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| Clive House, Ft.St.George, Chennai. ThenThisai |
Above image:The East India Company, having obtained a charter from King Charles authorising the erection of Courts to deal with interlopers, established the Court of Admiralty in 1686 with Sir John Briggs as Judge-Advocate. Since then it had been called as the Admiralty House...............
Clive House, about 300 years old, imposing brick and mortar structure. is a historical place right on the southern side of St. George Fort across the St. Mary's church, Madras (Chennai) and it was here Robert Clive lived with his wife has had a history. Clive and his wife lived in the house owned by an an Armenian merchant. It was also known as Admiralty House., this being due to the fact that "The Courts of Admiralty, established in 1687 as a Court of Appeal — later sat in this building, according to Historian S. Muthiah whose special interest is monuments around Madras, His book, "Madras Discovered, a Historical Guide to Looking Around," first published in 1981 is useful to those interested in Madras and its colonial structures, in particular. Presently ASI is functioning here, way back in the past, the Court of Admiralty ceased to function and it became the town residence of the governor. Nice wooden floors, beautifully carved wooden staircases and high ceilings with , roof supported by "British steel" girders with Dorvan Long & Co. Ltd, Middlesbrough, England bring out the beauty of early colonial building The highlight of Clive House is a huge hall on the first floor with Corinthian columns, obviously a banquet Hall that would have seen many lavish parties and balls with the band playing numbers from Mozart, Beethoven, et al. The Clive house was heavily damaged with leaking roof, additions, etc., partly due to negligence and ageing.
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| Clive Hose being restore, Chennai. The Hindu |
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| Tablet inn Clive House, Chennai India Mike |
In 2004, the ASI meticulously, removed the additions, repaired the damaged parts, replaced the wooden panels in the windows with glass and restored it back to old elegance and beauty without compromising on the its heritage values. Serious attention was paid to the leaking roof and ASI did tight water-proofing. Pot-tiles with brick jelly and lime were being used.
Of particular interest was the restoration of the majestic banquet hall to its original charm.
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| Clive House, Ft. St.George, Chennai. Flickr |
01. After India's Independence, the Pension office, the Pay and Accounts office, Internal Audit office, and even a part of the Accountant-General office, used to function from the building.
02. The main part of the building is the banquet/dining hall where many parties were held. He called it one of the oldest reception halls in Chennai.
03. The Admiralty House not the government building on the government estates.
04. When Robert Clive joined the East India Company, Madras as a writer in 1743, he was just 18 years old with no proper education.
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| Robert Clive. British Library blogs |
Above image: Robert Clive's wedding took place at St. Mary's Church, Ft. St. George, Chennai. Clive had a close link with Madras, the city that became his launching platform for grooming the greatest empire in the world...........
05. Circumstances forced Clive to take to the sword, instead of pen and fought a successful war with the French Commander/Administrator Joseph Dupleix, his capture of Ft.Davis Cuddalore and defence of Arcot in 1751 won him laurels. His ultimate success in the Black Hole incidence in Calcutta and finally the capture of Bengal from Nawab Siraj-ud-Dauala won him enormous name, power and pelf, establishing himself as the earliest founder of the British Empire. Lord Curzon considered him"one of the master-spirits of the English race."
http://www.thehindu.com/2004/03/25/stories/2004032504001500.htm
http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mag/2005/02/13/stories/2005021300260700.html