The Bengal obituary, or, A record to perpetuate the memory of departed worth : being a compilation of tablets and monumental inscriptions from various parts of the Bengal and Agra Presidencies : to which is added biographical sketches and memoirs of such as have pre-eminently distinguished themselves in the history of British India, since the formation of the European settlement to the present time / by Holmes and Co.
- Holmes and Co. (Calcutta)
- Date:
- 1851
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The Bengal obituary, or, A record to perpetuate the memory of departed worth : being a compilation of tablets and monumental inscriptions from various parts of the Bengal and Agra Presidencies : to which is added biographical sketches and memoirs of such as have pre-eminently distinguished themselves in the history of British India, since the formation of the European settlement to the present time / by Holmes and Co. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![THE BENGAL OBITUARY. ST. JOHN’S CHURCH. The first stone of this handsome edifice* was laid on Tuesday the 6th day of April, 1784, on the morning of which Mr. Wheler, then acting President, proceeded from the old Court House attended by the chief officers of State and the principal inhabitants of Calcutta, to the ground upon which the sacred edifice was to be erected. The first stone was laid by Mr. Wheler with the usual ceremonies ; a Prayer was read on the occasion by the Rev. W. Johnson, Senior Chaplain, and a plate of Copper was inserted in the Stone, bearing the following Inscription :— The first stone of this Sacred Building, Raised dy the liberal and voluntary Subscription of British Suejects, and others, was laid under the auspices of The Honorable Warren Hastings, Esq. Governor General of India, on the 6th day of April, 1784 ; AND IN THE 13th YEAR OF HIS GOVERNMENT. It may be mentioned as an instance of the comparatively high remuneration awarded to European skill sixty years ago, that the English engraver charged 232 Rupees for his work. Lieut. Agg, of the Engineers, had the entire construction of the building ; it was completed by a design furnished by himself. There is some difficulty in ascertaining the exact cost of the church ; upwards of a lac and a half of Rupees appear to have been expended upon'it up to April 1787, exclu- sive of the remuneration to the Architect, which was Sa. Rs. 22,793, being 15 per cent, on the amount expended. Nearly the whole of this sum [with the exception of the grant from the Court of Directors of in,200, and 14,000 Rs. granted by the Government] was raised by voluntary contributions. On the 21th of June 1787 the church was consecrated and dedicated to St. John, by a special act of consecration sent out by the Primate, the Rev. William Johnson and the Rev. Thomas Blanshard, were chaplains. The Governor General, Earl Cornwallis, attended, with all the principal officers of the State, and during the Anthem a collection was made for the benefit of the Charity School, amounting to Sicca Rupees 3,943-3. Sir John Zoffany bestowed on the Church that admirable altarpiece painted by him, representing “The Last Supper.” It was proposed by the Rev. W. Johnson, and Cudbert Thornhill, Esq. as Sir John Zoffany was about to leave Calcutta, to present him with a Ring of 5,000 Rs. value, in considera- tion of this signal exertion of his eminent talents. The low state of their funds prevented other members of the Committee from supporting the motion of Messrs. Johnson and Thornhill; but they unanimously agreed in sending Sir John Zoffany an honorable written testimonial of the respect in which they held his great abilities, as an artist. From their handsome and appropriate letter the following is a paragraph : “ We should do a violence to your delicacy, were we to express, or endeavour to express, in such terms as the occasion calls for, our sense of the favour you have conferred on the settlement by presenting to their place of worship, so capital a painting that it would adorn the first church in Europe, and should excite in the breasts of its spectators those sentiments of virtue and piety so happily pourtrayed in the figures,” North Gallery. St. John’s Church, Founded and consecrated under the auspices of the Most JMoble Marquis Cornwallis, A. D. 1787. South Gallery. St. John’s Church, Enlarged and improved under the auspices of the Right 11 onorable Lord hi into, A. D. 1811. Lord Minto, who was appointed Governor General of India on the 31st of July 1807, died suddenly the 21st of June 1814, at Stevenage, about a month after his return to England from India. He was oil his way to Scotland and had left London in a bad state of health. In the course of his illness he had no presentiment of approaching dissolution, and seemed only anxious to proceed on his journey and reach Minto as early as possible. In his domestic circle no man ever displayed a kinder heart or was ever more affectionately beloved. * The first church erected in Calcutta (also called St. John’s), stood at the western extremity of what is now known as Writers’ Buildings ; it was destroyed at the capture of Calcutta by Suraj-ud-Dowla in 1756 after it had been in use for about 40 years, a](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28035264_0019.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
