Rev Mead brought Some Pioneer Christian Families to settle at Nagercoil from Mylaudy:
The great Church historian Mr.C.M Agur writes that the first settlers at the newly formed Christian village at Nagercoil near Rev Mead's bungalow,[ Inside the present W.CC.Campus, Nagercoil ] were Mr. Mead's servants and a few mission agents and boys from Mylaudy [ CM. Agur, Church History of Travancore, Madras, 1903, p. 681]. Rev.Charles Mead stayed at Mylaudy before moving to Nagercoil and during that period of time we can infer that Mr. Mead's domestic servants were selected from the pioneer christian families of Mylaudy Maharasan Vethamonickam , and those domestic servants might have formerly served as domestic servants and helpers to Mr. Ringletaube. We know Ringeltaube stayed at Mylaudy from 1806 till he left Mylaudy, India in 1816 .After having moved to the bungalow presented to him by the then British Resident Col. Munro inside the present WCC campus, Rev Charles Mead wanted to establish a new ideal casteless christian village at Nagercoil near his residence.. Mr Mead helped his servants and other willing poor people from Mylaudy with financial assistance to build their houses in line with his social vision in the sites allotted to them in and around Mead Street. Mr Mead settled his Servants in the new neat small houses built in and around the Mead street. .Mead street was formed not at a particular date but it was formed and developed during the course of some years. I do not get any clear clue to name the servants of Mr. Mead. who settled in around Mead street. We can say some relatives of Mylaudy Maharasan Vethamanicakm were the privileged pioneers to settle down in the new Christian village at Nagercoil initiated and founded by Rev. Mead.
Mission Agents from Mylaudy who settled in and around Mead Street, Nagercoil :
The following persons from Mylaudy who worked as Catechists at the Nagercoil Church , and Teachers at the Nagercoil Seminary and Composers at the Printing Press at Nagercoil and Native Assistants to Rev. Mead and Rev. Mault namely Mr. Devavaram Biddulp[ Poet,Catechist,Nagercoil church and Teacher at the Nagercoil Seminary, Native Assistant to Rev.Charles Mead and Mylaudy Maharasan Vethamonikam's brother's son], Mr. Christian David of Mylaudy [Teacher , Nagercoil Seminary], Mr Masillmani of Mylaudy [ Catechist, Nagercoil Church- ], Mr. Moses of Mylaudy[Catechist , Nagercoil Church and Assistant to Rev. Charles Mault and a son of Maharasan Vethamonickam], Mr.Arumainaygam writer of Mylaudy [Teacher, Nagercoil Seminary], Mylaudy Samathanam mastry[Nagercoil LMS Mission Printing Press], were initially brought from Mylaudy and settled in the new Christian village in and around Mead Street with their families. And also Mr Packinathan [ kanakkan or Accountant and son-in-law of Maharsan Vethamoncakm and Head Gomestha or the chief ministerial officer of the Nagercoil Court when Mr Charles Mead worked as the District Judge , Nagercoil ] and some other people from Mylaudy or connected with Mylaudy also lived in and around Mead Street.
Daniel Paramanandam Deacon's grandchildren and great grandchildren
[ Dr.Schafter, [ in his military uniform] Mr.,Lamuel Peter, Mr.Chinnathmbi Peter, Mr.Nallathambi Peter and others including,Ms. Mathiabaranam, Mrs. Daya Manuel, Mrs Josephine Retnammal ]
Some Important Descendants of the original Residents of Mead Street Nagercoil : As C.M.Agur had written the Christians brought from Tanjore and people brought from Mylaudy mixed freely without caste discrimination, at the initiative taken by Rev. Charles Mead and his beloved wife Mrs Coelestina Horst Mead. After Vethmonikam's family lost its hold in the Mission, things started to change. As time passed the original dwellers of Mead street and the nearby area moved to other places and countries such as Trivandrum, Madras, Bangalore, Rangoon, Singapore, Malaysia , Ceylon and so on due to many social, economic, and personal reasons. The last batch of the descendants of the original inhabitants of Mead street were[1] Dr. Schafter and family[ Music Composer and Singer Dr. Anand Chellappa'a maternal Grandfather],[2] Mrs.Mathiabarnam [a daughter of Mr. Jonadab and Deivayi and mother in-law of former Methodist Bishop of Malaysia and Singapore Dr. Theodre R. Doraisamy. Mr Jonadab and Dr. Schafter were brothers ],[3]Mrs. Josphine Retnammal Thomas [ a daughter of Mr. Jonadab, and sister of Mrs Mathiabaranam ,[4] Mr. Dharmaj[ generally called as Kutty mama, who settled in Rangoon], [5] Mr. Hawlockk, B.E [ a son of Mr . Jonadab, and Mr Hawlockk was a qualified engineer and he worked as an engineer at the Rare Earth Company at Manavalakurichi]. Unfortunately at present no descendants of these families live in Mead Street, Nagercoil. Both the buildings and people are new. Only Mrs. Saro Asir, the daughter of Mrs. Josephine Retnammal Thomas lives near at Arul Nagar and at present Ms Saro Asir and myself are attending the Calvary Lutheran Church Nagercoil .
Conclusion : Today Mead street looks so different with many new shops, bank buildings and new houses. It is pertinent to remember a historical fact that the famous Tamil Christian Poet John Palmer who lived in Mead Street Nagercoil, resigned his Mission job supporting the cause of Rev. Charles Mead's resignation from the LMS in connection with Mr.Mead's revolutionary marriage with Ms Luis Devaram Biddulph and moved to Trivandrum with his family . Some of John Palmer's descendants moved to Malaysia after the death of John Palmer in Trivandrum during the last quarter of 19th century in search better job opportunities and settled in Malaysia. The descendants of John Palmer are doing very well in Malaysia and Singapore. It will be heartening to mention here that a direct descendant of Poet John Palmer Mrs Datin Alice Rajamanohari {Palmer] Samuel is the wife of the Assistant Anglican Bishop West Malaysia Dato Rt. Rev. Charles Samuel.
L to R: [1]Bishop Dato.Charles Samuel,[2] his wife Datin Alice Rajamanohari [Palmer] Samuel and {3] their daughter Ms. Miriam Samuel.
Whenevr I pass through Mead street tears of joy and sorrow brim my inner eyes. Definitely Mead street had played an indelible and historical role and the descendants of the original residents of Mead street, Nagercoil were/are shining as high profile Government officials, Educationists, Bishops, Singers, Lawyers, Doctor, Music Composers, Pianists, Engineers and in short in all walks of life in the diaspora , throughout the world.
By. P. Babu Manoharan, M.A,.[Rights are reserved. This Article will be enlarged, modified and corrected later if needed].
The great Church historian Mr.C.M Agur writes that the first settlers at the newly formed Christian village at Nagercoil near Rev Mead's bungalow,[ Inside the present W.CC.Campus, Nagercoil ] were Mr. Mead's servants and a few mission agents and boys from Mylaudy [ CM. Agur, Church History of Travancore, Madras, 1903, p. 681]. Rev.Charles Mead stayed at Mylaudy before moving to Nagercoil and during that period of time we can infer that Mr. Mead's domestic servants were selected from the pioneer christian families of Mylaudy Maharasan Vethamonickam , and those domestic servants might have formerly served as domestic servants and helpers to Mr. Ringletaube. We know Ringeltaube stayed at Mylaudy from 1806 till he left Mylaudy, India in 1816 .After having moved to the bungalow presented to him by the then British Resident Col. Munro inside the present WCC campus, Rev Charles Mead wanted to establish a new ideal casteless christian village at Nagercoil near his residence.. Mr Mead helped his servants and other willing poor people from Mylaudy with financial assistance to build their houses in line with his social vision in the sites allotted to them in and around Mead Street. Mr Mead settled his Servants in the new neat small houses built in and around the Mead street. .Mead street was formed not at a particular date but it was formed and developed during the course of some years. I do not get any clear clue to name the servants of Mr. Mead. who settled in around Mead street. We can say some relatives of Mylaudy Maharasan Vethamanicakm were the privileged pioneers to settle down in the new Christian village at Nagercoil initiated and founded by Rev. Mead.
Mission Agents from Mylaudy who settled in and around Mead Street, Nagercoil :
The following persons from Mylaudy who worked as Catechists at the Nagercoil Church , and Teachers at the Nagercoil Seminary and Composers at the Printing Press at Nagercoil and Native Assistants to Rev. Mead and Rev. Mault namely Mr. Devavaram Biddulp[ Poet,Catechist,Nagercoil church and Teacher at the Nagercoil Seminary, Native Assistant to Rev.Charles Mead and Mylaudy Maharasan Vethamonikam's brother's son], Mr. Christian David of Mylaudy [Teacher , Nagercoil Seminary], Mr Masillmani of Mylaudy [ Catechist, Nagercoil Church- ], Mr. Moses of Mylaudy[Catechist , Nagercoil Church and Assistant to Rev. Charles Mault and a son of Maharasan Vethamonickam], Mr.Arumainaygam writer of Mylaudy [Teacher, Nagercoil Seminary], Mylaudy Samathanam mastry[Nagercoil LMS Mission Printing Press], were initially brought from Mylaudy and settled in the new Christian village in and around Mead Street with their families. And also Mr Packinathan [ kanakkan or Accountant and son-in-law of Maharsan Vethamoncakm and Head Gomestha or the chief ministerial officer of the Nagercoil Court when Mr Charles Mead worked as the District Judge , Nagercoil ] and some other people from Mylaudy or connected with Mylaudy also lived in and around Mead Street.
Daniel Paramanandam Deacon's grandchildren and great grandchildren
[ Dr.Schafter, [ in his military uniform] Mr.,Lamuel Peter, Mr.Chinnathmbi Peter, Mr.Nallathambi Peter and others including,Ms. Mathiabaranam, Mrs. Daya Manuel, Mrs Josephine Retnammal ]
Some Important Descendants of the original Residents of Mead Street Nagercoil : As C.M.Agur had written the Christians brought from Tanjore and people brought from Mylaudy mixed freely without caste discrimination, at the initiative taken by Rev. Charles Mead and his beloved wife Mrs Coelestina Horst Mead. After Vethmonikam's family lost its hold in the Mission, things started to change. As time passed the original dwellers of Mead street and the nearby area moved to other places and countries such as Trivandrum, Madras, Bangalore, Rangoon, Singapore, Malaysia , Ceylon and so on due to many social, economic, and personal reasons. The last batch of the descendants of the original inhabitants of Mead street were[1] Dr. Schafter and family[ Music Composer and Singer Dr. Anand Chellappa'a maternal Grandfather],[2] Mrs.Mathiabarnam [a daughter of Mr. Jonadab and Deivayi and mother in-law of former Methodist Bishop of Malaysia and Singapore Dr. Theodre R. Doraisamy. Mr Jonadab and Dr. Schafter were brothers ],[3]Mrs. Josphine Retnammal Thomas [ a daughter of Mr. Jonadab, and sister of Mrs Mathiabaranam ,[4] Mr. Dharmaj[ generally called as Kutty mama, who settled in Rangoon], [5] Mr. Hawlockk, B.E [ a son of Mr . Jonadab, and Mr Hawlockk was a qualified engineer and he worked as an engineer at the Rare Earth Company at Manavalakurichi]. Unfortunately at present no descendants of these families live in Mead Street, Nagercoil. Both the buildings and people are new. Only Mrs. Saro Asir, the daughter of Mrs. Josephine Retnammal Thomas lives near at Arul Nagar and at present Ms Saro Asir and myself are attending the Calvary Lutheran Church Nagercoil .
Conclusion : Today Mead street looks so different with many new shops, bank buildings and new houses. It is pertinent to remember a historical fact that the famous Tamil Christian Poet John Palmer who lived in Mead Street Nagercoil, resigned his Mission job supporting the cause of Rev. Charles Mead's resignation from the LMS in connection with Mr.Mead's revolutionary marriage with Ms Luis Devaram Biddulph and moved to Trivandrum with his family . Some of John Palmer's descendants moved to Malaysia after the death of John Palmer in Trivandrum during the last quarter of 19th century in search better job opportunities and settled in Malaysia. The descendants of John Palmer are doing very well in Malaysia and Singapore. It will be heartening to mention here that a direct descendant of Poet John Palmer Mrs Datin Alice Rajamanohari {Palmer] Samuel is the wife of the Assistant Anglican Bishop West Malaysia Dato Rt. Rev. Charles Samuel.
L to R: [1]Bishop Dato.Charles Samuel,[2] his wife Datin Alice Rajamanohari [Palmer] Samuel and {3] their daughter Ms. Miriam Samuel.
Whenevr I pass through Mead street tears of joy and sorrow brim my inner eyes. Definitely Mead street had played an indelible and historical role and the descendants of the original residents of Mead street, Nagercoil were/are shining as high profile Government officials, Educationists, Bishops, Singers, Lawyers, Doctor, Music Composers, Pianists, Engineers and in short in all walks of life in the diaspora , throughout the world.
By. P. Babu Manoharan, M.A,.[Rights are reserved. This Article will be enlarged, modified and corrected later if needed].
mead street is one of its kind....thank you uncle.
ReplyDelete