Chater Genealogy

Researching Armenians in India from 1600 to present day

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Strange but true factS - I:

Three Armenian Churches in India,
Calcutta, Dacca and Madras
were all built at No.2 Armenian Street.

The Armenian churches at
Calcutta, Dacca, Madras and Saidabad
were each erected on the site of an
old Armenian cemetery

The oldest Christian graves at
Surat, Agra, Calcutta, Dacca and Madras
are all Armenian

Strange but true factS - II:

In 1907 six baskets, containing a large number of Armenian manuscripts, books and pontifical bulls (Kondaks) belonging to the Armenian church at Gwalior which was erected by Colonel Jacob Petrus, were sold as waste paper for six Rupees only by a descendant of the Colonel ^†

†The descendant told this to Mesrovb Seth in Agra in October 1919

Strange but true factS - III:

The Holy Nazareth Church had the official foundation stone laid in 1707, although a wooden chapel existed even before that. So why do the Church registers only start at 1793? According to Joseph Emin in his book "The Life and Adventures of Joseph Emin" published in 1792 he says that:

"At one time there were three wardens of the Calcutta church,

a dispute arose between the three,

one of them took away the records [registers] to his house

and nothing previous to 1793 has survived this most unfortunate proceeding".

So fellow Armenian family history researchers and enthusiasts, the graves listed on THIS website will be the only comprehensive record of Armenian deaths and some births in India prior to 1793

Latter Day Saints (LDS) film numbers of Armenian records in Asia

Location Birth/Baptisms Marriages Deaths Minutes Film No.

Bombay
St. Peter's Armenian Apostolic Church All BMD's are on one film n/a 1359010
item 2
Vol.1: 1917-1943
Vol.2: 1944-1978

Calcutta
Holy Nazareth Church and
St. Gregory's Church
1793-1859¹
1859-1933²
1907-1924
1933-1982 1793-1937²
1933-1982 1793-1860³
1861-1933³
1892-1907^{2

3}
1933-1948³ n/a 1344011

1925-1933 1907-1922 1907-1933³ n/a 1344012
items 1-3

Dacca 1831-1978 1836-1979 1833-1981^{2

3} 1831-1928 1356948
item 3

Jakarta
St. John's Armenian Apostolic Church 1836-1957 1836-1957 1836-1964 n/a 1344077
item 1

Madras All BMD's between 1829 - 1908 are on one film n/a 795841

Rangoon
St. John the Baptist Armenian Apostolic Church 1867-1980² 1858 -1981² 1857-1957² n/a 1356948
item 2

Singapore 1834-1876 1832-1879 1834-1854^{2

3} n/a 1356947
Note: many frames blurred and illegible

1955-1976 1879-1927 n/a n/a 1356948
item 1 (includes confirmations in 1961)

Surabaya
St. George's Armenian Apostolic Church 1927-1962 1927-1956 1928-1976 n/a 1344077
item 2

Tangra n/a n/a 1961-1976³ n/a 1344012
items 4-5

Armenian College &
Philanthropic Academy Register of Admissions and Withdrawals 1892-1979 1344010

1. these records have been transcribed in full and are on the FIBIS database. www.fibis.org
2. part transcription can be found on Nadia Wright's website
3. photographs and transcriptions of graves can be found here

Click on the dancing skeleton to go to the Armenian Graves page

Copyright
[That Thing Some of You Ignore As You Take My Photographs Without The Courtesy Of Asking]

© 2000-2013 Liz Chater. The author asserts her moral rights in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000 All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced by any process, without written permission from the author. email: liz at chater-genealogy.com (replace the at with an @)

For problems or questions regarding this Web site contact liz at chater-genealogy.com.
Last updated: 24 March 2013.