Bristol

Mary Carpenter

About: 

Mary Carpenter was the daughter of a Unitarian Minister, Lant Carpenter, whose family moved to Bristol in 1817. In 1833 the Brahmo Samaj Reformer, Raja Rammohun Ray, visited Bristol and was an important influence upon Mary Carpenter, encouraging an interest in India. Carpenter moved into Red House Lodge in Bristol in 1858 and entertained a number of Indian visitors to Britain, including Satyendranath Tagore, the elder brother of Rabindranath, who arrived in Britain in 1863 and was the first Indian to join the ICS through the competitive ranks, his companion Manomohun Ghose, Joguth Chunder Gangooly, an ordained minister from Boston, and Rakhal Das Haldar who visited Britain for education in the 1860s.

Mary Carpenter visited India four times, the first was in 1866 where she was accompanied by Manomohun Ghose, returning to India after having been called to the Bar, and the daughter of Dr Goodeve Chuckerbutty from Calcutta who had been sent to England for education. Her first port-of-call was to Satyendranath Tagore in Bombay, and on this trip she met Sasipada Banerji who was to return the visit in 1871.

During her third visit to India in 1870, Keshub Chunder Sen discussed with Carpenter the idea of forming an association in Britain. Sen visited her in Bristol in June 1870 and in September 1870, Mary Carpenter inaugurated the Bristol Indian Association. This Association was subsequently renamed the National Indian Association and was designed to promote social reform (particulary female education) in India and provide a meeting place for Indian visitors to Britain. In January 1871, Carpenter began producing the Journal of the National Indian Association. After her death in 1877, the headquarters of the Association were transferred to London.

Published works: 

The Last Days in England of Rajah Rammohun Roy (London, 1866) 

Six Months in India (London: Longmans, 1868)

Date of birth: 
03 Apr 1807
Contributions to periodicals: 

Journal of National Indian Association

Secondary works: 

Burton, Antoinette, 'Fearful Bodies into Disciplined Subjects: Pleasure, Romance, and the Family Drama of Colonial Reform in Mary Carpenter's "Six Months in India"', Signs 20.3 (Spring 1995), pp. 545-74

Carpenter, J. Estlin, The Life and Work of Mary Carpenter (London: Macmillan & Co., 1881 [1879])

Archive source: 

Mss Eur Photo Eur 280: "India, My Appointed Place": An Account of Mary Carpenter's Four Journeys to India, by Norman C. Sargant, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras

Mss Eur F147, National Indian Association Minutes, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras

Mss 12693 and pamphlets, Bristol Record Office, Bristol

City of birth: 
Exeter
Country of birth: 
England
Date of death: 
14 Jun 1877
Location of death: 
Bristol, England
Tags for Making Britain: 

Sukhsagar Datta

About: 

Sukhsagar Datta was born in Bengal to father Dwijadas Datta and mother Muktakeshi. He was the youngest of five children. His early life and decision to move to England was very much influenced by the actions of his brother Ullaskar. In 1908, Ullaskar was arrested for making a bomb which was used in the attempted assassination of a local magistrate in Alipore; the magistrate survived but two British women died in the attack. His following death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment and he was released twelve years later. The arrest affected the careers of his father and other brother, Mohini Mohan, and as a consequence Sukhsagar was sent to England in 1908.

In London, Datta enrolled at the London Tutorial College, where he met the writer David Garnett. In The Golden Echo (1953), Garnett describes several meetings and walks with Datta and his two other Indian friends, Niranjan Pal and Ashutosh Mitter. He also describes how Datta introduced him to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar at India House, Highgate (at this time, Krishnavarma was living in Paris). After the assassination of Curzon Wyllie and once India House was closed down, Datta and Savarkar shared a flat 'over a small and extremely dirty restaurant in Red Lion Passage' (Garnett, 148). After Savarkar left for Paris, Datta stayed on a bit longer. The two must have remained in touch, though, because Savarkar persuaded Datta to join Abdul Karim’s resistance against the Spanish in Morocco. However, Datta never made it there and returned to London from Algiers. He then ended all contact with Savarkar.

Datta married Ruby Young on 25 September 1911 and the two of them moved to Milan where Datta wanted to pursue a singing career. However, they soon returned to Bristol where Datta enrolled at the Merchant Venturers' Technical College in 1913 or 1914. He graduated in 1914 and joined the University of Bristol Medical School, where he qualified as a doctor in 1920. He first worked at the Bristol General Hospital in 1920, then the Southmead Infirmary in 1921 and finally the Stapleton Institution (now called Manor Park Hospital) where he stayed until his retirement in 1956.

Datta joined the Labour Party in 1926. He was vocal during the Labour Party Conference in 1944, and passionately spoke in favour of Indian Independence. He became chair of Bristol North Labour Party in 1946. After Indian independence in August 1947, Datta founded the Bristol Indian Association. He died at Southmead Hospital, Bristol, on 3 November 1967. 

Date of birth: 
01 Jan 1890
Connections: 

Stafford Cripps (Datta supported Cripps' campaign for election to Parliament), Madan Lal Dhingra, David Garnett, Shyamaji Krishnavarma, Niranjan Pal, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Contributions to periodicals: 

Bristol Labour Weekly, 2 December 1944; 20 January 1945

Precise DOB unknown: 
Y
Secondary works: 

Barot, Rohit, Bristol and the Indian Independence Movement (Bristol: Bristol Branch of the Historical Association, The University, 1988)

Barot, Rohit, 'Datta, Sukha Dagar [Sukhsagar] (1890-1967)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/73197]

Datta, David, Farewell to Empire (Monmouth: Clarke Printing, 2007)

Datta, Ullaskar, Twelve Years of Prison Life (Calcutta: Arya Publishing House, 1924)

Esmail, Aneez, 'Asian Doctors in the NHS: Service and Betrayal', The British Journal of General Practice, 57 (2007), pp. 827-34

Garnett, David, The Golden Echo (London: Chatto and Windus, 1953)

Hardie, Peter, Rammohan Roy: Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of His Death in Bristol on 27th September 1833 (Bristol, 1983)

Labour Party Annual Report (1944), pp. 185-9

Nandi, S., 'Datta, Ullaskar, 1885-1965', in S. P. Sen (ed.) Dictionary of National Biography (Calcutta: Institute of Historical Studies, 1972-74)

Nelson, Jean, A History of Manor Park Hospital: 150 Years of Caring, 1832-1982 (Bristol, 1982)

Political Agitators in India ([s.n.]: s.n., 19--) [http://www.archive.org/details/politicalagitato00slsnuoft]

Srivastava, Harindra, Five Stormy Years: Savarkar in London, June 1906-June 1911 (New Delhi: Allied Publishers, 1983)

Visram, Rozina, Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History (London: Pluto, 2002)

Involved in events: 

Labour Party National Conference, 1944

City of birth: 
Bengal
Country of birth: 
India
Other names: 

Sukha Sagar Datta

Sukhsagar Dutt

Locations

Stapleton Hospital, Bristol , BS16 2DD
United Kingdom
51° 28' 38.3808" N, 2° 32' 33.0792" W
140 Sinclair Road
London, W14 0NJ
United Kingdom
51° 30' 4.5864" N, 0° 12' 54.3816" W
Date of death: 
03 Nov 1967
Location of death: 
Bristol, England
Date of 1st arrival in Britain: 
01 Jan 1908
Precise 1st arrival date unknown: 
Y
Dates of time spent in Britain: 

1908-67

Location: 

Merchant Venturers' Technical College, Bristol

Bristol General Hospital, Bristol

Southmead Infirmary, Bristol

Manor Park Hospital, Bristol

Albion Rajkumar Banerji

About: 

Born in Bristol in 1871, Albion was the son of Sasipada Banerji, the Brahmo Samaj reformer and friend of Mary Carpenter. Upon his birth, he was hailed as the first Brahmin baby born in Britain and a letter was sent to the Queen by Mary Carpenter informing her of his birth. The family returned to India in 1872 but Albion was later to return to the UK for studies and to compete for the ICS. He had been educated at Calcutta University and then joined Balliol College, Oxford. He passed the ICS exams in 1894 and his first posting in 1895 was as Assistant Collector and Magistrate in Madras.

Subsequent posts that Banerji took up included the Diwan of Cochin (1907-14), the Diwan of Mysore (1922-7), and Foreign and Political Minister in Kashmir. At the Delhi Durbar of 1911, Albion was awarded the Companion of the Indian Empire (CIE).

Banerji was Honorary Treasurer for the World Congress of Faiths, 2nd International Congress of the World Fellowship of Faiths, London, 3-18 July 1936.

Published works: 

The Indian Tangle (London: Hutchinson, 1933)

An Indian Pathfinder: Being the Memoirs of Sevabrata Sasipada Banerji, 1840-1924 (Oxford: Kemp Hall Press, 1934)

The Rhythm of Living: A Layman's Guide to Threefold Happiness in Body, Mind and Spirit, to Suit Modern Conditions, with Special Reference to Hindu Thought (London: Rider, 1940)

What is Wrong with India (Allahabad: Kitabistan, 1942)

Through an Indian Camera (Bangalore: Bangalore Printing & Publishing Co., 1946)

Looking Ahead in War Time (London: Harmony Press, n.d.)

Date of birth: 
10 Sep 1871
Connections: 

Sasipada Banerji (his father), Mary Carpenter (friend of his father), Earl Winterton (wrote forward for Indian Tangle), Sir Francis Younghusband (World Congress of Faiths), Marquess of Zetland (wrote introduction to An Indian Pathfinder).

Contributions to periodicals: 

Editor of Indian Affairs (1930-2)

Archive source: 

Two Portraits taken 4 September 1929, National Portrait Gallery, London

Involved in events: 

2nd International Congress of the World Fellowship of Faiths, July 1936

City of birth: 
Bristol
Country of birth: 
England
Other names: 

Sir Albion Rajkumar Banerji

Locations

Balliol College
Broad Street
Oxford, OX1 3BJ
United Kingdom
51° 45' 16.1172" N, 1° 15' 24.2496" W
Red Lodge
Park Row
Bristol, BS1 5LJ
United Kingdom
51° 27' 19.2744" N, 2° 36' 7.6104" W
Date of death: 
01 Jan 1950
Precise date of death unknown: 
Y
Dates of time spent in Britain: 

1871-2, 1894, 1895, 1929, 1936 (many other times as well)

Tags for Making Britain: 

Keshub Chunder Sen

About: 

Keshub Chunder Sen was a Brahmo Samaj reformer. He visited Britain for six months in 1870. During this trip, Sen toured Britain to deliver sermons and met with a variety of political leaders, including W. E. Gladstone. Sen met Queen Victoria, who later presented him with two books.

On a visit to Bristol. Sen stayed at the house of Mary Carpenter. It was during this meeting that they decided to form the National Indian Association in aid of Social Progress, which was run by Carpenter in Britain.

Upon his return to India, Sen was involved in controversy when he arranged the marriage of his daughter (Sunity Devee) to the son of the Maharaja of Cooch Behar, despite the fact that she was only thirteen years old and violated the reforms that he and the Brahmo Samaj had been campaigning for.

Published works: 

Diary in England (Calcutta: Brahmo Tract Society, 1886)

Date of birth: 
19 Nov 1838
Connections: 

Annette Beveridge (née Akroyd), Mary Carpenter, Frances Cobbe, Sophia Dobson Collett, Sunity Devee, John Stuart Mill, Friedrich Max Müller, Hodgson Pratt, Reverend Robert Spears.

 

Secondary works: 

Mozoomdar, P. C., Life and Teachings of Keshub Chunder Sen (Calcutta: J. W. Thomas, Baptist Mission Press, 1887)

Kopf, David, The Brahmo Samaj and the Shaping of the Modern Indian Mind (New Delhi: Archives Publishers, 1988)

Carpenter, J. Estlin, The Life and Work of Mary Carpenter (London: Macmillan, 1881)

Raychaudhury, Tapan, 'Sen, Keshub Chunder Sen (1838-1884)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (Oxford University Press, 2004)  [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/47672]  

Archive source: 

Photo, National Portrait Gallery

Letter to Rev. Robert Spears, Unitarian Minister, 1872, Mss Eur A159, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras

City of birth: 
Calcutta
Country of birth: 
India
Current name city of birth: 
Kolkata
Date of death: 
08 Jan 1884
Location of death: 
Calcutta, India
Date of 1st arrival in Britain: 
21 Mar 1870
Dates of time spent in Britain: 

21 March 1870 - 17 September 1870

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