St. George's English Cemetery and the American Mission Cemetery house the bones of those who built the empire

The St. George's English Cemetery, more than two centuries old, was the last resting place for the war heroes of the East India Company -- generals, captains and their relatives. It is believed that the Company acquired a small area of land just within the outer boundary of the city to serve as a cemetery. According to a record kept by Placid Fernandez, Honorary Secretary, Madura European Graves Committee, there are graves here of British officers who commanded the Madras Native regiments. This suggests that the Company had a presence in Madurai before its official take-over in 1781.

The earliest grave in the cemetery dates to 1770, proving that the cemetery was established by the East India Company even before Madura was officially ceded to it by the Nawab of Carnatic. The grave of Christopher Theophilis , who served as captain in the East India Company, bears the date 18th May 1773.

“This centuries-old-cemetery has been known by various names, like English Cemetery, European cemetery of St. George's Church and locally as Kakathope (Grove of Crows) cemetery,” says Mr. Fernandez, an officer employed by Madura Coats. He has taken on the responsibility of maintaining the graveyard since the 1980s.

Lynette and Tom Inglis, former board members of the British Association of Cemeteries in South Asia, write that as the European population grew, it required a church to pray in and a cemetery to bury its dead. It was a sad fact of life in the tropics that many Europeans died young. The average age at death for men seemed to be 30 and for women their early twenties. Infant mortality was high, as evident in the large number of child graves.

Before Independence, the ecclesiastical department of the Government of India maintained the European Cemeteries and Graves with grants administered through the Public Works Department of the provincial governments, says Mr. Fernandez.

Those grants ended on 31st March 1948. The High Commissioner for the UK accepted the responsibility until it became the duty of local churches and communities. A local committee for Madurai and Ramnad was formed under the chairmanship of Rt. Rev. Jel Newbigin, Bishop of Madurai-Ramnad region. J.R. Marshall of the Madura Mills Limited was the honorary secretary then.

After Independence, the cemetery's upkeep fund dwindled. It was supported by Sir James Doak, British Managing Director of Madurai Mills, and then by the Indian management of Madura Coats. Later, the management ended its support with a small final donation. This was carefully invested and became the main source of funds for the maintenance. However, the British High Commission in Delhi still sends money per annum towards maintenance cost as interest on an endowment of Rs. 1000. Some Anglo-Indians, whose ancestors are buried in the cemetery, contribute for maintenance but their numbers are dwindling as more and more young people emigrate, says Mr. Fernandez. Many families, having died out in India a century ago or having returned to the UK, are no longer in touch with this piece of earth, where the bones of those who built the empire were laid to rest. Now, traditionally, Anglo-Indian citizens and members of the Church of Divine Patience in Railway Colony are buried here.

Next to the British cemetery lies the American Mission cemetery, which houses the graves of William Michael Zumbro, former principal of the American College, Rev. John Eddy Chandler, member of the American Mission, and Edgar Martin Flint, who served as a teacher of chemistry in the American College.

The Madura European Graves Committee has committed itself to the task of maintaining the cemetery and paying the watchman.

FACTFILE

• The British Cemetery houses 522 graves and the American Mission Cemetery has 150.

• The oldest graves belong to Captain Christopher Theophilus and Samuel Evas, who died in 1773.

• It is said that the cemetery also accommodates one of the British contemporaries of Veerapandya Kattabomman.

• The cemetery houses an old hearse that carried the bodies on their last journey.

St. Georges Church

According to Lynette and Tom Inglis, the Scottish brothers Andrew Craig and Frank Harvey established a cotton mill called A&F Harvey Mills in Madurai. George Fredrick Fischer had bought the zamindarship of Salem, a rich cotton-growing district, from the British Administration in Madras. Fischer died in 1868 and his heirs Robert Fischer and Jessica Foulkes erected the church of St. Georges in his memory in the central part of the city. This building was dedicated in 1881. As it was built completely of stone, it is called kalkovil (stone church).

The monuments register held in the India Office Archives states that George Fredrick Fischer is buried in the churchyard of St. Georges, and so one can assume the present building stands on the site of an older church.

Lynette and Tom Inglis write, “We were told by the verger that there were two graves in the crypt of St. Georges one in name of Fischer and the other a collector of Madurai called Rose.”