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Showing posts with label Graves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Graves. 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/

27 February 2014

George Aviet. Translator and Interpreter of the Court in Calcutta 1791-1871



Part of George's will.
Sometimes I get help from the most unexpected places.
Most of you know that I have photographed all the Armenian graves in Kolkata. Those that are written in English I have transcribed, those that are written in Armenian are kindly being transcribed by volunteers and then there are those that are badly worn, or damaged that are really tricky or impossible to do. I have several in the last category.
 
One of the other elements of Armenian family history in India that I am slowly collecting, are the wills deposited at the British Library. [Recently released to www.findmypast.co.uk and available digitally] I have just finished transcribing the will of George Aviet who was a translator and interpreter at the Supreme Court in Calcutta. He died in January 1871. In this will there contained some really useful information: “ I will and direct that my body be interred in the yard of the Calcutta Armenian Church next to or as near as may be to the graves of my dear wives Hosanna and Annie, and that the expense of my funeral and other customary charges concerning my burial, including the price of an ordinary size marble slab, obituary inscription and fixing the same in masonry be not more than 600 rupees.”

As usual, when I finish transcribing a will, I turn to the photographs of the graves in my collection and see if I can somehow match up a grave that perhaps I haven’t been able to put a name to. Today, thanks to digital technology and a little bit of organisation, I have managed to identify George Aviet’s grave which until now, I had not been able to.
 
This is how I did it.
 
Firstly, I now know from his will that he had 2 wives, Hosanna and Annie. I searched for graves in my collection that I have already transcribed and found Hosanna’s grave. On that basis I know I’m in the right area of the graveyard to try and find George, it was after all his desire to be buried as near as possible to his late wives. I have not been able to locate the grave of Annie.

The uncategorised grave
I was able to identify as belonging to
George Aviet.
 Since I did not use a camera that had GPS or a geo-tagging facility when I took the pictures in 2007, I then looked at the properties of the photograph of the grave of Hosanna Aviet (by right clicking the image) and saw that it was taken on the 24 March 2007 at 06.16. Next, in windows explorer on my computer, I did a column sort by “date taken”. I searched again by the date, 24 March 2007 and time 06.16 and since I know and remember that when I was taking the photographs of the graves in the churchyard, I walked the cemetery in a row-by-row methodical fashion therefore I knew from my method that the grave of George Aviet must be close by. Two images along from Hosanna was a grave that I had not been previously able to identify due to its condition. On looking at it again, I can make out the date of death, 16 January 1871 and the word “translator” I can also see the year 1791 in the Armenian text at the top. Enlarging small sections I can now see the lettering "A V I E T”. Now playing around with the brightness, contrast and mid-tone levels settings I can also see part of the wording “Translator”. I can also see that it says “departed this life on the 16th day of January 18- -. Unfortunately my image cut off the last two numbers, but I am certain it is indeed George Aviet who died 16 January 1871 as per annotated in the Probate on his will.
 
He is a mostly forgotten community member, who played a large and important part in the legal system of Calcutta, whose name, signature and legal interpretation is still on hundred of documents in a dusty archive somewhere.
 
I shall be adding this grave to my website soon.