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Monday 30 May 2016 | Expat feed


Legacy of the British empire

By Jennifer Sharples

With four hundred years of experience behind them, the British have honed the expatriate lifestyle to a fine art. Of course things have changed a bit since 1600 when The East India Company began establishing trading posts in the East and dispatching British subjects to manage them.

By the end of the 19th century, when the British Empire was at its zenith encompassing more than twenty percent of the world's land area and over four hundred million people, the Jewel in the Crown was India; a country that remained under the control of The East India Company until 1858 when the India Bill resulted in the Company's remaining armies, batteries, churches, colleges, debts, desks, elephants, godowns, graves, judges, lascars, navies, paintings, papers, pensioners, powers, treaties, territories, vassals, vessels, warehouses and whorehouses being passed over to Crown rule.

India offered myriad opportunities for younger sons of upper class families and those of the ambitious middle class who were attracted by both the Indian Army and the Civil Service. With its British officers, the Indian Army was the most powerful in Asia; allowances were generous and there were opportunities galore for rapid promotion,adventure and the amassing of prize money and backhanders.

Rewards were hard-earned as the life expectancy of a soldier in India was half of that in England. If he survived the climate, disease and floggings he could receive a decent pension.

There was great competition for civilian posts. After being nominated by a company contact at around seventeen, aspiring Anglo-Indian civilians had to pass a stiff exam in Greek, Latin, math history, geography and philosophy prior to admittance to the Company's Haileybury College.

Upon graduation, a new recruit would head merrily for India where he had one year to master the local lingo before taking another exam. Success meant pronounced him qualified for public service but failure meant he would be shipped back to England, jobless and disgraced as a "hopeless subject."

After 1858, the Crown introduced their own tough entrance exam and created opportunities for to a wider range of contenders without contacts but with some university learning -preferably Oxford - behind them.

Reaching India was an adventure in itself. Taking four months, a sea voyage meant braving storms, pirates, disease and shipwrecks. Passengers had to supply their own cabin furniture, which would then be used in the new home or sold to the next passenger. A ticket cost around one hundred pounds sterling. To alleviate boredom, passengers were advised to take fishing tackle, fowling pieces, books, cards, telescopes and other items for entertainment.

After 1837 the overland route gained popularity as it was shorter, and involved transportation by donkey, camel and steam ship with interesting stops en route such as Cairo and Alexandria. After the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, the sea route became shorter.

A young man joining the Indian Civil Service might be sent anywhere. Raised in the tradition of the British public school, the majority worked hard and played hard. Indeed playing helped alleviate a life of loneliness and responsibility. Quick to throw themselves into blood sports; tigers, rhinoceros, gazelle and other hapless game were all targets to be eaten, stuffed or mounted. Other pursuits included pig sticking, jackal hunting, polo, golf, cricket, fishing, snooker, horse racing and gambling.

The greatest sport was tiger hunting, which involved teams of elephants and thousands of beaters thumping drums and blowing trumpets; the occasion was even grander if a Viceroy was present. Perched on elephant howdahs, ladies gleefully joined in the fun.

Although many empire builders came from middle England, rigid class constraints applied and snobbery and rank determined one's position at the dinner table; the army officer would ignore the jute merchant while the civil servant might despise a railway engineer. In between the civilians and the army were trades people and merchants, whom both groups considered socially 'beyond the pale.' To the Indians, the British all appeared as a single ruling elite. In the refuge of their clubs, like the Old Madras Club or the Bengal Club in Calcutta, home comforts were modelled on those enjoyed by the British aristocracy, where cosseted from the natives the main forms of leisure were gossip, the bar, bridge and billiards.

Despite their elevated status, life in India was hard on European women, especially if they lived in remote areas. English roses were quick to wilt in the heat. Medical conditions were primitive and due to ignorance in feminine health matters and a reluctance to consult Indian doctors, many women lost children at birth while few survived to grow up. Apart from the habit of amahs quieting their young charges with opium pellets - often permanently so, both adults and children frequently succumbed to diseases such as cholera, malaria, fever and typhoid. No less dangerous were dog, snake and scorpion bites and the odd mutiny.

Around the age of seven after being virtually raised by servants, children were packed off 'Home' to England for the sake of their health and education. Since home leave was every ten years, some might not see their parents again until they were adults. Those who couldn't afford to send their children Home made do with hill-station boarding schools. Presided over by memsahib, an average expatriate household would consist of a vast domestic hierarchy including a butler, bearer, cook, sweeper, scullion, amah, syce (groom), gardener and servants' servants. A governor-general might have up to four hundred.

Choosing a cook had to be done with great care as some might use their toes as a toast-rack or their masters' socks as a sauce strainer. The kitchen was always separate from the house and another hygiene hazard was predatory birds that pecked at the food during its transportation to the table.

A typical day for a married woman living in the city would include supervising the servants, planning menus, making and receiving visitors, writing and sending notes and invitations. If a supply ship had arrived from Europe there would be a rush to go shopping. Evenings might be spent taking a drive, attending a private dinner or a function at Government House. In Calcutta, there were theater parties and early morning race meetings and other forms of entertainment. Life in the country was isolated and lonely and resulted in many tear stained letters Home.

The unbearable summer heat of the plains encouraged those who could afford it to flee for the hills; something that prior to the railways involved taking massive camel and bullock cart loads of clothing and equipment. Once settled in, the frenetic round of social gaiety including balls, picnics, card games, tea parties, croquet, tennis and badminton parties as well as flirtation, gossip and scandal. The tranquillity and greenery of the hills reminded one of Home.

Those who grew to love India and lived to reach retirement age sometimes chose to stay on instead of returning to a 'Home' they were no longer familiar with.

The bittersweet legacy left by those early expatriates still influences many facets of Indian life today.

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