whb

William Buchan (WHB) in India 1904 - 1911

This section of the Photo Gallery shows pictures taken during William Buchan’s period with the Indian Civil Service from 1904 until 1911. During this time he was visited by his Sister Anna who used her experience to write one of her novels under the pseudonym “O. Douglas”.

November 1905 - Carrs and Margarets? WHB top right

Barisal 1904 - Back: Boyer Miss EW Dennis, Mrs I, Confery, Beatson Bell. Middle: Miss M,Mrs V, Majur, Mrs C, MissW, Miss Law. Front: J Meathrill, Miss W, X, Miss Beatson Bell, Weatherall, WHB, Swaine

Sonepur Meet - November 1904 - Back: Cartwright, Mrs FM, E McWhillen, Marshall, Carlyle, Miss Graham, Mrs O, Capt. Jackson. Middle: Benjamin McKerchar, Tommy Graham, Mrs Peterson, Bonham Carter, Miss Bell, Peterson, McAlpine,. Front: Jacky Rutherford, Mary, WHB, Miss Cousins, Abdy Collins, Miss Tilgate, Swan.

November 1905 - Chupra now known as Chapra, in Saran District of Bihar where WHB was often based.

November 1905 - Manager’s House, Hathwa

November 1905 - Sonepur Meet

November 1905 - Ivy,Georgeos, Plowden, Mrs Bull, Lockhart, Mrs Georgeos, Miss L, WHB, and Bunty Georgeos at Sonepur Meet

November 1905 - Sonepur Meet - Ivy, Bull and WHB

November 1905 - Sonepur Meet - Banham’s Camp

November 1905 - Sonepur Meet

November 1905 - Sonepur Meet - “Sales Pitch”

November 1905 - Old Courts at Gobindpur, East of Calcutta

November 1905 - New Courts at Dhanbad, Jharkhand

November 1905 - On the way to Sonepur Meet

November 1905 - Travelling to Sonepur Meet

November 1905 - A group at Sonepur Meet with WHB front centre

1904-1905

September 1906 - Port Said entrance to the Suez Canal

September 1906 - A canal dredger

September 1906 - Capt Rawlings and Frenais

September 1906 - Port Said

September 1906 - Mrs Maddock

September 1906 - “Old Aden like a Craniach Shore”

September 1906 - The Bombay approaches

September 1906 - Bombay from Malabar Hill

October 1906 - Rislej Dansh and Island, Gobindpur

November 1906 - BDO’s Bungalow, Gopalganj, Bihar

October 1906 - Coal Mine, Jharia - F W Heilgen - WHB dealing with a colliery sanitation scheme. “My dear old friend Heilgen, who is the concentrated salt of the Earth” - WHB to Anna 22/10/06.

November 1906 - Mrs Maidlaw

November 1906 - In the ground of Belvedere, the official fesidence of the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal

November 1906 - Belvedere. A temporary posting to Alipur, Calcutta as Joint Magistrate but also to help with Lady Minto’s Fete

November 1906 - South Staircase, Belvedere

November 1906 - Belvedere Calcutta - now the National Library

November 1906 - Barbara - WHB’s favourite polo pony

October 1906, SDO’s Bungalow, Gobindpur, Jharkhand

Date unknown - WHB in his office

Date unknown - School Photograph

October 1906 - Jafan Sheikh at Chapnanji

September 1906 - On board SS Arabia outward bound for India. Gus Hunter buying picture postcards at Port Said. WHB spent spring and summer of 1906 in Scotland

September 1906 - Departing Port Said

September 1906 - Cairo to Port Said express alongside the Suez Canal

1906

February 1907 - Walter Adie - Calcutta

February 1907 - WHB - Calcutta

February 1907 - Magistrate’s House, Alipore, Calcutta (also Thackeray’s birthplace)

February 1907 - Brabs and unknown

March 1907 - Civil Service stall at Lady Minto’s Fete

February 1907 - The Maidan and Fort William taken from the United Services Club, Calcutta

March 1907- Kinchunjunga taken from the Mall, Darjeeling

April 1907 - The Houghty

April 1907 - SS Khetri - the return to Chandpal Ghat - Talbot, ? and ?

March 1907 - Darjeeling (postcard) - While WHB was Under Secretary - Registrar CCS and Assistant Director of Agriculture

February 1907 - Brabs

April 1907 - A H Levy on SS Khetri

April 1907 - Easter Shoot at Nasriganj, Bihar. WHB to Anna - ¾/1907 -”I had a delightful holiday at Nasriganj at Easter. We went down in the Commissioner Collins’ comfortable steamer, played gold, shot deer and amused ourselves generally….I encountered my first tiger…. but didn’t get a shot in”

February 1907 - Lady minto’s Fete - WHB back right

February 1907 - Ghost of Todd, ADC

1907

February 1908 - Nan (Anna Buchan) on Solomon at Chapra Circuit House, Bihar

February 1908 - WHB on Brabs with polo stick

February 1908 - Collector’s House, Chapra, Saran, Bihar

February 1908 - WHB front second from left with civilians in settlement training at Forbesganj, Araria, Bihar

Feb. 1908 - H Cochrane Castle

March 1908 - Darjeeling

March 1908 - Jhalda to Chitarpur Road, Hazaribagh, Jharkhand

March 1908 - Nan and our abode at Bettiah, Bihar

March 1908 - Bengal Agricultural College (now Bihar Agriculture University), Sabour, Bhagalpur, Bihar

February 1908 - View from Chapra Circuit House

April, 1908 - SL Clytie and houseboat near the sandbanks, Khulua

April 1908 - SL Clytie in which WHB camped, Mirzapur on the Ganges

June 1908 - New homes on experimental farms - Chapramari Wildlife Sactuary, Kalimpong

June 1908 - Experimental Farm Buildings (“If Kalimpong had been 2000feet higher it would have been a grand ridge for a hill-station”)

June 1908 - Ford with the Superintendent - Experimental Farm Buildings, Kalimpong

June 1908 - Farm and house, Kalimpong

February 1908 - Nan with Solomon

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February 1908 - Parasnath Hill and Temple taken after the temple had been struck by Lightning. Topchanchi Wildlife Sanctuary, Giridih, Jharkhand

March 1908 - Cuttack and Fort, Odisha

March 1908 - Nan’s influence at the tea table

January 1908 - Mrs King

January 1908 - (Mixed developing) - Rohika Lake and Bettiah tents

January 1908 - Keir Hardie - WHB’s nickname for one of his servants otherwise Zalka Khel at the British Guest House

January 1908 - The Manager’s House, Bettiah, Bihar

February 1908 - Lunch after a duck shoot at Balua, Bettiah, Bihar

30 September 1908 - Akbar’s Tomb, Sikandra, Uttar Pradesh. WHB - “Was quite awed”

30 September 1908 - Entrance to Akbar’s Tomb, Sikandra

September 1908 - Great Mosque and tomb of Akbar’s High Priest, Fatehpur Sikri

September 1908 - Akbar’s Dewan-i-Khas, Fatehpur Sikri

September 1908 - House of Akbar’s Hindu Minister, Fatehpur Sikri

September 1908 - The Panch Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri

September 1908 - The quadrangle of the Great Mosque, Fatehpur Sikri

1 October 1908 - Taj Mahal, Agra

1 October 1908 - Taj Mahal from Yamuna viewpoint, Agra

1 Octobewr 1908 - Tomb of Shah Jahan and his wife, Agra

1 October 1908 - “The Jasmine Tower is a little jewel built over the Jamna, cool and with a lovely view

1 October 1908 - Entrance to Taj Mahal, Agra

1 October 1908 - entrance to Agra Fort

2 October 1908 - Amber Palace and hilltop fort. Amber was the former capital of Jaipur

2 October 1908 - Looking from the Amber Palace, Jaipur, Rajasthan

October 1908 - Jaipur

October 1908 - Pearl Mosque, Red Fort, Delhi

Part of Zenana, South West Delhi

October 1908 - Lahore Gate, Delhi Fort

October 1908 - Jama Masjid, Central Delhi

October 1908 - Kasmir Gate

October 1908 - Dwan-i-Khas, Delhi Fort

October 1908 - Sir Andrew FRaser’s last Conference of C0mmissioners and Heads of Depts. (WHB back left was Secretary to the Conference which was held in Darjeeling).

April 1908 - WHB on the SL Clytie

1908

April 1909 - Goodbye to his servant at Benares Station (now Varanasi)

April 1909 - Benares Ghats, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

April 1909 - Bombay Ghats

April 1909 - Homeward bound on 6 months leave - United Services Club, Bombay

April 1909 - Bombay from the Taj

April 1909 - The last of Bombay from the SS Marea

28 April 1909 - Approaching Aden. “Behold a crowd upon the beam; and humped above the sea appears old Aden, like a barrack stove that no one’s lit for years and years” It’s a quote from Kipling’s “For to Admire”

2 May 1909 - SS Australia at Suez. Transhipped to SS Isis

May 1909 - Suez from the Canal

May 1909 - Approaching Brindisi, Italy

5 May 1909 - Disembarking SS Isis at Brindisi

May 1909 - Nearing the Mont Cenis tunnel, later known as the Frejus Tunnel, Bardonecchia, Piedmont, Italy

October 1909 - Embarking on his return to India from Marseille

October 1909 - SS Mantua at Port Said

October 1909 - A cricket match between the Ship and Port Said. “Watched the match from a comfortable stand”

October 1909 - The Osiris arriving with the mail

October 1909 - Shipping passengers (including Mrs Herbert) at Port Said

October 1909 - THe Suez Canal

October 1909 - Lying at Aden

October 1909 - WB Heycock and WHB

October 1909 - Richardson and Heycock

October 1909 - possibly railway crossing on the Jhalda to Chatra Nagpur Railway (photo damaged)

October, 1909 - Three staff members

October 1909 - The return of the Collector from leave - Heycock on left and Whitty on right at Bindivan (Now known as Vrindavan)

October 1909 - Managing Committee of the first Union in India at Khelanpur and Balarampur

November 1909 - Parassala, Kerala

November 1909 - Irrigation ditch at Gaya, Bihar

November 1909 - Parassala, Kerala

November 1909 - Miss BLack at the Collector’s Bungalow, Gaya, Bihar (WHB met her on the boat -they had friends in common)

November

November 1909 - On a jungle Rajah’s elephant

November 1909 - The usual method of paddling a stream

17 November 1909 - The wedding of RW Reid and Miss Disney at Muzaffarpur. Known as Bobby Reid and from Brasenose College. WHB was Best Man on the right of the photo. “He is a very lucky man and I think he deserves his luck for he is a good fellow, He has got of the pretties and sweetest women I have met for a long time. I’ll send you a photograph of the show”

6 December 1909 - Durham Waite at the Circuit House, Ranchi, Jharkhand. “Travelled to Ranchi with old Col. Swaine. 7 Dec Up at 06.15. Inspected 6 Ranchi bank branches till breakfast”.

December 1909 - The River Damodar from the Ramgarh Inspection bungalow

December 1909 - Finch White and Dr Macken on the church steps. “Finch White ran some of thebanks very badly and causewd WHB a lot of trouble, He may have been a missionary”

December 1909 - from the road near Ranchi Ghats, Ramgarh

Hunting from an elephant

December 1909 - Church at Chitarpur, Sewai

December 1909 - An example of the cooperative banks, Chitarpur, Ramgarh

1909

January 1910 - Tea Party with WHB seated on the right

February 1910 - Chaibassa Tussar Farm, Bhagalpur, Bihar

February 1910 - Dr Danbal, Superintendent, Chaibassa Farm

May 1910 - Teesta Bridge, Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary, Kalimpopng, West Bengal. (Simply a footbridge in those days)

May 1910 - A tea garden on the Kalimpong Road, West Bengal

May 1910 - Teesta River, Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary, near Darjeeling

May 1910 - WHB on the Teesta River Footbridge, Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary, West Bengal

May 1910 - Senchal Golf Course, Darjeeling (It remains to this day)

May 1910 - View from the Club. (There is a club in Darjeeling known as the Gymkhana Club which did exist in 1910

May 1910 - Office of the Director of Agriculture, Darjeeling

12 June 1910 - Proclamation of King George V in Darjeeling

1 July 1910 - Programme for amateur drama event in Darjeeling Town Hall

1 July 1910 - Programme showing WHB appearing in both sketches together with Miss Isla Macpherson to whom he proposedmarriage in 1910. She turned him down and never married. Re sketches - “Most successful. Supped with the Macphersons. Bed 1.30”

Cast of Drama sketches - 2 July “Matinee of both plays. Went splendidly - packed house. I appear to have acted fairly decently”

July 1910 - Third Provincial Cooperative Conference - President as DCCS

October 1910 - Picnicking in the Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary, Darjeeling. Woman on the left may be Isla Macpherson.”Trek out of Darjeeling with Greens and Macphersons. 6th Proposed to Isla Macpherson and was refused very sweetly”

October 1910 - Sunset from Sandakphu, Singalila

25 February 1910 - Board of Agriculture Meeting at Pusa, Bihar. WHB third from left in the front row.

May 1910 - Saux (PMG)

January 1910 - Hazaribagh from the Jhalda to Chitarpur Road

January 1910 - Bengal Light Horse Camp with Law in thje picture - Cuttack, Odisha

January 1910 - BLH Camp - E Troop Lines

January 1910 - Dr Campbell, Missionary

February 1910 - Smith, Deputy Director of Agriculture. In January WHB asked to deputise for the Director for 6 months because of illness. He was 30 that month.

February 1910 - Taylor, Chemist, Mrs Dobbs and Dobbs, Principal of Bengal Agricultural College, Bhagalpur, Bihar

January 1910 - Daulatpur

DECEMBER 1909 - WHB on cooperative bank business.

October 1910 - Lassie

18 October 1910 - “Today Sankey gave a big picnic at Senchal. (Note the camera in the hands of the lady in front)

18 October 1910 - Sankey’s picnic in Singalila Wildlife Sanctuary, Darjeeling

18 October 1910 - Sankey Picnic

5 November 1910 - The gents being given a fond farewell before settling out on their cycling expedition from Darjeeling to Siliguri via the Teesta Valley

5 November 1910 - Sheila and Isla Mackenzie on the left with their mother on the far right. WHB was turned down by Isla in 1910. Neither of the girls married, Sheila becoming a doctor. They lived together in Scotland

November 1910 - The meeting of the Rangeet and Teesta Rivers taken from the viewpoint on the Peshoke Road

November 1910 - View of the river from the Teesta River footbridge

November 1910- HT Cullis, EC Tanner and WHB at Birik Bungalow in the Teesta Valley

November 1910 - View of the Teesta from the Birik Bungalow

November 1910 - the cyclists on the Birik to Sevoke Road

November 1910 - a side glen off the Teesta

November 1910 - At Sevoke bungalow after lunch

November 1910 - The Teesta leaving the foothills

November 1910 - Cullis and Tanner at Lopchu

November 1910 - The approach to the footbridge

November 1910 - View of the Teesta from the Birik to Sevoke Road

1910 - A few lines mourning the poor jute crop. 26 Sep 1910 - letter to his mother - “Our forecast of the jute crop has created even more violent excitement than we expected, Every day for a week the papers have been full of it and I have had violent telegrams from Dundee and London. Strong (the E Bengal Director and I have been violently attacked and defended at many columns length. Our critics have even broken into verse….I agree with nearly all our critics say and although I think our forecast is a pretty accurate one, I am meditating a fiery letter to Government on the subject”.