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The Times (London)
June 14, 2013 Friday
Edition 1; National Edition
Doomed Indian love story had happy end for the daughter who sailed to
a better life
by David Brown
It was the anguished plea of a desperate wife and mother as Eliza
Forbes wrote: "Our beloved Kitty and Alexander thank God they are in
good health and often hope to see their beloved father."
The letter was addressed to Theodore Forbes, a wealthy Scottish
merchant who had made his fortune in India in the early 19th century.
Eliza's appeal was the culmination of their romantic yet tumultuous
love story, which was ultimately doomed by the social attitudes to
race and marriage in colonial India. Their descendant is now second in
line to the British throne.
Theodore arrived in India in 1809 as an employee of the East India
Company looking for adventure and fortune. The 21-year-old merchant
was posted to the port city of Surat in western India, where he met
Eliza Kewark through her brother-in-law, Aratoon Baldassier, who was
acting as his agent.
Theodore described Eliza several times as a "girl", suggesting that
she may have been several years his Junior. Eliza's father was Jacob
Kevork, or Hakob Kevokian, a very Armenian name, but there is no
record of her mother. However, DNA test results show that she was
Indian.
There had been a thriving Armenian trading community in Surat since
the 17th century and there was some inter-marriage with the local
population.
When Theodore met Eliza it was common for British men to begin
relationships with Indian women and to have children, even if they
already had a family back in Britain.
Susan Harvard, who has been researching Eliza and Theodore's
relationship for almost 30 years, believes that the couple were
married in the Armenian church in Surat in early 1812, shortly before
he was posted to Mocha in current-day Yemen. However, it may not have
been legally recognised. In his notebook, Theodore refers to Eliza as
"the very pattern of what a wife ought to be" and in his letters
addresses her as "My Dear Betsy".
Their daughter Katherine (Kitty) Scott Forbes was born in Mocha in
December 1812 and their son, Alexander, two years later. Eliza
returned to Surat in 1815 and a second son, Fraser, was born in March
1817 but died aged six months.
Theodore had been offered a partnership in Forbes & Co, a trading
company based in Bombay, where the senior partner was Sir Charles
Forbes, a distant relative. But there had been a significant change in
colonial society. An influx of British women to India had led to a
change in social attitudes, with relationships with local women now
considered inappropriate for the merchant class. While Theodore worked
in Bombay his wife, Kitty and Alexander were left in Surat.
In a series of pitiful letters Eliza begged to be allowed to Join her
husband. In October 1817 she wrote of her hope that "Our Almighty may
do so the lucky day as connect our eyes to eyes. Our children as they
hope be make them love at your present will. I entreat you my dear sir
you may call from hence as soon as possible. Then will be happy and
save my life."
The letters, which appear to have been written by a scribe in Surat,
were signed Mrs Forbes followed by her title written in Armenian,
presumably by herself. But in earlier letters she and Kitty both wrote
in Hindi, suggesting a mixed heritage.
The following February she appealed for money for the family,
describing Theodore's "prosperous face with your merciful eyes" and
how she prayed for "lucky day as we can meet to each another". In a
postscript she added: "Kitty and Alexander often ask after you their
beloved Papa and I let you know they are in good health." A week later
she wrote again, seeking a reply to her letter.
In June 1818, Theodore's friend Thomas Fraser wrote to him after
visiting the family in Surat. "Kitty retains her good looks but the
sooner you give the order about her departure to England the better as
her complexion will soil in this detestable climate."
So Theodore decided that his daughter, then 6, should be sent to his
family home at Boyndlie, Aberdeenshire, where there would be less sun.
Eliza reluctantly accepted this plan but insisted that her faithful
servant, Fazagool, accompany her daughter to Scotland. In another
letter, she pleaded again to be allowed to reJoin her husband,
writing: "My good sir, I pray you let me know by your leave I will
bring my child to give in your hand by myself and after Kitty is
dispatched to Europe then stay in Bombay or stay in Surat."
It is Eliza's final surviving letter to Theodore, so it is possible
that the couple were reunited in Bombay. Kitty left for Scotland in
August 1819 and Theodore decided to return to Britain the following
year, but died aboard the Blenden Hall in September 1820.
In his will, written aboard the ship, he refers to Eliza as his
"housekeeper" and leaves her a monthly allowance of Just 100 Bombay
rupees a month, less than half the sum she had been receiving.
Theodore left Kitty, his "reputed natural daughter by Eliza Kewark",
50,000 Bombay rupees. His "reputed son" Alexander received 20,000
rupees and his father stated that he should remain in India.
Life for Kitty at Boyndile would have been very different from her
home in Surat. Mrs Harvard said: "I don't think her grandparents would
have encouraged her to talk about her past because it could have given
the impression that she was illegitimate and 'coloured'."
Mary Roach, the maternal aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, agrees: "My
mother appeared to have no knowledge of [Kitty's Indian mother], so
perhaps it was hidden."
Kitty later married James Crombie, a member of the family that
manufactured the coats, and was a respected member of Scottish
society.
Eliza was last heard of in 1834 when she wrote to Sir Charles Forbes
complaining that the annuity left by her "beloved master" had been
halved. Sir Charles forwarded her letter to her children but there is
no record of a reply.
In a footnote to history, the current Earl Spencer, the brother of the
late Diana, Princesses of Wales, has named two of his daughters Eliza
and Kitty.
June 14, 2013 Friday
Edition 1; National Edition
Doomed Indian love story had happy end for the daughter who sailed to
a better life
by David Brown
It was the anguished plea of a desperate wife and mother as Eliza
Forbes wrote: "Our beloved Kitty and Alexander thank God they are in
good health and often hope to see their beloved father."
The letter was addressed to Theodore Forbes, a wealthy Scottish
merchant who had made his fortune in India in the early 19th century.
Eliza's appeal was the culmination of their romantic yet tumultuous
love story, which was ultimately doomed by the social attitudes to
race and marriage in colonial India. Their descendant is now second in
line to the British throne.
Theodore arrived in India in 1809 as an employee of the East India
Company looking for adventure and fortune. The 21-year-old merchant
was posted to the port city of Surat in western India, where he met
Eliza Kewark through her brother-in-law, Aratoon Baldassier, who was
acting as his agent.
Theodore described Eliza several times as a "girl", suggesting that
she may have been several years his Junior. Eliza's father was Jacob
Kevork, or Hakob Kevokian, a very Armenian name, but there is no
record of her mother. However, DNA test results show that she was
Indian.
There had been a thriving Armenian trading community in Surat since
the 17th century and there was some inter-marriage with the local
population.
When Theodore met Eliza it was common for British men to begin
relationships with Indian women and to have children, even if they
already had a family back in Britain.
Susan Harvard, who has been researching Eliza and Theodore's
relationship for almost 30 years, believes that the couple were
married in the Armenian church in Surat in early 1812, shortly before
he was posted to Mocha in current-day Yemen. However, it may not have
been legally recognised. In his notebook, Theodore refers to Eliza as
"the very pattern of what a wife ought to be" and in his letters
addresses her as "My Dear Betsy".
Their daughter Katherine (Kitty) Scott Forbes was born in Mocha in
December 1812 and their son, Alexander, two years later. Eliza
returned to Surat in 1815 and a second son, Fraser, was born in March
1817 but died aged six months.
Theodore had been offered a partnership in Forbes & Co, a trading
company based in Bombay, where the senior partner was Sir Charles
Forbes, a distant relative. But there had been a significant change in
colonial society. An influx of British women to India had led to a
change in social attitudes, with relationships with local women now
considered inappropriate for the merchant class. While Theodore worked
in Bombay his wife, Kitty and Alexander were left in Surat.
In a series of pitiful letters Eliza begged to be allowed to Join her
husband. In October 1817 she wrote of her hope that "Our Almighty may
do so the lucky day as connect our eyes to eyes. Our children as they
hope be make them love at your present will. I entreat you my dear sir
you may call from hence as soon as possible. Then will be happy and
save my life."
The letters, which appear to have been written by a scribe in Surat,
were signed Mrs Forbes followed by her title written in Armenian,
presumably by herself. But in earlier letters she and Kitty both wrote
in Hindi, suggesting a mixed heritage.
The following February she appealed for money for the family,
describing Theodore's "prosperous face with your merciful eyes" and
how she prayed for "lucky day as we can meet to each another". In a
postscript she added: "Kitty and Alexander often ask after you their
beloved Papa and I let you know they are in good health." A week later
she wrote again, seeking a reply to her letter.
In June 1818, Theodore's friend Thomas Fraser wrote to him after
visiting the family in Surat. "Kitty retains her good looks but the
sooner you give the order about her departure to England the better as
her complexion will soil in this detestable climate."
So Theodore decided that his daughter, then 6, should be sent to his
family home at Boyndlie, Aberdeenshire, where there would be less sun.
Eliza reluctantly accepted this plan but insisted that her faithful
servant, Fazagool, accompany her daughter to Scotland. In another
letter, she pleaded again to be allowed to reJoin her husband,
writing: "My good sir, I pray you let me know by your leave I will
bring my child to give in your hand by myself and after Kitty is
dispatched to Europe then stay in Bombay or stay in Surat."
It is Eliza's final surviving letter to Theodore, so it is possible
that the couple were reunited in Bombay. Kitty left for Scotland in
August 1819 and Theodore decided to return to Britain the following
year, but died aboard the Blenden Hall in September 1820.
In his will, written aboard the ship, he refers to Eliza as his
"housekeeper" and leaves her a monthly allowance of Just 100 Bombay
rupees a month, less than half the sum she had been receiving.
Theodore left Kitty, his "reputed natural daughter by Eliza Kewark",
50,000 Bombay rupees. His "reputed son" Alexander received 20,000
rupees and his father stated that he should remain in India.
Life for Kitty at Boyndile would have been very different from her
home in Surat. Mrs Harvard said: "I don't think her grandparents would
have encouraged her to talk about her past because it could have given
the impression that she was illegitimate and 'coloured'."
Mary Roach, the maternal aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, agrees: "My
mother appeared to have no knowledge of [Kitty's Indian mother], so
perhaps it was hidden."
Kitty later married James Crombie, a member of the family that
manufactured the coats, and was a respected member of Scottish
society.
Eliza was last heard of in 1834 when she wrote to Sir Charles Forbes
complaining that the annuity left by her "beloved master" had been
halved. Sir Charles forwarded her letter to her children but there is
no record of a reply.
In a footnote to history, the current Earl Spencer, the brother of the
late Diana, Princesses of Wales, has named two of his daughters Eliza
and Kitty.