21] THE ENGLISH CEMETERY OF ST. MARY'S CSI CHURCH, NADAKKAVU, KOZHIKODE

 English Cemetery, St Mary's CSI Church, Nadakkavu, KozhikodePhotograph-October, 2024

Photograph-February, 2024 

In this post, I will discuss about the English cemetery adjoining the St Mary’s CSI Church at Nadakkavu, Kozhikode. The foundation stone of the church, originally meant for the British regiments garrisoned at Calicut, was laid on 8th June, 1863 and the building was consecrated in 28th September, 1864 by Bishop Gell in honour of Virgin Mary. According to the Senior Chaplain of Fort St George, Madras, Rev. Frank Penny [1922], when the cemetery was laid out a large portion was left unconsecrated for the use of Nonconformists and up to the year 1900 only one grave had been dug in this part, and an application was made to the Government to allow two thirds of it to be consecrated. The burial ground was opened in 1880 and left unconsecrated for the use of nonconformists and remained active until 1905 says Roberts and Chekkutty [2017]. We also learn about a new cemetery consecrated at Calicut by the Bishop of Madras in a report from 1880, most probably referring to the same site. Out of the 249 burials reported in the list by Roberts and Chekkutty [2017], only three are dated before 1880, viz. Abram, Caroline Bridget, d. 1869; Godfrey, John G Hochstalter, d. 1800; and Smith, Katherine, d. 1879. However, we know from other records that John Godfrey Hochstalter Godfrey died suddenly, at Calicut, on the 16th of October, 1880, and therefore the date 1800 is a typographical error. The list has only 33 gravestones reported for the 249 burials recorded.

In the field, the results are quite different. There are at least 61 grave markers visible in the cemetery, of which, 46 graves with names of 54 are identifiable. Despite the years of neglect most of the gravestones have remained intact, yet many of epitaphs are in a bad state and only with strenuous efforts I could manage to read the inscriptions. As I discussed earlier, the most surprising find was the grave of Richard Harrisson dated 1717 [see here]. However, this is not the only case to be seen, an additional 15 memorial graves dated before 1880 can be traced inside the cemetery. Three graves are dated before 1864 when the church was consecrated, viz. Robert Ley [1828]; Thomas Rammell [1830]; and Robert Huxham [1862]. Ironically, all these 16 graves (including Richard Harrisson, See names 1 to 16 in the Table below) are reported to be in the Old Cemetery of Calicut, Zillathodie (the now extinct graveyard at Connoly Park) as per the inventory collected by Roberts and Chekkutty (2017). If these early graves originally belonged to where they are now, the English cemetery at Nadakkavu would have functioned at least a few decades before a church was established there in 1864.

English Church [St Mary's CSI] at Nadakkavu, Kozhikode Then and Now

2024 Photograph-October, 2024

1922

The cemetery was once associated with the British garrison at Calicut and no wonder why you see several military memorials in the site. Grave markers of 16 Privates, 2 Captains and 1 Lance Corporal from various British Regiments are identified in the cemetery. Family members of influential British officers are also buried in the cemetery. To the best of my knowledge, no Indian has been buried in this cemetery. The oldest buried is 82-year-old Robert Ley in 1828 and the youngest is Evelyn MacKenzie MacRae, who died 45 days old in 1891. The latest burial I could trace is Anna Magdalene MacDonald from 1905. There are 6 graves in the cemetery with multiple names in the epitaphs and they are:

1-Robert Huxham, d. 1862 and William Huxham, d. 1872 [4 and 12]
2-Charles Francis Webster, d. 1869 and Tom Austin, d. 1870 [9 and 10]
3-Tarletton Louis [or Lewis] Barrow, d. 1882 and Winifred Cecil Barrow, d. 1882 [20 and 21]
4-William Charleston, d. 1885; William Lancey, d. 1885 and Frederick Raven, d. 1887 [25, 26 and 29]
5-Archibald Robertson, d. 1892; John Hill Biggs, d. 1893; James Thompson, d. 1893; and George Symmons, d. 1893 [37, 38, 40 and 41]
6-Thomas Cook, d. 1900; David Henry Charlick, d. 1900; and William Archer, d. 1900 [48, 50 and 52] 

[See the table below for the numbers in the brackets]

References
Frank Penny (1922, Vol. 3)-The Church in Madras
Mission Life; Or Home and Foreign Church Work, 1880
Roberts, John Cantwell and Chekkutty, N P (2017)-Malabar II: Christian Memorials Wynad to Travancore 1498-2014

The following table compiles the graves identified from the cemetery and are arranged chronologically with the names of the deceased, date of death, age, designation and other relevant details included.

List of the Graves Identified in the English Cemetery, St Mary's CSI Church, Nadakkavu, Kozhikode

 

 

No.	Name	Date	Age	Remarks
1	Richard Harrison	14/4/1717	20	Esq., s/o Edward Harrison, Governor of Fort St George, Madras
2	Robert Ley	15/7/1828	82	Master Attendant of the Port
3	Thomas Rammell	19/9/1830	35
4	Robert Huxham	/10/1862	17	s/o William Huxham
5	Jane Anne Pearse	25/5/1865		w/o Robert Edmund Pearse, Madras Medical Service
6	Gertrude Ada Master	5/4/1867	0/8/15	d/o John Henry Master and Gertrude Emma
7	Thomas Carmichael	4/9/1867	26	From Glenarm County, Antrim, Ireland; Resident Medical Officer of South Wayanad
8	Rev. Charles Dockley Gibson	16/4/1869	50	Chaplain of the station for more than 2 years
9	Charles Francis Webster Austin	28/5/1869	0/3/21	s/o Ware and Frances Austin
10	Tom Austin	18/10/1870	0/2/0	s/o Ware and Frances Austin
11	William Swan Duggan	26/6/1872	27	H. M. [Her Majesty’s] 89th Regiment, Private
12	William Huxham	5/12/1872	77	Born June 7, 1795
13	Frederick Stafford Harvey	19/5/1877	25
14	Michael Joseph McDonald	12/3/1878	49/1/14	Of Karaparamba, Calicut
15	Charles Nash	28/3/1878	35	Captain  of the S. S. Austin Friars
16	John Cochrane	20/7/1879	35	Of Erinamulla, s/o …La.
17	Andrew Harington Steedman	4/2/1880	44
18	Andrew Mackie	28/3/1881	21/4/12	2nd/16th M. F. [Madras Fusiliers], Private
19	Elizabeth Joanna Pool	15/12/1881	31	w/o F. W. Pool, Engineer of Haylebornwall
20	Tarletton Louis Barrow	21/1/1882	30
21	Winifred Cecil Barrow	3/4/1882	0/5/3	Youngest child of Tarletton Louis Barrow
22	Henry Richardson	26/5/1884	62	Of Cannanore [Kannur]
23	Samuel Joseph McDonald	12/8/1884	10
24	Norah Darling	22/8/1884	0/3
25	William Charleston	2/6/1885		2nd M. F. [Madras Fusiliers], Private
26	William Lancey	27/11/1885	28	B Company, 2nd Battalion R. F. [Royal Fusiliers], Private
27	Daisy Neill	16/5/1886	0/11
28	Gerald Malcolm Winterbotham	27/5/1886	0/2	Born 3/1886
29	Frederick  Raven	20/10/1887	22	R. F. [Royal Fusiliers], Private. Drowned at Beypore
30	Edward Mason Dawes	16/5/1889	44	Born 17/12/1844
31	Robert Edwin Godfrey Darling	8/7/1889	24
32	Thomas Philips	9/5/1890	21	G Company, 1st Norfolk Regiment, Private
33	Charles Barrett	4/7/1890	25	G Company, 1st Norfolk Regiment, Private
34	Henry Thompson	20/8/1890	27	G Company, 1st Norfolk Regiment, Private
35	Evelyn MacKenzie MacRae	25/7/1891	0/1	Born 10/6/1891
36	Albert Ashworth	3/7/1892	34
37	Archibald Robertson	16/2/1893	24	C Company, 2nd R. S. [Royal Scotts], Private
38	John Hill Biggs	6/7/1893	23/7	C Company, 2nd Battalion of R. S. [Royal Scotts] Lance Corporal
39	Francis Wyndham Romilly	12/7/1893	1/3/20
40	James Thompson	18/8/1893	22/11	C Company, 2nd Battalion of R. S. [Royal Scotts], Private
41	George Symmons	30/9/1893	25	C Company, 2nd Battalion of R. S. [Royal Scotts], Private
42	Cecil Thomas Crapper	17/9/1894	19	1st Battalion, Dorset Regiment, Private
43	Charles Weller	31/12/1894	25	1st Dorset, Private
44	Frederick Bird	8/5/1896	36	h/o Mary Bird
45	Henry William Hutchinson Brown	5/10/1897	63	Of Pookote Wayanad
46	Charles Edward Lanauze	20/10/1898	54
47	George Nicholas White	25/5/1899	49/6/7	Traffic Department, Madras Railway
48	Thomas Cook	21/1/1900	25	No. 4316, K Company, 1st Middlesex Regiment, Private
49	Hannah Barbara Elizabeth Reiley	14/2/1900	41	Born 12/7/1859
50	David Henry Charlick	15/7/1900	26	No. 3719, K Company, 1st Middlesex Regiment, Private
51	Elizabeth D'brass	4/8/1900	60
52	John William Archer	14/8/1900	23	No. 4889, K Company, 1st Middlesex Regiment, Private
53	Ethelbert William Carrick	29/6/1901	37	Captain, 4th Burma Battalion;  Adjutant of M. V. R. [Malabar Voluntary Rifles]
54	Anna Magdalene MacDonald	14/7/1905	54/7