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The story of St.George's
S.MUTHIAH
A BRIEF history of St. George's Cathedral - near the Gemini roundabout - is what F. V. N. Paul, a trustee, has compiled and I must thank him for sending me a copy to add to my collection on Madras. Painting in broad strokes a picture of the church that was consecrated in 1816 - after worship had begun in it in 1815 - and which became a cathedral in 1835, Paul provides a wealth of information, ranging from furniture and fittings to burials in its cemetery.
The cathedral has a wealth of memorials in the form of sculptures, bas reliefs and tablets by some of the best known sculptors of the day, like Chantrey and Flaxman. Half a dozen of these find a pictorial place in the book and catch the eye, their photography and reproduction rather better than what is usual in such small publications.
Amongst the memorials are just three that commemorate Indian parishioners. The oldest remembers Dewan Bahadur N. Subramaniam, Administrator General of Madras 1897-1911. A member of the Legislative Council, he is best recalled for endowing the Kalyani Hospital on Edward Elliot's Road. He appears to have been the first Indian whose last resting place is in the Cathedral Cemetery (4.1.1911).
The second memorial to an Indian is to the Rt. Rev. David Chellappa, the first Indian Bishop of the Diocese of Madras. He was consecrated on January 25, 1955, and officiated as Bishop till his death in 1964. But many remember him for the years he spent as principal of St. Paul's High School, Vepery. Also remembered in a memorial in the Cathedral is Rajaiah David Paul, who retired from the Indian Civil Service in 1950. After retirement, he served the TocH in India as its Honorary Commissioner and Madras Christian College as its Bursar. His erudition and several books on Christianity led to the Serampore Theological College conferring on him an honorary Doctorate of Divinity. His son, the author of the history, says he is the fifth generation of Pauls to worship at St.George's.
Another pillar of the church was Sir David Devadoss, Judge of the Madras High Court, who was appointed in 1930, the first Indian Trustee of the Cathedral. The first Indian wedding in the cathedral after it became part of the Church of South India was that of Sir David's daughter Vedavathi and Rajah Rhenius. I, however, wonder which was the first Indian couple to be united in marriage in the cathedral; the first couple married in it were Peter Batchelor and Alice Ashton on November 11, 1835. In fact, there are number of firsts that I can think of that I would like answers to, including who was the first Indian to became a parishioner and when and who was the first Indian to conduct service in the Cathedral and when. I look forward to the next edition of Paul's history providing the answers to these and many more questions.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
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Visakhapatnam
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