HERITAGE HOUSE TO SHOWCASE EMPIRE BUILDER

Times of India
eritage_house_to_showcase_empire_builder/articlesh ow/4077783.cms
Feb 5 2009
India

CHENNAI: A once ill-maintained corner in a colonial structure in
Charles Street inside Fort St George will open its windows on Thursday
to showcase to the public the fascinating life of Robert Clive, who,
it can be said with some justification, laid the foundations of the
British empire in India.

Called Clive’s House, for it was where Rober Clive lived for a
while (the only other place where Clive lived in the south was
the Collector’s House in Old Cuddalore), the 300-year-old imposing
brick-and-mortar structure, complete with wooden floors and staircases,
high ceilings, and a roof supported by British steel girders, was
originally called Admiralty House because the courts of Admiralty
established in 1687 as a court of appeal sat in this building.

Clive is said to have rented this house from an Armenian merchant. It
even served as the governor’s town house for some time. Today, of
course, it is the southern regional headquarters of the Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI).

"We have created a Clive’s Corner, chronicling his life, his battles,
correspondence and excerpts from his speeches," says Sathyabama
Badrinath, superintending archaeologist, ASI, Chennai Circle.

Son of a Shropshire squire, Clive arrived in Madras in 1743. Aged 18,
he was a writer or clerk for the East India Company. Clive is, of
course, well known for having successfully captured Arcot, capital
of the Carnatic then, to provide the momentum for the British to
expand, at the expense of the French, as well as for his defeat of
Siraj-ud-Daulah with the help of Mir Jafar in the famous Battle of
Plassey. In both instances, Clive showed supreme resilience, battling
with far fewer troops than his adverseries.

The first marriage register of the St Mary’s Church in the Fort records
the marriage of Robert Clive with Margaret Maskelyne. Their marriage
was registered and solemnised at the church, which, consecrated in
1680, is the oldest Protestant church this side of the Suez.

The opening of Clive’s Corner, a permanent exhibition, is a welcome
effort by ASI to highlight the life and times of a man, an empire
builder, who also learnt his craft in Madras that is Chennai.