British planters had been travelling to the remote and inaccessible tea districts of Assam since the 1840s. In the mid 19th. century the journey up the great Brahmaputra river by paddle steamer took a full 10 weeks. But in those early days the paddle steamers only went so far and the remainder of the journey - sometimes another few hundred miles - was by native craft. By the 1860s the India General Steam Navigation Company were operating monthly sailings all the way to tea gardens in north east Assam. By the 1870s demand was so great that a weekly service was inaugurated between Calcutta and Assam. The final stage of the young men's journies would have been through tiger country on the back of a pony or maybe an elephant. It would be at least 5 years before the return journey would be made. Many never made it back - cholera, smallpox, malaria, black water fever all taking their toll on the small British communities.
Louis Gordon McIntyre left Liverpool in November 1906 bound for Calcutta. He was 30 years old, the sixth of nine children born to John McIntyre a tea merchant in London. This photo shows him in uniform around 1900 indicating that maybe he served during the Boer War.
Winter was the best time of year to arrive in India as it gave newcomers a chance to acclimatise. Louis settled down to work at the Rangamati Tea Garden in Sibsagar in the Golaghat District of Assam working for the tea company of James Finlay. A priority would have been to meet other Europeans in the area otherwise it would have been a very lonely existence. There was a local lodge of freemasons a few miles away in Jorhat and Louis was initiated on 14 June 1907.
Like many other tea planters of the time Louis found himself a local girl. Her name was Elish. Needless to say the inevitable happened. On 10 September 1908 Elish gave birth to a son. He was born in Badlipar (Badulipar) close to the Rangamati Estate. The children of these relationships were known as "poor whites" and in many cases shunned by both British and the locals. Fortunately the Rev. John Graham had recognised the problem and set up a Home in Kalimpong in the the foothills of the Himalayas. By 1906 there were 187 children in the home but the number grew with each passing year. At some point Louis' son, Donald, was sent to the home.
Perhaps the most important man on the estate after the manager was the Garden Sirdar or local head man. To him fell the job of organising the female pluckers. This entailed parading up and down between the rows of tea bushes armed with a small stick yelling at the top of his voice - not unlike a Sergeant Major. The routine of the day was rise at 5, breakfast at 5.30, work till 11 when it was time for tiffin and a rest until 2. Then it was work again until 6, bath, dinner and relaxing until 9.30 when it was time for bed.
Prior to her arrival improvements were needed to The Tea Planter's bungalow. Re-thatching being a necessity.
One tea planter reminisced that there was nothing worse than being woken up in the middle of the night with water splashing on your face. Clothing would be drenched as would the bedding. This would not have gone down well with a new bride! A verandah was also constucted so that evenings could be spent outside in the cooler air.
Louis (known as Louie to his bride) married Tryphena by Licence at St. John's Church in Calcutta on 7th. November 1912. Then it was off to Rangamati. The first part of the journey may have been the nine hour train ride on the Eastern Bengal Railway. One gentleman traveller of the time wrote:
The line is so badly laid, the rattle caused by the line passing over the shaky wooden bridges so terrible, and the cars so stuffy that journeying by this line is an adventure not to be undertaken lightly
After the train it would have been up the great Brahmaputra on the Mahamuni steamer to Assam. It was said that
To visit Bengal without travelling on the great rivers would be almost as bad as going to Agra without seeing the Taj Mahal.
Looking at the photos which Tryphena sent home there is little doubt that she was delighted with her new home. Being in the middle of nowhere did not mean one should deprive oneself of nice furniture - after all it was hoped that new friends would be frequent visitors.
Here we have a photo of Tryphena at her writing desk with Louie standing to one side. On the wall behind the desk is her wall of family photos.
Perhaps the most important man on the estate after the manager was the Garden Sirdar or local head man. To him fell the job of organising the female pluckers. This entailed parading up and down between the rows of tea bushes armed with a small stick yelling at the top of his voice - not unlike a Sergeant Major. The routine of the day was rise at 5, breakfast at 5.30, work till 11 when it was time for tiffin and a rest until 2. Then it was work again until 6, bath, dinner and relaxing until 9.30 when it was time for bed.
There is no indication that Louis returned home on leave at the end of 5 years, but his intended bride did arrive from England. Edith Tryphena Hanney, known as Tryphena, was the daughter of a London draper and was applauded in the world of amateur dramatics - as was her elder brother Lionel.
Prior to her arrival improvements were needed to The Tea Planter's bungalow. Re-thatching being a necessity.
One tea planter reminisced that there was nothing worse than being woken up in the middle of the night with water splashing on your face. Clothing would be drenched as would the bedding. This would not have gone down well with a new bride! A verandah was also constucted so that evenings could be spent outside in the cooler air.
Louis (known as Louie to his bride) married Tryphena by Licence at St. John's Church in Calcutta on 7th. November 1912. Then it was off to Rangamati. The first part of the journey may have been the nine hour train ride on the Eastern Bengal Railway. One gentleman traveller of the time wrote:
The line is so badly laid, the rattle caused by the line passing over the shaky wooden bridges so terrible, and the cars so stuffy that journeying by this line is an adventure not to be undertaken lightly
After the train it would have been up the great Brahmaputra on the Mahamuni steamer to Assam. It was said that
To visit Bengal without travelling on the great rivers would be almost as bad as going to Agra without seeing the Taj Mahal.
Looking at the photos which Tryphena sent home there is little doubt that she was delighted with her new home. Being in the middle of nowhere did not mean one should deprive oneself of nice furniture - after all it was hoped that new friends would be frequent visitors.
Here we have a photo of Tryphena at her writing desk with Louie standing to one side. On the wall behind the desk is her wall of family photos.
And of course we must not forget the garden
Getting around was either by bicycle, horse or pony and trap
Now where on earth was there to go you might be wondering. Well, Jorhat boasted a very fine, very British Gymkhana Club. This had been built by the planters back in the 1880s.
As well as horse racing the club provided facilitiers for tennis and billiards and provided a lovely venue for seasonal balls.
Jorhat Races were not a one day affair - the celebrations lasted a whole week with families coming from far and wide. A wonderful opportunity to meet up with friends.
These photos show the ladies and their Khitmagars outside the accommodation huts.
There is little doubt that Tryphena had found her Shangri La and by the look of these photos the couple were extremely happy.
A few years ago the caretaker of this little piece of England asked for help in maintaining the graves as 21st. century tea estates were no longer paying his salary. His family had been caring for the cemetery since the 1880s and the job had been carried on down through the generations. Ahmed, the current caretaker had taken over in 1968. To begin with he had been paid 30 rupees a month but this had stopped in the 1990s and by 2013 he was having great difficulty funding the work. Whether or not help was forthcoming is not known.
After Louie's death Tryphena moved to the lakes in Shillong and took up residence at Inglesby.
Such a beautiful place - but alas she too died, just two years after her husband. In her will she requested that she be buried with her husband at Golaghat and it is hoped that her wishes were honoured. Probate was granted in 1921 but it was not until 1927 that matters concerning her estate were finalised. Apart from a few pieces of jewellery which she left to her best friends everything else was left to her two brothers back home. Four large wooden crates were made to hold her personal effects and these were shipped back to England.
When the photo album came into my possession a couple of years ago a wonderful surprise was finding two watercolours slipped into the back of the album. Painted by Tryphena in 1915 they show the garden of The Tea Planter's Bungalow in Rangamati.
Once again I ask myself how could such a beautiful photo album end up for sale on eBay?!!
If any reader should be descended from either the Hanney or McIntyre families please contact me as I would love to hear from you.
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