THE FIRST PRINCIPALS AND OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

THE FIRST PRINCIPALS AND OTHER CONTRIBUTORS 

An institution with a history of over 160 years owes a lot to thousands of people who have contributed towards its growth over the years. Some names are remembered to this day but many are forgotten.

Today's blog post is about some of those who managed the affairs - and contributed towards the progress- of The Lawrence Asylum, Ootacamund/Lovedale for the first 50 years from its inception on September 6, 1858.

The Lawrence Asylum, Ootacamund in 1873: Picture courtesy: Wikipedia

In our story, the proverbial  "Early Bird" has to be the first Secretary of the Asylum Managing Committee, Mr E W Bird, who managed the affairs of the infant institution from 1858 even before a full time Principal was appointed. 

The Rev T Whitehouse, MA Cantab,  was appointed Principal in 1862 and held office till 1868. Much of the construction of the new buildings at Lovedale and the shifting of the asylum from Ootacamund took place under his watch. His assistant, the Headmaster, was Mr G W Armstrong who came from the Missionary Training School at Kottayam. 

In 1868, the Rev Whitehouse retired and sailed back to England being succeeded by the Rev Bliss. Mr Armstrong continued to serve as Headmaster till 1889. Of him,  it is said, " he exercised a remarkable and very beneficial influence over the boys committed to his charge, and his memory is still held in much esteem and reverence by many of his old pupils. After his death, a sum sufficient to found a medal bearing his name was subscribed and this was annually awarded to the best conducted boy of the year." 

George Webster, the student at the Asylum whom we have met in previous blog posts, wrote, " The even tenor of our lives was, within a few months of our taking possession of the new buildings (in Lovedale) rudely broken in upon by the untimely and greatly lamented death of Mrs. Annie Burrows in 1869, and in her, we nursery boys, lost our best and kindest friend. How shall I ever forget her many little nameless acts of kindness and of love?" 

Despite all efforts to trace the history of an institution over the last one and half centuries, I am afraid, there still could be gaps. We are not sure, for example, who was in charge from 1871 to 1874 when the Rev O Dene BA (Cantab), I Eccles, arrived.

The Rev Dene settled in for a long period of 17 years to bring a sense of greater stability to the Lawrence Asylum. In 1879, he was deputed elsewhere for Church duties but the Committee must have missed his presence. They somehow got him back -for we find that he was “re-elected” as Principal in 1880.

 Chief Instructor Ambrose Perkins was a key member of the Rev Dene’s personnel. He must have supervised the planting of six oak trees, equally divided between the Male and Female Branches of the Asylum, in 1883 and the erection of lightning rods on the school towers the next year. One gets the impression that Ambrose Perkins was, in a sense, the forerunner of a much later day Nicholls. It is quite amazing to know that the first eucalyptus oil distilled in the Nilgiris in 1885 was by none other than Mr. Perkins! To cap it off, we are told the oil was distilled using equipment manufactured in the School premises. Presumably the boys had a hand in this exercise supervised by the capable Mr. Perkins. 

Rev Dene's successor was the Rev Augustus W. Atkinson, MA (Dub), the last Principal in the 19th century. He was a former Headmaster of the Bishop Corrie's Grammar School at Madras, and came to Lovedale from Calcutta where he had an impeccable reputation as the Principal of La Maritiniere (founded in 1836). 

The Rev Atkinson remained in office till he passed away in harness, so to speak, in 1907. This paved the way for the Padfield era starting from 1908. 

To what extent did the Lawrence Asylum at Ootacamund/Lovedale meet Sir Henry Lawrence's vision in the first 50 years (1858-1908)? A report from the Asylum says, "It is heartening to know that as many as 2149 boys and 458 girls had got the benefit of an education here."

 Most of the boys had become soldiers or telegraphists. Had the boys and girls been provided with the skills and the spirit to carve out a better, more secure future for themselves? Had they imbibed the Christian values that Sir Henry sought to propagate? 

By all accounts, the first Principals of The Lawrence Asylum and their dedicated staff provided a solid foundation for the institution.

 We like to think Sir Henry, grave faced as usual, would have nodded his approval.