The Anglo-Indian Prince family had an influence, one way or another on all the pupils in all the 11 years I was in the school. This family was very much of Railway origin, contrary to what has been propagated so far.
In the photos below you will see the Birth Certificate of Elizabeth May Lawrence who went on to marry Harold Victor Prince and a photo of her Grave in the Cemetery in Lovedale.
Elizabeth May Lawrence was born in Secunderabad on May 1 1911. She was the daughter of Richard John and Sarah Florence Lawrence. Richard was a guard on H.H. Nizam’s State Railway.
Harold Victor was also a guard (in his case described as a Gate Sergeant) on the Railway. So the marriage was within the Anglo Indian Railway Colony.
Elizabeth Prince died in Lovedale and you can see a photo of her grave which is located within the School estate. The gravestone mentions that Elizabeth May Lawrence was the mother of Denzil, Barbara, Dorothy and Francis. Francis Prince, known as Bobby, was just a year ahead of me. There was an age gap of about 14 years between Denzil, Barbara and Bobby. So what is the background of Bobby? Did Harold father him with another woman? Nobody knows!
Subsequently, Harold Victor married Magdalene Beale. It would seem that Magdalene was previously close to a character called Moses.
So, let me start with the gentleman known as Harold Victor Prince, and he was indeed a gentleman. He was the bandmaster before his son Denzil took over. A tremendously skilled band musician, he also played in and founded the school orchestra. Right until he left school in the late 60s when he himself was in his late 60s, he participated in the school band, as if he were just another pupil, with his son Denzil as bandmaster. The only concession given to Prince Senior was that he wore a prefect’s uniform. He may well have been a ‘white’ Britisher when he arrived in India. I recall the farewell speech he made in Assembly when the Headmaster, K I Thomas invited him to bid goodbye. That was the only time I heard him speak and emphatically, he spoke with a ‘cockney’ accent. I know, as in 1962, I had been to London and had met many ‘cockneys’. He was certainly not a British Army officer as has been implied! He may have been a bandsman in the British Army during WWI but in India, when he was blessed with son Denzil he was a ‘gate sergeant’ in the N S Railway, the N S standing for Narasapur. A ‘gate sergeant’ was a person who was in charge of a level crossing and signals on the railway line. Please see the birth and baptism details of Denzil below. Denzil’s mother is shown as May Elizabeth.
By way of background, Denzil Vernon was admitted as a pupil to the school on 17 February 1944 and his sister Barbara Eveline on 15 February 1945. After finishing school, the two siblings obtained minor qualifications that enabled both to join the school as staff members. Here they remained most of their lives. And who can blame them? Their staff accommodation was of a high standard, the school premises were the most beautiful, certainly externally, in the world, the surrounding greenery was matchless.
Barbara, a very beautiful lady was one of my first teachers when I arrived in Lovedale, aged 6. Denzil had a younger brother, Francis Llewellyn Prince, who we called Bobby. Bobby was just a year senior to me.
Some time after Harold Prince arrived in Lovedale and took over the band, his wife May Elizabeth passed away. She lies buried in the School cemetery. Her gravestone mentions 4 children, Denzil, Barbara, Dorothy and Francis. I do wonder what happened to Dorothy who I had never met. Subsequently, he married a local Anglo Indian, Magdalene Beal and proceeded to have two children with her, Winston, who was a year junior to me and Christopher. Magdalene, Denzil’s step mother also became my teacher and I must say was a lovely lady. Harold, Magdalene, Winston and Christopher migrated to Canada in 1967, leaving Denzil and Barbara in school as staff. Bobby had left school much earlier and God knows where he went but he surfaced in London many years later, his last job being a prison officer.
Here is a photo of Harold, Magdalene, Winston and Christopher:
Denzil must have felt the loss of the companionship of his father deeply as within a few years he married an Anglo-Indian member of staff, a Mrs Parker, who was 15 years or more his senior! There were no other eligible Anglo-Indians around so his choices were limited. Denzil even tried his luck setting up bands in the Gulf Emirates, on the invitation of Lawrence School staff who had gone there to cater for the education of the children of a rapidly growing Indian community. Success eluded him and so he returned to Lovedale.
Below is Denzil Prince with Nehru in the foreground
Below is Denzil Prince as a Pupil c.1953
I am aware that after she finished her stint at Lovedale, Barbara retired to Lallaguda and this would, inevitably have been to the railway colony she was born in. Barbara too was single as there were no eligible bachelors from her community. In her case, quite a few men ‘tried it on’ but they were low grade local Romeos. I know, as I along with other urchins would observe men going in and out of her apartment but, being immature, we weren’t able to interpret what was happening!
I am aware that Denzil joined Barbara in retirement but alas, Barbara died of cancer and Denzil returned to Lovedale. Inevitably, like all Anglo-Indian Railway Colonies, Lallaguda too declined rapidly. After all, the British liege-lords had abandoned the Anglo-Indian community and neither Denzil nor Barbara would have had any skills that would have enabled entry into the UK or other Commonwealth countries!
Denzil couldn’t possibly have had any money and, in his mid 60s wouldn’t have been employed on the regular staff. He was reduced to a quivering mess greeting every one he met, including his old students always addressing everybody he met with the honorific ‘Sir’! Lucky for him, kind hearted Old Lawrencians got together and financed his life by putting him into an old peoples’ home in Coimbatore. The last I heard, he was living with his step daughter (i.e., daughter of the Mrs Parker mentioned) and said daughter was a teacher in Kodaikanal.
What a fall from a smart young man in military style uniform to an uncertain old age. I suppose his one comfort was spending nearly 7 decades or more, from childhood on, in Lovedale.
Here is a brief description of Lalaguda including the Railway Colony, abode of the Prince Family
Transcript of Denzil Arthur Vernon’s Record
Here is the Register of Baptisms solemnized at Lallaguda. Denzil shown 3rd from top. Harold Arthur Victor Prince is shown as Gate Sergeant, N S Railway
Here is the Map showing where N S Railway ran from Lallaguda to Narsapur
Here is an interesting article about Lallaguda from where the Prince family originated and, probably the Roshier brothers, Brian, a.k.a. Danny being a notorious bully. At one time, Lallaguda was known as Little England and even had an ‘elite’ co-ed boarding school called Mrs Roshier’s! The Prince phenomenon in Lovedale can best be summed up as going from one Railway colony to another. Characters like Danny Roshier would have been slaughtered had they behaved in the way they got away with in Lawrence School Lovedale, outside the gated Lallaguda Railway Colony. The Anglo-Indian community that represented that gated community is now virtually dead!
Read this article about Lalaguda the Anglo-Indian town where the Prince family originated