Note: Duckworth was the last ‘White’ Head Boy
I am sure 1950 Head boy Duckworth was and is perhaps still a wonderful person. The purpose of this post is to demonstrate that the British system of giving preferential treatment to British offspring continued long after the British had parted. In August 1937, 10 years before India achieved Independence, Edwin Victor Duckworth, father of Head boy Lionel Victor Duckworth died, aged 67. Had he survived, Edwin would have been 80 by the time his offspring Lionel Victor completed school.
Here are details of the family tree that demonstrates not only the enrolment of students from a weak economic background but also that the ubiquitous Railways were always in the background!
I have asserted that post-Independence, Lawrence School, Lovedale was not the elite school it was made out to be. It was just an extension of a Railway Colony. The connections of the various parties to the Railways proves my point.
- On September 11 1870 George John Duckworth, an assistant apothecary with Royal Artillery in Kamptee (which is a suburb of Nagpur) and his wife Eliza Jane were blessed with a son, Edwin Victor Duckworth.
- On 18 October 1872, Samuel Perrin, a sergeant in the EAV Company and his wife Catherine Perrin were blessed with a baby boy William Henry Perrin in Palavaram which is a part of modern day Chennai. EAV stands for European Veterans Artillery and refers to soldiers who would look after British interests but whether through old age or injury were no longer able to be front-line soldiers.
- On 7 July 1897, William Henry Perrin by now an engine driver married Mabel Florence Hughes in Vepery, which is also a suburb of Chennai. Note the Marriage Document showing that most parties were employed in the railways.
- On October 1 1907, William Henry Perrin now a foreman with Madras Corporation and His wife Florence were blessed with a baby girl Ethel Jona Perrin in Madras. Co-incidentally, the Birth document shows a printer with Lawrence Asylum Press, one William David and his wife Cecelia were blessed with a baby boy John Lawrence. The document also shows 3 of the other parents were railway workers.
- On 10 May 1926 Edwin Victor Duckworth, 55, a Major in the Indian Medical Department, Bangalore married 19 year old Ethel Jona Perrin in Bangalore. Note, Edward Victor Duckworth and Ethel Jona Perrin’s GRANDFATHER Samuel are almost the same age and as both were in the Army there may have been some sort of connection. The point is Major Duckworth married somebody young enough to be his granddaughter!
- On July 7 1933, Retired Major Edwin Victor Duckworth, aged 63, of the Indian Medical Department and his wife Ethel Jona Duckworth who was 25, were blessed with baby boy Lionel Victor Perrin Duckworth.
- On 28 August 1937, Retired Major Edwin Victor Duckworth, aged 67 died in Bowring Hospital, Bangalore. Little Lionel was 4 years old and his mother Ethel Jona was 30.
- On the second March 1940, widow Ethel Jona had little Lionel aged 6 years and 9 months admitted to Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School where he remained for 11 years and where he thrived, even becoming head boy. Under what can best be described as ‘reservation’ for Eurasian/Europeans, Ethel Jona would have had no problem what with free food, accommodation, uniform and education.
- Would a ‘single’ Indian mother in post-impendent India have been so fortunate?
Like many Anglo-Indians post-1947, Lionel Victor Duckworth left for Australia—a common refuge for those once dubbed the ‘Railway Caste.’ His later years were marked by resilience: at 90, he prepared to marry again, only to suffer a devastating loss. His story mirrors the twilight of a community that built empires but struggled to find its place in a new world.
Death Certificate of Major Edwin Victor Duckworth. Note: He died at Bowring Hospital. This Hospital was opened by Lewin Bowring in 1887. Bowring was one of Henry Lawrence’s ‘Young Men’! Note: In those days, whenever a white person died, the Indian High Commissionaire in London had to be informed in case there were any relatives living in the UK. Like a lot of White people settled in India, there were no longer ties maintained in the UK. This is because the Whites thought India would be a colony for ever!
Lionel, having thrived in Lawrence School Lovedale like many other non-Indians emigrated to Australia. Last I heard he, as a senior citizen was about get married but no sooner had arrangements been made than his fiancée passed away leading to Lionel becoming depressed and a recluse.