2nd Generation John. 1802
John William Stephenson was born in Collingapatam (Kalingapatam) Bengal in 1802, he joined the East India Co. army, I presume in about 1817-19, he was married to Elizabeth Brookman in 1822 at St. Johns Church Masulipatam aged 20. He is described as an "asst. apothecary in the 17th Regiment of the Native Infantry" ( early form of paramedic).
He was initially stationed at Fort Bandar Masulipatam. Elizabeth was 16 when they married, she was born in 1806 at Washermanpet, her father was Fredrick Brookman he was a Medical Sergeant at the Garrison at Masulipatam, her mother was called Dominga. ( there is no further information on her mother's origins ) on the Marriage record Elizabeth is described as a "Spinster of the Parish" and they both got married with" full consent" . She was one of 8 children.
The Church no longer exists as it was destroyed in the 1800's
Elizabeth's home Washermanpet is located in the northern part of Chennai it is located north of Parrys corner and adjacent to Royapuram. The name comes from the fact that it used to be the washermen's enclave in Chennai, where many of the city's dhobi ghats used to be located, Washermanpet acted as the textile business hub of Chennai. Today it is a thriving textile and retail area.
Just six kilometres from Masulipatam is the Bandar Fort where a few structures built by the Dutch rulers withstood several major and minor cyclones, The Fort was once the east coastal gateway of trade for the Dutch, French & British. It is located on a site some 2 miles from the town & was extended by the British, it faced out towards the sea and was surrounded by a swamp, the only way to reach the town was by a causeway of raised earthwork, below was several feet of putrid mud.
British Fort at Vellore
This is a record of Masulipatam either side of their time:
Masulipatam is Situated in the mouth of the River Krishna on the Bay of Bengal on the south eastern Coast of India, in 1611 the first British trading settlement on the Bay of Bengal was established here, In 1686 The Dutch took possession of the port and from 1686 to 1759 the city was held by the Dutch and then the French, until it was finally ceded to the British by the French in 1759. St Johns church built around 1809 was washed away by the cyclone in 1864.
Masulitatam is made up of 3 parts, the fort (Bandar), the native quarter & the European quarter. It lost its importance because of state wars & pestilence - There was an epidemic in the port town in 1687 and several Europeans died - and natural calamities (30,000 lives lost during the 1864 cyclone in this area),this signalled a period of decline for the Masulipatam port, & less importance was given to the port than to the port at Madras. The ruined fort is still a point of interest.
Memorial to the victims of the Cyclone
In 1832/3 a famine extended over the whole area, extracts from diaries at the time recount…” everywhere are the victims dying by the hundred daily, the swamp around the fort are strewed each morning with the bodies of the dead”……” The thermometer in the hospital daily reads 110-120 deg. For 3 months these temperatures & the prevailing hot wind blowing up the dust make it unbearable”…... “The main guard duty is what we dread most for the main guardroom overhangs the pestilence ditch, the medical men have traced almost all the fatal cases of Cholera & Dysentery to have originated from here”.
In 1832/3 the famine induced the authorities to send the remaining European troops to Madras leaving the fort in the care of the Native Infantry Regiment.
The Native Infantry
John & Elizabeth had 6 children; James born 1828, William born 1831, George 1832, Mary born 1834, Richard Edmund 1838 and Victoria 1842. Mary got married in 1851, Richard Edmund 1861 & Victoria 1862. Victoria died in 1864 aged just 22.
John Elizabeth and the boys James and William, would have been living around the fort during the great famine in 1838. there are no records of James and William after their births there is a possibility that they perished in childhood.
1832 sees John stationed in St. Thomas Mount, ( I presume ) that being the place where his next son George and his daughter Mary were born.
We then find him stationed at Cananore in 1838; where his son Richard Edmund was born, there is no record of Victoria's birthplace. There is no record of George after this date, so he too could have died young; at this time pestilence was rife in the area.
Cananore served as the British military headquarters on India's west coast until 1887. St. Angelo Fort was built in 1505 by the Portuguese. The Dutch captured the fort from the Portuguese in 1663. and modernised it The original Portuguese fort was pulled down later. The Dutch sold the fort to king Ali Raja of Arakkal in 1772. the British conquered it in 1790 and used it as one of their major military stations on the Malabar Coast. During the British Raj, Cananore was part of the Madras province in the North Malabar District.
The Fort now
There is one other mention of John and Elizabeth, on the 17th May 1828 they are named as godparents of one Georgio De Grayter at St Thomas Garrison church at Mount St. Thomas, the father is named as John De Grater of the Native Infantry, so it is presumed he was a colleague.
Portuguese mission St Thomas Mount
John died in 1869 aged 69 and was described as a retired apothecary, so again it can be presumed he stayed in the army for his whole life. He was buried at St Thomas Mount in St. Marys.
Elizabeth out lived him by 10 years dying in 1879 age 72 of heart disease, she is buried in Washermanpet Tamil Nadu.
Locations of John and Elizabeth's movements.
He was initially stationed at Fort Bandar Masulipatam. Elizabeth was 16 when they married, she was born in 1806 at Washermanpet, her father was Fredrick Brookman he was a Medical Sergeant at the Garrison at Masulipatam, her mother was called Dominga. ( there is no further information on her mother's origins ) on the Marriage record Elizabeth is described as a "Spinster of the Parish" and they both got married with" full consent" . She was one of 8 children.
The Church no longer exists as it was destroyed in the 1800's
Elizabeth's home Washermanpet is located in the northern part of Chennai it is located north of Parrys corner and adjacent to Royapuram. The name comes from the fact that it used to be the washermen's enclave in Chennai, where many of the city's dhobi ghats used to be located, Washermanpet acted as the textile business hub of Chennai. Today it is a thriving textile and retail area.
Just six kilometres from Masulipatam is the Bandar Fort where a few structures built by the Dutch rulers withstood several major and minor cyclones, The Fort was once the east coastal gateway of trade for the Dutch, French & British. It is located on a site some 2 miles from the town & was extended by the British, it faced out towards the sea and was surrounded by a swamp, the only way to reach the town was by a causeway of raised earthwork, below was several feet of putrid mud.
British Fort at Vellore
This is a record of Masulipatam either side of their time:
Masulipatam is Situated in the mouth of the River Krishna on the Bay of Bengal on the south eastern Coast of India, in 1611 the first British trading settlement on the Bay of Bengal was established here, In 1686 The Dutch took possession of the port and from 1686 to 1759 the city was held by the Dutch and then the French, until it was finally ceded to the British by the French in 1759. St Johns church built around 1809 was washed away by the cyclone in 1864.
Masulitatam is made up of 3 parts, the fort (Bandar), the native quarter & the European quarter. It lost its importance because of state wars & pestilence - There was an epidemic in the port town in 1687 and several Europeans died - and natural calamities (30,000 lives lost during the 1864 cyclone in this area),this signalled a period of decline for the Masulipatam port, & less importance was given to the port than to the port at Madras. The ruined fort is still a point of interest.
Memorial to the victims of the Cyclone
In 1832/3 a famine extended over the whole area, extracts from diaries at the time recount…” everywhere are the victims dying by the hundred daily, the swamp around the fort are strewed each morning with the bodies of the dead”……” The thermometer in the hospital daily reads 110-120 deg. For 3 months these temperatures & the prevailing hot wind blowing up the dust make it unbearable”…... “The main guard duty is what we dread most for the main guardroom overhangs the pestilence ditch, the medical men have traced almost all the fatal cases of Cholera & Dysentery to have originated from here”.
In 1832/3 the famine induced the authorities to send the remaining European troops to Madras leaving the fort in the care of the Native Infantry Regiment.
The Native Infantry
John & Elizabeth had 6 children; James born 1828, William born 1831, George 1832, Mary born 1834, Richard Edmund 1838 and Victoria 1842. Mary got married in 1851, Richard Edmund 1861 & Victoria 1862. Victoria died in 1864 aged just 22.
John Elizabeth and the boys James and William, would have been living around the fort during the great famine in 1838. there are no records of James and William after their births there is a possibility that they perished in childhood.
1832 sees John stationed in St. Thomas Mount, ( I presume ) that being the place where his next son George and his daughter Mary were born.
We then find him stationed at Cananore in 1838; where his son Richard Edmund was born, there is no record of Victoria's birthplace. There is no record of George after this date, so he too could have died young; at this time pestilence was rife in the area.
Cananore served as the British military headquarters on India's west coast until 1887. St. Angelo Fort was built in 1505 by the Portuguese. The Dutch captured the fort from the Portuguese in 1663. and modernised it The original Portuguese fort was pulled down later. The Dutch sold the fort to king Ali Raja of Arakkal in 1772. the British conquered it in 1790 and used it as one of their major military stations on the Malabar Coast. During the British Raj, Cananore was part of the Madras province in the North Malabar District.
The Fort now
There is one other mention of John and Elizabeth, on the 17th May 1828 they are named as godparents of one Georgio De Grayter at St Thomas Garrison church at Mount St. Thomas, the father is named as John De Grater of the Native Infantry, so it is presumed he was a colleague.
John died in 1869 aged 69 and was described as a retired apothecary, so again it can be presumed he stayed in the army for his whole life. He was buried at St Thomas Mount in St. Marys.
Elizabeth out lived him by 10 years dying in 1879 age 72 of heart disease, she is buried in Washermanpet Tamil Nadu.
Locations of John and Elizabeth's movements.
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