The Once Flourishing Armenian Community of Madras is Now No More - 1927

Extract from: The Times of India December 17, 1927

MADRAS LETTER
VESTIGES OF A GREAT PAST

Madras, December 14.

The celebration of a Requiem Mass at St. Mary’s Armenian Church on Sunday the 11th  [December 1927] instant in honour of the General Andranik, who died in America on August 31, serves to remind us, of the existence to this day the city of a small but rapidly disappearing community of Armenians, the descendants of a once flourishing class who possessed vast wealth and made generous public benefactions.

It was a fitting tribute that this small community paid on Sunday to a great Armenian solider who did much to sustain the morale of the small and badly equipped Armenian Army during the great war.  There are many vestiges in Madras City and its suburbs of the commercial enterprise and prosperity of the Armenians and of their glorious past.  Armenian Street, in which the Church is situated, is no longer occupied by Armenians as in days of yore, but there has grown up in it numerous commercial houses and trading establishments and today it is the centre of much business activity.

In Royapuram there is an important road called Arathoon Road, named after a one-time wealthy Armenian gentleman, whose remote descendants can still be traced in Madras.  There is an important bridge on the road to St. Thomas’ Mount, near the Little Mount Church, which owes its existence to the generous benefaction of an Armenian name Petrus Uscan, who constructed it in the year 1726, and which to this day, is a standing example the substantial type of structures guilt in those early days.  The same gentleman, who possessed a markedly religious turn of mind, was responsible also for constructing the long flight of inclined planes and solid stone steps which conduct Roman Catholic pilgrims to the ancient church situated at the summit of St. Thomas’s Mount.

Legal Age for Armenian Marriage in India in 1850

I have come across this interesting snippet.

In “The Procedure of the Civil Courts of the East India Company in the Presidency of Fort William” by William MacPherson , Barrister at Law of the Inner Temple, Published in 1850, comes the following interesting extract.

“Male Armenians would probably be considered as of full age at eighteen.

The Vicar* of the Armenian Church at Calcutta, on being asked by the Sudder Court what was the age of legal majority in females under the Armenian law, and whether a minor wife was considered to be under the tutelage of her husband; replied that: “the age of majority with females is considered to be the age of marriage; and the age of marriage commences from the twelfth year. The wife either a minor or of full age, remains under the tutelage of her husband.” “

*In my calculations the Vicar referred to would be one of three possible Armenian priests at the time.
Rev. Barseigh Galstanian (Archpriest)
Rev. Martyrose Ter Hovakiamian or
Rev. Mackertich Ter C. Gregorian

A Forgotten Legacy for the Armenian Church found in 1873

Extract from: The Friend of India Calcutta, India, Thursday, August 21, 1873; pg. 938; Issue 2006. Empire.

“A legacy of a Lakh and forty thousand rupees was left half a century ago to the Calcutta Armenian Church by an Armenian gentleman. The fact has only just been discovered from the records of the High Court.”

That would have been a LOT of money in 1873, how could it possibly have been forgotten from 1823 I wonder?

Armenian Jute taking off in Dacca - 1875

Extract from The Friend of India, in which the Indian Observer is incorporated Calcutta, India, Saturday, September 18, 1875; pg. 865; Issue 2114. Empire. 

“A remarkable impetus has been given to the jute trade in Dacca.  There are now ten European and Armenian firms who  deal largely in this article of produce.  Three steam presses have already been set up and two others are in the course of erection.” 

Note: Armenians were often referred to as ‘Europeans’ in newspapers and publications.

A Leading Firm Of Hong Kong Accountants: An Armenian Connection To India

After the death of Sir Paul Chater in Hong Kong, his complex estate and accounts were taken care of by a local firm of accountants called Hennessey Seth & Co (previously Percy Smith Seth & Fleming). This is a rare in-tact company wax seal of Hennessey Seth & Co firm from an original document of accounts.

John Hennessey Seth a founding partner with Percy Smith was born to Armenian parents in Singapore in 1884.  His parents Arathoon and Catherine Seth were cousins who married and their families can be traced back to the vibrant and influential Armenians families of Madras of the mid to late 18th century.

The Conundrum That Is Indian Armenian Surnames

The genealogical nightmare that is Armenians.

Ter Carrapiet Ter Abraham Ter Carrapiet (yes, this is ONE person) had 3 brothers and a sister as well as 2 sons and a daughter.

Two of the brothers’ last names were Ter Carrapiet but one brother had the last name of Ter Abraham.

Ter Carrapiet Ter Abraham Ter Carrapiet’s two sons surnames were Ter Abraham.

But the most frustrating of this particular family naming convention has to be one of the brothers of Ter Carrapiet Ter Abraham Ter Carrapiet.  He was called Astwachatoor Ter Abraham Ter Carrapiet but  commonly known as Cason i.e. Astwachatoor Cason. One of his sons was named Cason Ter Abraham but commonly known as S.C. Seth (Where the heck did the name SETH come from?!). The other son was called Arratoon Cason Ter Abraham who was commonly called A.C. Seth.

Just when you think you’re getting your head around the name Carrapiet, they turn into the surname Seth and just when you think you’ve cracked the surname Seth there is double TER-ouble and you will probably have to start again!

This has to be one of the longest and complex naming strings that I have come across in the Armenians in India.

Khojah Petrus, The Armenian Merchant – Diplomat of Calcutta from 1756-1763

An original paper belonging to Mesrovb Seth
with a personal dedication to Jordan Martin.

This is an original paper on “Khojah Petrus, The Armenian Merchant – Diplomat of Calcutta from 1756-1763”. It was read by Mesrovb Seth at the 11th meeting of the "Indian Historical Records Commission" held at Nagpur in December 1928. The contents of this paper were included in his later book "Armenians in India..." published in 1937 minus the photograph. 

What is unique and original about this particular document is the personal dedication written by Mesrovb Seth to Jordan Martin Esq., whose wife, Elizabeth Catchick was the 2xgreat grand-daughter of Rev. Haruthiun Shumavonian of Madras who published in 1794 the first known Armenian newspaper, under the name of the "Azdarar". The dedication reads: “Jordan Martin Esq., with the author’s very best regards. 15.3.29”.