The Indian Connection

I knew that we had relatives who lived in India from an early age. My mother often spoke of this, telling me that she grew up eating curries in London, cooked by her grandmother who had lived in India. Another story was of her Aunty Nancy, who grew up in India, talking in Hindi to local Sikh Indians in the 1960s in Southall and becoming blind because her aya (nanny) had opened the curtains of her bedroom when she had measles, damaging her eyes. Tales of the family going to the hills in India to get away from the oppressive heat, a male infant dying in India and the children having ponies to play with. There were also stories of amazing things brought back from India, oil paintings, artefacts and photo albums full of photographs taken in India. The photo albums have disappeared, possibly due to Aunty Nancy getting rid of things she couldn't see and didn't know the value of.

My research started with Richard Barrett who I had been told lived in India with his wife Elizabeth Murphy and his 10 children.

This is Richard Barrett (1858-1924)

He was in the Leinster Regiment (color sergeant), working in India from 1890 to 1894 - not very long. The family lived in Deesa and Agra as far as his military records show. 3 of his children were born in India - Richard, Amelia and Edward. Edward was the infant who also died at 1 1/2 years old from'teething'.

So far, nothing unexpected, but then I made a discovery that Richard had spent his youth in India as his father, William Barrett, had also served in the Leinster Regiment and had been sent to India 1865 to 1876. So living in India was not new to him - he lived in Bombay, Madras, Delhi, Mooltan, Roorkee and Dinapore. He was there from when he was 7 years old to 18 years old. His younger brother John also joined the Leinster Regiment and ended up living in India at the same time as Richard with his family. Lots of their brothers and sisters were born in India too.

This is Elizabeth (Lily) Murphy (1862-1945), Richard's wife. She was my mother's grandmother who she spent a lot of time with while growing up in Southall.

She was born in Cork, Ireland. A recent discovery that I have made is that she also spent her youth in India. Her father, Miles Murphy, joined the Leinster Regiment and spent 1867 to 1876 in India living in the same places as the Barretts. Maybe Richard and Elizabeth got to know each other out there when they were young.

These are some of Richard and Elizabeth's children:

Lily William and Aunty Nancy (real name - Annie).

Here is Richard (he was captured in WW1 and was in a prisoner of war camp in Germany and survived). He must be about 14 years old in this photo.

Here is Eileen who died in her early twenties from tuberculosis. She was the youngest, never lived in India, but was born in England:

So - in all, two generations of the Barrett family lived in India. Possibly more might turn up and the research progresses.