From John Ricketts to David White.

Fearing a revolt by Indians in the 18th Century, led by British-trained East Indians (as Anglo-Indians were then called), inspired by mulattos-led revolts in Haiti and San Doming, the English East India Company passed several restrictive orders.

The first, in 1786, was that the wards of the Upper Orphanage Schools in Calcutta were in future to be prohibited from proceeding to England to complete their education and thus qualify for the Covenanted Services. The second, in 1791, stated that the sons born of Britishers were prohibited from being employed in the Civil, Military and Marine Services of the Company. And the third, in 1795, prevented the employment in the Army, except as musicians, of all persons not descending from European parents on both sides.

The object of these standing orders was to reduce East Indians to a condition of social degradation and political impotency. For nearly half a century, Eurasians were ineligible to serve on juries and, as if this disability were not enough, they were actually debarred from specific appointments open to the natives of the country. They were unable to take part in the administration of the country, the services were closed to them, and they were excluded from admission to colleges in which Indians had free access.

In about 1825, there began a movement in Calcutta organi­sed by the community itself to obtain relief from these disabilities.

Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, the Anglo-Indian poet (1809-1831) with a deep passion for India and a patriotic zeal, was equally passionate in uplifting his community. His house in Calcutta became the rendezvous for members of the community, like John William Ricketts, who wanted to discuss the political, social and economic difficulties of the East Indians. In November 1825, they resolved to present a petition to the House of Commons. By March 1892, the petition was placed in the Town Hall for signature and was published in all the leading newspapers.

Meanwhile, in Madras, the Government Gazette of October 8, 1829 had the following ­report:

“Madras is soon to have an East Indian Association. Arrangements are being made to establish one and a Committee has been appointed to frame rules for its institution. At a General Meeting of Eurasians, it was resolved:

1. That a Petition to Parliament be prepared as soon as practicable to be presented in conjuction with and for the support of the specific object of the Calcutta East Indian Petition.

2. That the Petition be forwarded to the East Indian Committee at Calcutta with a solicitation that it may accompany theirs and be put into the hands of some agent employed by them.

3. That a public subscription be solicited in this Presidency in support of our undertaking.

“H.E. the Governor, Stephen Lu­shing­ton, while sending a donation of Rs.500/-, said in a letter to the Private Secretary, published in the Gazette, that the Eurasians had a good cause and that they were bound to get a hearing in Parliament without the expenditure of much money.”

John Ricketts took the Petition from Calcutta, arrived in London in 1829, and sought fairer and more liberal treatment of the East Indian community. On March 29, 1830, Lord Carlisle presented the petition in the House of Lords, and on May 4, 1830 a Mr. Wynn presented the petition in the House of Commons.

Ricketts sailed from England on July 8, 1830 on the Tam O’ Shanter and arrived in Madras on a stop-over. The East Indian community, in spite of short notice, gave him a rousing reception. Governor Lushington received him in audience and invited him to a State Ball and Dinner. Peter Carstairs, the leader of the East Indians in Madras, on behalf of himself and the community, gave him, first, a public dinner and then, a reception ball and supper, where they thanked him for his achievement both in India and in England. He then left for Calcutta.

The appeals to Parliament were, in time, to prove successful, in that most of the relics of exclusiveness and opposition to progress were removed by the Charter of 1833. In the fifty years that followed the Charter of 1833, the prosperity of the community went up by leaps and bounds.

Meanwhile, another meeting to induce the Eurasians in Madras to form themselves into an Association was held at the New Town Prayer Hall on June 5, 1879. New Town was wisely chosen by D.E.S. White, the organiser, as the venue, the area being a stronghold of the Eurasian community in those days. The now defunct Madras Gun Carriage factory was in existence then on Naval Hospital Road (the site now occupied by the Government Medical Stores) manned by skilled Eurasian artisan soldiers known as the Carnatic Ordinance Artificer Corps, most of whose members with their families resided in the vicinity.

A second meeting was convened at Victoria Memorial Hall under the Chairmanship of the Honourable Sir Charles Turner, Chief Justice of Madras, on October 7, 1879 at which the Association was formed, having as its object the promotion of the social, moral and intellectual advancement of the European and Eurasians permanently settled in India. White was elected the Foun­der-President, A newspaper named the European Anglo-Indian Advocate was started, the title of which was a short time afterwards changed to Eastern Guardian. Over a thousand members were enrolled in due course and 16 branches were formed in the districts.

David Emmanuel Starken­burg White, measured by any yardstick, was a multidimensional visionary who combined vision with dedicated hard work. He was born in 1832, the son of an Apothecary of the Madras Medical Department, and was educated at St. Andrew’s Parochial School. He started his career as a clerk in the Education Department of the Government of Madras and rose to the position of Personal Assistant to the Director of Public Instruction. Before his retirement in 1888, he was appointed the Registrar of Assurance.

Apart from his professional life, he will go down in history as the person who urged the then Eurasians of Madras to constitute an Association.

The Eurasian and Anglo-Indian Association of Southern India was incorporated under the Indian Companies Act VI of 1882 on March 30, 1882. Its name was subsequently changed to The Anglo-Indian Association of Southern India on January 17, 1908. It was further changed to the Anglo-Indian Association of Southern India on August 27, 1994, the name by which it still goes.

Apart from constituting and being the first President of the Eurasians and Anglo-Indian Association of Southern India, White obtained the consent of 400 members of the Eurasian community and submitted their names to the authorities to constitute the First Volunteer Corps in India that is still known as the Madras Guards. He was also actively involved in raising funds for the construction of the Victoria Public Hall in Madras.

One of White’s achievements was his recommendation to organise an annual conference of all East Indian Associations in India to discuss policies to be pursued by the community on important matters affecting the interests of Domiciled Anglo-Indians and Eurasians scattered all over the country. As a result of this, the first annual conference was held in Jabalpur on September 26 and 27, 1885. White was asked to take the Chair.

White was also a great environmentalist and induced members of the community to acquire Roof Trees, to which they could turn their thoughts and their steps after wandering. He set an example by securing the lease of a plot of land at Puttundur, adjoining Whitefield near Bangalore, where he built a lovely country house and brought in many Eurasians to settle in the area.

In 1888, White was given the unique honour of presiding over a meeting of the Madras Congress Committee at Pachai­yappa’s Hall to accord a rousing welcome to Eardbey Norton, an outstanding Barrister-at-Law and Life Member of the Association, on his return from England where he had acquainted the English public of India’s wants and aspirations. The Association office and a small industrial school were then established by White at No.1 Mint Street. On February 1, 1889, White breathed his last at his residence at Moore’s Garden, Nungambakkam, and was buried at St. Andrew’s Church Cemetery in Madras.

Since his death, the Anglo-Indian Association has made tremendous progress under the leadership of great Anglo-Indian stalwarts, including W.S. Gantz, Bar-at-Law, who was an active member of the Indian National Congress, and T. Richmond, an outstanding Anglo-Indian leader and Barrister in Bangalore (he was President of the Association for 12 years). Gantz, in 1890, was nominated for the Presidentship of the indian National Congress. B. Lovery, another East Indian stalwart in Madras, was the Headmaster of Pachaiyappa’s School from 1877, was a Municipal Commissioner from 1867, and was twice appointed Sheriff of Madras.

The Association has established a Computer Centre, a Nursery School, and a Special Training Centre for graduate courses and there are plans and proposals to set up an Industrial Training Institute and to provide more modern facilities for Anglo-Indian youth. (Excerpted from Contemporary Facets of the Anglo-Indian Community by Dr. Geoffrey K. Francis.)