Ms. Anne Morddel reviews the book 'The Last Post: Inscriptions on French Graves in India' by K.J.S. Chatrath

 

                                                                  Ms. Anne Morddel

 The Last Post: Inscriptions on French Graves in India by K.J.S. Chatrath 

Review by Ms. Anne Morddel

I am happy to share with you that my book "The Last Post: Inscriptions on French graves in India" has been reviewed in "The French Geneology Blog" by Ms. Anne Morddel. I am reproducing the review below, with her kind permission.

“Pondichéry is upon us again! In truth, this happy find of a book covers nearly all of French India. The Last Post: Inscriptions on French Graves in India is a labour of love by K.J.S. Chatrath  (who also wrote something entitled "The Joy of Mental Health", but let's not worry about that). Dr. Chatrath is a retired civil servant and  now writes a number of blogs as well as books on the interaction between France and India.

The Last Post, he admits, is not an exhaustive listing of all names from all French graves in all of India, but it is a pretty good beginning, we think.

His table of transcriptions reads, in part:

1.     French Graves in Agra

2.     French Sisters of St. Joseph of Tabres, buried in Bangalore

3.     French Priests and Sisters Lying Buried in the Sacred Heart Church Compound, Bengaluru (Bangalore)

4.     Graves in the Erstwhile French Cemetery at Calcutta (Kolkatta) - Since Demolished

5.     Graves in the Chanderdagore Cemetery

6.     Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny Who Died At Chandannagar along With the Dates of Deaths

7.     Graves at Sarurnagar, Hyderabad

8.     Graves in the French Cemetery at Karaikal

9.     List of Reverend Parish Priests, Our Lady of Angels Church, Karaikal

10.   Sisters  of St. Joseph of Cluny Who Lie Buried in the Premises of Nirmalranee Girls Higher Secondary School, Karaikal, Along With the Dates of Death

11.  Graves in the French Cemetery at Mahé

12.  List of Missionaries and Vicars of the St. Theresa's Shrine of Mahé from Its Very Inception

13.  Graves in the French Cemetery at Pondichéry

14.  French  Jesuit Fathers and Other Reverend Priests Who Lie Buried in the Premises of the Church at Pondichérry From 1691 Onwards, Mentioning Their Respective Years of Birth, Ordainment or Death

15.  Sisters of St. Jospeh of Cluny Who Lie Buried in the St. Xavier's Church at Pondichérry Along With the Dates of Death

16.  Graves in the Protestant English Cemetery at Pondichéry

17.  Graves in the French Cemetery at Yanam (Yanaon)

18.  List of the Priests of Yanam (Yanaon)

19.  List of the Dead Noted in the Death Register of Europeans, Pondichéry Commune, 1830

20.  Some of the Recipients of the Légion d'Honneur Lying Buried in Graves in the Erstwhile French Settlements in India

There is discussion of some of the more celebrated names, including: Victor Jacquemont, botanist, Jean Baptiste de Warren, astronomer, Eugène Courjon, billiards player, Jean Baptiste Tavernier, jeweller

There are a few photographs. Within the above chapters, the names are in bold, followed by the inscriptions in normal typeface. There is a bibliography of works on French India. There is an index. Unfortunately, it is arranged firstly by cemetery, and secondly, alphabetically by the  first name. The book is in Indian English and has been self-published.

Nevertheless, we find this an impressive achievement, bringing to the world of French  genealogy data that would otherwise be extremely difficult to acquire.

Combined with previously mentioned resources on French India, this could be a true aid to finding a lost ancestor.  Should you be so lucky, it would appear that Dr. Chatrath would be willing to photograph graves for you. Click on the book title above to be taken to Pothi.com should you wish to purchase it.”

©2012 Anne Morddel ; French Genealogy

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Ms. Anne Morddel is an author, blogger, researcher and with a specialization in French genealogy. She is a Certified Genealogist (Board for the Certification of Genealogists), creator and author of over 1000 informative posts on "The French Genealogy Blog", a leading source and online manual since its inception in 2009, in English, on French genealogical research.

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The above post was first published on July 15, 2012 in my website http://www.gravematters.in/