 

He was Manuk Aratoon David and he died on the 9th December 1885 aged 70.

 

Sacred to the memory of Manuk Aratoon David.

Born 8th November 1815*. Died 9th December 1885.

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth; Yea, saith the Spirit, in that they shall rest from their labours; for their works do follow them.

 

*According to the Armenian Church baptism register for Kolkata, the 8th November 1815 is the date he was baptised. He is recorded as being born 22nd October 1815 in Kolkata.

 

19 September 2018

Websites: Armenian Graves in India and Sir Catchick Paul Chater - Active Again

If you've been trying to access my websites over the last few months you will have realised that they were not working.

Today they are back up and running. The links have changed, if you have saved them please update your bookmarks.

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~chaterfamilytree/

26 April 2018

Saving The Soul of a Past Community


The Armenian Church of Holy Resurrection, Dhaka, Bangladesh

In association with the Armenian Church of Holy Resurrection in Dhaka, Bangladesh, I am pleased to announce the launch of a truly admirable, worthy and very important new heritage project.

This is a global appeal. We are very keen to make this project a community/Diaspora driven venture. We want to appeal to everyone who ever had a connection with the Armenian community in Dhaka Bangladesh. There is little or no history of the community left, we want to try and build the stories, starting from the ground up. The Armenian communities of Bangladesh and India often worked together, regularly moving between the two locations. It is our hope that people with India connections will contribute too.

At our recent launch we issued the following press release.


The Armenian Church in Dhaka Bangladesh is embarking on an exciting, ambitious and unique community and history project.

The church has existed in Dhaka for over 200 years and its community played an important mercantile role in the history of this wonderful country of Bangladesh.

The Church wardens and committee have already completed an extensive refurbishment programme of the building and structure. This renovation process will continue to be ongoing to ensure the Armenian Church will maintain a presence in Bangladesh for many years to come.  The committee now wishes to move to the next phase of the development, and it is hoped that it will be community driven.

Here at the Armenian Church in Dhaka we would like to reach out to the Armenian Diaspora around the globe, particularly those who have family connections to India and Bangladesh.  We would like to invite anyone with a past connection to Dhaka, no matter how small, to get in touch.  We would particularly like to hear from those who might have personal items or memorabilia they would be willing to share with us in digital form. Perhaps your family played a role in the jute industry in the 19th or 20th centuries maybe even earlier? Do you have stories, photographs, items of interest that we could help build the history of the community on? Where did your family live, what social activities did they attend, who were their friends, what did they feel about their lives in Bangladesh?

We are keen to reconstruct the history, family stories and vibe of this by-gone era of the Armenian presence in Bangladesh, but we can’t do it without YOUR help?

There are many well known Armenian families with a historical connection to Dhaka and Bangladesh, do you know, or have connections with any Agabeg, Agacy, Aganoor, Apcar, Arathoon, Aviet, the famous Beglar family, Bagram, Basil, Carapiet, Catchick, Catchatoor, Chater, David, Gasper, Gregory, Harney’s, Harapiet, Johannes, Joachim, Lucas, Mackertich, Malchus, Manook, Marcar, Michael, Martyrose, Minas, Nahapiet, Petros, Pogose, Sarkies, Seth, Shircore, Stephanuse, Vertannes, Zorab.

These are just a few of the family names with links to the area.

We would really like to hear from anyone with an association, we are determined to make this a community project with as many digital contributions as people will generously make.

We will produce a book containing all your wonderful stories and items, and all donors will be acknowledged on the dedicated “thank you” page as well as permanently on our new website.

Our co-ordinator for this project is Liz Chater who, through her experience in her work and research with Armenian family history in India, will carefully and sensitively bring all the elements of it together.

To contribute please contact:
armenianchurchbangladesh@gmail.com

We are very excited and are looking forward to working with the Diaspora on this unique venture.

You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram





01 February 2016

Indian Armenian Records in English


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




There are many people interested in their Indian Armenian heritage.  I am often asked if there are any birth, marriage and death records in English available relating to Armenians in India. This post is for those currently searching, as well future researchers who are seeking their elusive Armenian ancestors with a connection to India.

In 2005 recognising the significance and historical importance of these hitherto publicly unseen records, and with the blessing and consent of the Armenian Church Committee Chair, Mrs. Sonia John, I was granted permission to photograph the whole of the early baptism register held at the Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth, Kolkata. 
The first page of the baptism register starts at 1793

This particular set of records date from between 1793 and 1859. Written only in the Armenian language I spent many months trying to find someone who would help with the translation work.  I finally found Dr. Reuben Khachaturyan, he was interested in the Armenian community of India and was actively tracing his own family connections. Although he was working in the Yemen he still found time to help with the translations and transcriptions. I would send him the images and he returned the results each week in an excel document.  It took just over two years to successfully complete the translations and for me to check any queries.  Once I was happy with the end result I wanted to make sure that I was able to share this very valuable and unique information completely free to the wider public.

I approached the Families in British India Society who are “a self-help organisation devoted to members researching their British India family history and the background against which their ancestors led their lives in India under British rule.”

I enquired whether they would be interested in hosting this information on their website. They confirmed that this data would indeed prove to be a very valuable asset for their members and visitors and were more than happy to take the newly translated information and add it to their fast growing database.

This was the first time that the early Armenian baptism register had been fully transcribed and translated into English in its entirety. Reuben and I undertook this project without any financial help or institutional or organisational assistance or support.  Over 1200 records have subsequently been ‘unlocked’ and since their release to FIBIS, they have helped many thousands of people around the world who previously had no chance of being able to break down their family history brick wall.


Alternatively, go to the main site and explore from there. www.fibis.org.

Are you trying to locate an Armenian grave of a family member or ancestor?


You may also find my dedicated website worth a visit. It contains images of the vast majority of Armenian graves and tombstones in India, and it is fully searchable. Give it a try, it’s completely free. www.chater-genealogy.com

If you have any questions regarding your Indian Armenian family history, please use the contact form on the right and I will do my best to try to help you.