My father was born in Calcutta. Throughout my life I had asked him why the
family were there. Were his parents Indian? When did they leave Scotland?
Did he speak Urdu? Did he have an elephant? He always told me simply: “We
were an English family who happened to be living in India.”
When he moved to Worcestershire, after he was married, he initially told
people he was Welsh (that was why he pronounced certain words a little
strangely) and that he was slightly dark-skinned because he had spent the
summer working in greenhouses.
My father’s parents died before I was born and the only connection with India
that I can remember are occasional telephone calls – always in the middle of
George and Mildred, for some reason – from an Indian woman asking to speak
“to George McGowan, please”.
My sister Kay and I would hear him say “Hello, Auntie Gee” (or Auntie Jean, as
we thought then) and vaguely hear him use some Indian-sounding words but,
stupidly, we were far too interested in George and Mildred to ask him about
“George and India”.
When he died (in 2003, aged 74) I had to take the birth certificate to the
registrar’s office in order to obtain the death certificate. On the
74-year-old slip of paper, under the word “caste”, was the term
“Anglo-Indian”.
I had no idea what it meant. This time last year, thanks to the BBC1 series
Who Do You Think You Are? I was about to go to Calcutta to find out.
CALCUTTA, September 2006. The journey from the airport is staggering. I am
instantly hit by the heat, the humidity and the huge number of people. It’s
as if someone has said, “Let’s get everyone in India to go to Calcutta for
the day, for a laugh.” But this isn’t just for today – it’s every day. And
it’s no laugh.
Inch by inch there is something new to be shocked by: people sleeping
comfortably on the pavements, litter everywhere (mainly plastics, of
course). Women carry milk churns on their heads. Old men cycle happily
through downpours pulling carts laden with newspapers; cows wander aimlessly
along the side of the road. It is as if every decade of the past century is
taking place at the same time.
Finally, the road is wide and pleasant. We see some once-majestic buildings,
airy parks, the wonderful Victoria Memorial.
I go to see a man called Melvyn Brown. His inauspicious house sits opposite
two even more inauspicious tailors’ shops. I walk in through a beaded
curtain and am amazed that, one step off the seething, dusty road, is this
comfortable, clean room full of DVDs. Melvyn is a film buff, a slight but
wonderfully alive man and he knows everything there is to know about
Anglo-Indians.
First he tells me that to be “Anglo-Indian” does not mean that you were from
an English family who “happened to be living in India”. To be Anglo-Indian
means that a parent was Indian. Not an immediate parent but someone. A
mother. He tells me that it comes down the mother’s side.
At least, that’s what I think he is saying. There is a lot of information to
take in suddenly and on top of that I am being heavily distracted by his
quaintly old-English soft furnishings, especially three crocheted red,
yellow and green cushions in the shape of fish perched evenly on top of the
sofa.
Anyway, the likelihood is that someone in my McGowan past – probably a soldier
in the British Army – left Scotland and married an Indian girl. But when?
And whom?
It had progressed from being a common accident (“a hit and run”) to an actual
policy, he says. British soldiers were encouraged to “modify” their genes.
And, in the early days, were even paid to do so.
The Anglo-Indian, proficient in both languages, was listened to by the Indians
and was loyal to the British whose culture he took on completely. Melvyn
describes the Anglo-Indians proudly (he is one himself) as rugged, artistic,
hard-working, “the unsung heroes of the British Raj”.
They worked on the railway, in the docks, in the telegraph offices – they were
well respected and well paid.
In fact, they were doing so well at one time that the government became
worried. Worried that, with the huge native Indian population behind them,
they would become so powerful that they could take over the country.
Ceilings were imposed on how far the Anglo-Indian could rise.
As independence raised its head, a “psychosis of fear” passed through the
Anglo-Indians. They knew that they did not belong to any of the reemerging
factions – and the majority, for their own safety, left their homeland.
They left for Australia, for South Africa and Canada. They left for Britain.
And, in my dad’s case, for Hillingdon, west London.
In Britain, the “psychosis of fear”, says Melvyn, took hold again and led to a
lot of secrecy about the “foreign” roots of this swarthy, new,
British-but-not-British community. They feared much and experienced some
racism in the land of their distant forefathers, he says.
Out of a sense of self-preservation, one of them, my father, clearly said that
he was “Welsh” and had spent the summer working in greenhouses. And never
referred to his roots again.
“So, my dad was properly Anglo-Indian?”
“Oh, yes. That’s what it says, actually, on his birth certificate, isn’t it?”
“Yes. And, if he was Anglo-Indian . . ?”
“Then so are you, Alistair.” Melvyn is so kindly and intelligent, bright and
spiritual. His laughing mouth, his thin lips, his shiny beard-line are so
like dad’s that it feels like my father is telling me all this himself –
finally.
“Do I look Anglo-Indian?” I ask. “No. But I would have guessed that this was
the case, actually, after 10 minutes in your company.”
“How?” “From your demeanour, your manners, your diction, your vocabulary and
your accent.”
I am amazed. Here am I, having built a career as an impressionist and spent
two decades opining about what people’s voices said about them, and yet I
had no idea what my own voice said about me. And it said, to the initiated,
“Anglo-Indian”.
I leave with a new friend and an answer. But now there’s a new question: who
was the mystery woman who changed the course of my family’s history? And
when? Dad always said they just “happened to be in India” – so, it can’t be
far back, surely.
Well yes, it can. Over the course of the next five amazing days (which take us
from Allahabad to Mirzapur to Chunar), we find out that the initial “hit and
run” as Melvyn called it, happened as far back as 1750.
In short, I was the first McGowan in my father’s line to be born in the
British Isles in more than 200 years.
The previous “Anglo” was John McGowan, who went to India to serve in the
British Army and was clearly seduced not only by a local Indian girl (Maria
de la Cruz) but by the fact that he would be paid to have children with her.
I am unsure what to think about my ancestors’ military involvement. My
knowledge of history is appalling, but even I know that the British Army did
some terrible things in India.
A description of John McGowan in a military history book describes him as “one
of the most distinguished officers of the Bengal army” and “an intrepid and
gallant soldier”.
I am happier (ethically) to read him also described as “an unassuming and
upright man”.
In Chunar I look for the grave of John and Maria’s son, the wonderfully named
Suetonius, who had followed his father into the army.
The tombs are enormous, black and sandy, in the shadow of the old British
fort. I am on the banks of the Ganges in what looks like Leeds cemetery. I
read a couple of inscriptions and wonder where Suetonius is.
I can’t find him. A lot of the graves have been ravaged. Bricks here,
headstones there have been taken for use as tables or for sale. I had never
heard of this man until today but I am sad not to be able to find him, to
feel his energy and read his name.
I look at the group of local boys playing on the graves, sitting on tombs. It
all seems wrong – so lacking in respect. I cannot imagine any graveyard in
Britain being treated like this. Yet what respect were the Indian people
shown, in turn, by these invading British – setting up their fort in what
was a holy Hindu site? Bringing their people, their culture, their diseases,
their religion, their guns and cannons here.
In this one instance, it seems to me, there is no truer phrase than “what goes
around, comes around”. No more fitting word than the one we have taken –
like so much – from India: karma.
As my time in India approaches its close I realise that, if forced to choose,
I would rather live in India than America. And I am shocked. I feel that
there is a greater sense of respect and togetherness here. A greater sense
of nature and spirituality.
Yet, overall, the journey into India and into my past has made me feel how
British I am. British born and bred. Indian history. Unexplored Scottish
roots.
John McGowan (c 1750) was as far back as we could get in the history books.
He, I’m sure, is the McGowan who left Scotland and through whom I feel so
Scottish.
I’ve always felt a connection with Scotland, have always loved the country and
the people, its mountains and its cities. I’ve sat at Hampden Park and sung
Flower of Scotland from the heart. Scotland – my spiritual home.
Back in the UK, at the British Library, a man in a three-piece suit called
Tony shows me all John McGowan’s military records and, finally, shows me the
place from where he sailed to India.
And there, swimming before my eyes, is a word I had never expected to see –
“Ireland”.
I am shocked. I can’t take it in. I feel as if a big tartan rug has been
pulled from under me.
Today I am still convinced – along with many other McGowans – that John only
sailed from Ireland.
We have no actual records of John’s birth and family myth says Scotland. My
heart says Scotland. I will cling on to Scotland. And embrace India. Like a
true Englishman.
Who Do You Think You Are? is on BBC1 at 9pm on Thursday
I watched TV's " Who do you think you are" and the trail of your Anglo Indian ancestors, I could see how dissapointed you were that the trail ended in Ireland and not with Scottish ancestors,but I bet that your ancestors came from N. Ireland and perhaps from Islay, Argyll Scotland before that !
James McPherson, Stirling, Scotland
if billy bergman ever comes back to read this page --
st. joseph's in calcutta was run by irish christian brothers. st. xavier's calcutta was the jesuit school. st. joseph's in darjeeling was run by jesuits.across the road from st. joseph's calcutta was st. george's (irish chr brothers--free sch
dolores chew, montreal, canada
Allistair I do not know if your researchers came across a book entitled 'Marked for misfortune' by Jean Hood. It tells the true story of the Honourable East India Company's ship "Winterton" setting sail for India from Gravesend on 28th April 1791 with 288 passengers and crew. Among the passengers was a Suetonius McGowan a Bengal born son of a former NCO commissioned after the Bhatta mutiny and his sister Miss McGowan.
On the 19th August 1792 the ship struck a rock off Madagascar and foundered. Many perished but Suetonius and his sister made it ashore with a number of others.
To cut a long story short, after many more hardships, they eventually arrived in Madas two years later.
Russ Garbutt, Swanland, East Yorkshire
I had a dream about you last night. When i put on the tv this morning the first face i saw was yours. Spooky. I am quite normal and in no way psychic. Hmm...strange innit?
Elly, Willenhall, West Mids, England
alistair interesting program
my dad used to have bangers and mash with your dad in india and knew your family well
what the program did not recount is your fathers brother who had polio when he was younger but notwithstanding that went on to date some of the better looking girls
my dads name is james henry richard bergman and he was the headboy of st josephs in calcutta a tough school run by jesuit monks
no doubt you dont read these gobbits but if you do merry christmas!
billy
billy bergman, London,
hi, i'm an anglo indian from calcutta.my great grand father was irish on my fathers side and my great grand mother was english on my mothers side.the best thing you could do to learn more about the anglo indian community is to get the book" britains betrayal in india" from amazon.co.uk
they are other books too but that one is the best.
peter mcdermott, feltham,middlesex, uk
HI Alistair
Not sure if you actually read this but I have Mcgown's in my tree and they are from Ireland as well I also have to tell you, and you are probably already aware of this, but if the surname begins with Mc as ours does then your heritage is Irish. if it's Mac then it's Scottish. Having said that there was thousands of Irish people who went to Scotland So although the surname is Mc doesnt mean to say that they wernt born In Scotland. I Loved the programme and am sad it has finished now. I have traced my tree back to 1760 I have 9 lines of Irish and counting over 100 scottish and counting and 1 of english and counting Its a brilliant hobby and its great finding out about the many different people in our past.
Thank you for such a good programme
Fi Telford
Fi Robertson, TELFORD, England
Is it too late to add my comment? Hi Alistair, Suzi "Stand-in" here. So wonderful to see you looking so well in your (fairly) recent documentary. It was more gripping than any TV Detective Series and only frustrating in that its ending seemed premature! I was dying to know more and if, eventually, you found that elusive Scottish connection. Here's hoping your world (and your tennis) is full of aces! Warmest Wishes, Suzi
Suzi Woods, Balsall Common, West Midlands
A fascinating programme. My parents are both Anglo-Indian, and although they are both very proud of their Indian side (more so after moving to London), we have dozens of Anglo Indian friends and relatives who are in utter denial about their Indian background. Invariably, fair-skinned Anglo-Indians would try to "pass for white" (despite their thick Indian accents) and exaggerate their Englishness. They thus became the living embodiment of the Kapoors/Coopers on the BBC TV comedy series Goodness Gracious Me...
John, London, UK
Hello Alastair,
I think you are a terrific Comedian and a smashing
human being and a fine actor.
I am an Anglo Indian and absolutely proud of it.
My ancestors on Mum's side of the family
are Irish (Curran) and on my Dad's side they
are English.(Arnold).
The name 'Pereira' derived from the fact that my Dad's Mum re-married when she lost her husband
(Mr Arnold !) in WW1.Her new husband was a
Mr.Pereira ( A Burgher) from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka),
and that is how I got the surname 'Pereira'.
I am very proud of my heritage,believe me !!.
keep up the good work.
Love and Best Wishes to You & Yours.
BFN
72ss
Cecil Stanley Pereira.
Cecil Stanley Pereira, London,
I goggled Seutonius (what a fabulous name) and Wikipedia describe him as a famous Roman historian and biographer (born c.70 A.D.). Some more googling revealed the links Sue and Claire refer to in previous posts ... and it would appear Alistair's roots are indeed Scottish! Major General John McGowan was born in Hartsyde whilst his wife (Maria De Cruz) was born in Edinburgh!! These were the last 2 ancestors that the programme traced ... surely someone at the BBC did a google search??!! If not, someone should tell Alistair before he stops singing Flower of Scotland!
Maurice (Irish), London,
Traditionally in Scotland the Mc names are Mac and its usually how we know if a person is of Scots or Irish origin so someone named MacGowan I would think of as Scottish and someone named McGowan as of Irish origin. I myself can trace grandparents back to Ireland 3 of them and 1 Scottish and am proud to be descended from such a mix
H Gibbons, Motherwell, Scotland
I'm 52 years old and still don't know about the whole anglo indian bit of me!! I could'nt believe it when I watched alistair on tv saying the same things as me, I laughed and laughed and just imagined my parents and their parents hushing us up when we asked where they came from, "we are british"they said "and you are white, born in london"! -"so why do we eat curry on sundays" we asked!!
Our name is Sullivan, our parents moved to the uk in 1947. All of us(4) were all born here, our parents background is Agra and Lucknow where my Mother was born,We are being told we have Irish and dutch blood as my grans maiden name was Vans Spaull, she made good curry too!!!!
Any way I married a lovely girl from Peckham,se london and she makes good curry as well, (my mum taught her well)
My three daughters are a mixture of us but all have that look, do you know what I mean? One of them has just married a cornish gent by origin, what know? I ask.
where do I start Alistair ??
anthony sullivan, wilmington, Dartford, uk
Hello Alistair mcgowan, watched with great interest the programme on your journey to find out more about the mcgowan family tree. just to give you some further information ,i am the daughter of Neville mcgowan his father was Arthur Mcgowan,who i am led to believe had three brothers.Although the programme only followed your line. Neville married Brenda Hadland and had 4 children eldest venetia,kevin,maxine&steven(twins). I as yourself live in worcestershire, their was a reunion of the mcgowen family members 6/10/07 at the Billesley Public House,If you have any further info regarding any of Arthers brothers and time permits ,i would be interested to know. venetia clarke(nee Mcgowan).
Venetia Clarke , webheath reddich, england
Why was Alistair so disgruntled about having Irish roots and clinging on to the idea that his name made him Scottish.Most people in the world love to have the Irish connection including me.Fab small country full of talented people who have had to leave because of the rape of the island for centuries . I would suggest he is a descendant of the Scots from the time of the" Plantations " in Ireland. Anne York
Arundale, York, U.K>
Gripping stuff. I was born here but my background is almost identical - great, great ... grandfather who was Irish went to India in the 1700's with the British Army. Eventually married a Portugese / Indian and the rest so they say is history. My father grew up in Allahabad and came to England in the 60's where he married an English woman. As for me - I married an Irish woman and my brother an Indian - not sure what that makes our kids but history seems to have come full circle! I have a strong suspicion that our ancestors would have known each other.
Ian, Kent, UK
Ian Joseph, Gravesend,
If you are of Scots Irish you are still Irish, and yes as you say MacGabhainn is a very popular name in Sligo, Ireland.
Dave, Dublin, Ireland
Would just like to say that Robert of GA's sarcastic and uncalled for remarks only prove him to be thoroughly American at heart.
Penny, Poole, UK
Really enjoyed the show. I am of Irish origin and live and work in Kolkata. Enjoy the company of the Anglo Indian community at the Kolkata Rangers club. The Clubs President is named Remidios and there are McLuskie's, Knight's, Hooper's and D'Cruz's.... The community is very closely knit and are currently campaigning to keep one of their traditional homes from being demolished - Bow Barracks.
Paul, Kolkata , West Bengal
Dear Alistair,
Great show but why oh why did you jump from thinking you might be of Scottish decent to talking about the Irish Tri-colour? There is another more likely possibility. Namely that your ancestor was Ulster Scots (from the part of Ireland that was to become Northern Ireland) and that 100 years previously your family was Scottish.
Rob Martin, London, UK
It is more likely John McGowan was Scots Irish (presently Northern Irish). Being of Scottish blood 100 years before John McGowan was born!
Rob Martin, London, UK
I think Alistair probably is of Scots origin; having looked at all the family history internet sites, the only Suetonius' I can find are the Romans, and in Scotland, or those of Scots descent. It was also commmon for the Scots to move between Scotland and Ireland, quite apart from a deliberate policy of encouraging Scots to move there by landowners hoping for a foil to the fiery local populace.
The DNA question is interesting, and it is quite possible that if Alistair searched the various companies who run surname projects, he might find one running a McGowan project, especially if the paper trail does run out in Ireland. It is possible that John McGowan, who was born in Ireland, was the son of a Scots soldier serving in Ireland. So don't give up yet !
Wendy
Dorset, UK
Wendy Greenshields, Weymouth, UK
Dear Alister
surely you are aware that the Irish have been in the frount line of the British millitary for hundreds of years. As they were in many other armies. I believe they even gave william Wallace a hand.As soon as the programme started I knew what you would discover. I was on the phone to one of my sisters throughtout the programme waiting to see your face.But do not dispair. Unlike the Scots we always flew our own flag. My children and grandchilfren cheer for England . We enjoyed the programme immensely.You have a wonderful heritage. Congratulations.
Pauline, London, England
My mother was also born in Calcutta in 1919 to an Armenian father and an Irish / indian mother. She came to Britain after after marrying my father who was stationed in Calcutta during the war with the RAF.. She never saw her parents again (they too lived in Kiddapore) and never went back to India. I found your programme enchanting. I am so proud of my heritage - thank you for uncovering the past for me also.
Susan Gregory Williams
susan williams, bromley, kent
There appear to be other researchers looking into this family. I have found
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/a/i/Manmohan-Rai/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0297.html
and
http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/INDIA/2004-06/1086944648
Some appear to have traced the family back to Scotland.
Sue, Somerset, UK
Sue, Bridgwater, UK
Dear Alistair - watched your fabulous program - and had a dig on the internet - thought you might be interested to read this: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/INDIA/2004-06/1086944648
Best regards
Claire - daughter of Catholic Irish Mother and Protestant Ulster Father - I know what it is to be mixed race!!!!
Claire Price, Billericay, Essex
"As my time in India approaches its close I realise that, if forced to choose, I would rather live in India than America."
A very wise choice Alistair. With your possible Scottish ancestry you might have ginger hair, and we know how Americans treat gingers! And you know no true American would ever dream of having a sense of nature and spirituality. And you should also know that we regularly burn books by Kiran Desai. Don't worry about your "Anglo-Indian" caste, your gratuitous and needless put down of America proves you to be thoroughly British at heart.
Robert, Savannah, GA
People cannot be believed in their claims to ethnicity of anywhere.
DNA tests should be part of entry requirements. This would make all equal as applicants for entry, visas and residency.
pia, london, uk