Group of Britons come searching for ancestors’ graves

Meerut: Sixteen British nationals, among them a family with members from three generations, reached Meerut on Tuesday to visit the graves of ancestors who lived in the city about two centuries ago. This group is part of Families in British India Society (FIBIS) – a group of people whose ancestors were either born in India or arrived here during the 200 years of British Raj.
Valmay Young, one of the visitors, said, “I could feel the connection the moment I entered St John’s Cemetery in Meerut Cantonment. Here lie the remains of Eleanor Brown, who died on October 12, 1818. She was buried in this cemetery the next day. I’m her descendent of the sixth generation.”
Young, 50, was accompanied by her teenage son Mark and parents Duane Young and Valmay June. Seventy-one-year-old June said, “I was born in Jhansi in 1944. My mother was born in Jabalpur more than two decades before me. So India remains an inseparable part of our family history.”
She said the first one from her family to arrive in India was her ancestor Lewis Andrew Collett, who landed on the Mumbai coast in 1796.
The group spent over two hours scouring the graveyard for the graves of their ancestors. They were disappointed, as thick post-monsoon vegetation had made large parts of the cemetery inaccessible. They did, however, spot the graves of some Britishers killed during the uprising of 1857.
Elaine McGregor, tour leader, was disappointed as the group could not find any of the graves it had been looking for. “I think we have to come again, at a time more favourable.” Many in the group stopped to click photographs at many epitaphs.
McGregor said, “There is a large percentage of British population that have ancestral links with Meerut. We have clicked pictures of epitaphs which I think we will be able to produce to descendants of those buried here.”
Amit Pathak, fellow, Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research, who offered his services as guide to this group, said, “The best time to visit the cemetery is after December, when the undergrowth gets cleared and all graves are visible.”
Noel Gunthar does not have any ancestor buried here. He was thrilled to be able to visit the St John’s Church nearby. “This was the place where my brother Winston was baptized on November 18, 1941,” he said.
After retiring from the railways in UK, Gunthar’s ancestor served the railways in Madras Presidency in the early 20th century. However, as the old records of St John’s Church are under a curation process, the group could not look at the burial, baptism or marriage records.
Gunthar, however, was optimistic: “It does not matter that we have not been able to see the records. We are pretty aware of our history and we have come here to put flesh to the bones to resurrect our past. And even to set our foot where the mortal remains of our ancestors lie. That is a feeling we cannot put in words.”