| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  |
| Royapuram fishing harbour Chennai, en.wikipedia. org |
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  |
| Royapuram railway station, 1856. Chennai en.Wikipedia |
If you go back and trace the history of Royapuram, it has close links with Gurukula Vamsha Varnakula Mudaliars who were a group of enterprising Hindu boatmen who had settled in Fort St. George in Madras Presidency around 1710. it is believed that that these so called boat people migrated from Durgarayapatnam ( north of Pulicat) for better employment opportunities. They offered their boating services to the East India company by way of docking the Naval and Cargo ships at Madras and transporting goods by boat and in the next two decades, they became prosperous and were staying close to Ft. St. George. The boat people never failed to pay the toll to the marine board.There were boat owners operating both catamarans as well as Masula boat ( it is made of non-rigid planks sewn together with coir ropes and are common along Andhra and Tamil Nadu
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  |
| St. Peter's church, Royapuram, chennai, imetechs.com |
The village that was offered to the boat people, later came to be called Royapuram. It was here Gurukula Vamsha Varnakula Mudaliars who became Christian converts built a Chapel in 1780 to fulfil their spiritual needs. No details are available about the early structure. Later, with help from the Marine Board, a Gothic-styled church called St. Peter's was built in 1829 by the boating community. It is the oldest church in this part of Chennai. Upon consecration, Its keys to the church were delivered to the headmen of the community. Royapuram takes its name from St. Peter's ( in Tamil Royappar ; puram refers to an area).
Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royapuram
http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2004/03/01/stories/2004030100080300.html