Tag Archives: government buildings

Telegraph Office, Hare Street, Dalhousie Square, 1878

হেয়ার স্ট্রিটের মোড়ে টেলিগ্রাফ অফিস ভবন, ১৮৭৮
Telecommunications services, in true sense, began in India in 1851 when a telegraph service became operational between Calcutta, then the seat of the British colonial government, and Diamond Harbor 21 miles away, a trading post of the British East India Company. TeleCableLaying -DiamondHarbour-Calcutta-1851The telegraph, and later the telephone were introduced in India in 1882 and were viewed by the British as tools of command and control that were essential to maintain law and order in the country.
This view of The Telegraph Office, situated on the bend of Old Court House Street and Hare Street, at the south-west corner of Dalhousie Square was taken in 1878. The construction of the building started in 1873. This is the oldest and the original part of the sprawling Telegraph Office complex and is more commonly known as the ‘Dead Letter Office’. It served as the central sorting office for incoming mail from overseas to Bengal. Where the postal address was incomplete, or the addressee not located or deceased or when the letter could not be returned to the sender, the letter stayed in this wonderful Italianate corner building with a campanile tower in North–Eastern corner. Supposedly it was designed as a Italian clock tower, but it never came to contain a clock.  The Central Telegraph Office, 1876, Lord Dalhousie, then Governor General of India, sponsored the first telegraph services in India in the 1850s. In 1870, the first telegraph connecting Britain and Kolkata was switched on.

Photograph is a part of the ‘Walter Hawkins Nightingale collection “Album of views of Calcutta”, was taken by James Humpidge.

Saint Andrews Church, Dalhousie Square, Calcutta, 1840-1850s

সেন্ট অ্যান্ড্রুজ গির্জা ও রাইটার্স বিলডিং,  [আনুমানিক ১৮৫০]
St Andrew’s Church is a colonial church located to the north-east of the Dalhousie Square. This Scottish Kirk was built in Grecian style by Martin Burn in 1818. In the foreground is the site of the original Fort William. It was demolished after the British defeat by Siraj-ud-Daula in 1756 and the space filled by a large tank, which in Ward’s time, was Calcutta’s water supply. Perhaps at that time the area called Lal Dighi acquired a new name ‘Tank Square’, and afterwards, Dalhousie Square after the name of Lord Dalhuise, the Governor General of India (1847-1856).
Date and photographer unidentified.

Government House – Gateway, Calcutta, 1865

লাট ভবনের সিংহদ্বার, কলকাতা, ১৮৬৫
This Government House was a palatial residence for the Governors-General of Calcutta, commissioned by Marquess Wellesley in 1798. Captain Charles Wyatt, the architect, based the building on designs for Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire, with specific changes to combat the heat of Calcutta by allowing greater movement of air through the building. There were also four ceremonial gateways, two of which crossed Esplanade Row; their design was based on Adam’s archways at Syon House in Middlesex. This is a part of an album entitled ‘Photographs of India and Overland Route’
The photograph was taken in 1865 by Oscar Mallitte

Money Currency Office, Dalhousie Square East, c1878

কারেন্সি আপিস, ডালহৌসি স্কোয়ার ঈস্ট, ১৮৪৭
This is a handsome three storied building founded in 1833 on the east side of Dalhousie Square. The above photograph shows the St. Andrew’s Church in the background. At first the building housed the Agra Bank. In 1868, when the Government occupied a large portion of it for its Currency Department, the building assumed its name, Currency Building. Actually it contained the Office of Issue and Exchange of Government Paper Currency. It was designed in Italian style, the walls were made of brick, the roof was arched on iron joist and the floor covered with marble and sandstone. A handsome gate at the entrance in three parts is of a very florid design in wrought iron. The Central Hall gets sunlight through skylights over-topping the large domes. The Central Hall and a row of exchange counters were used for notes gold, silver and other change. The Currency office has a vault of a massive masonry lime on its roof, walls and floor. The second floor is similarly designed and the then Assistant Commissioner in-charge of the Currency Building had his residence there. The rooms above are spacious and are paved with Italian marbles.
The view taken by an unknown photographer in the late 1870s

Summer House of the Governor General, Barrackpore, 1807

 

seatOfGocGen-barrackpore
লাটবাড়ি, ব্যারাকপুর
The Seat of the Governor General 16 miles from Calcutta from Nature. November 1807′
Description: Watercolour, by Charles Ramus Forrest (d. 1827), of Barrackpore House and Park in Barakpur near Calcutta. Barakpur was originally a permanent barracks, but when Marquis Wellesley took over the Commander-in-Chief’s residence, in 1801, he decided to make improvements to the area. He commenced the building of a summer residence for future Governors-General, which consisted of only the first storey when he was recalled to England. Wellesley also landscaped the gardens in the ‘English Style’ and added an aviary, a menagerie and a theatre. Barrackpore Park later became a popular place for leisure pursuits. The first storey of Wellesley’s proposed grand building was first added to by Sir George Barlow, acting Governor-General from 1805-1807, who converted each corner of the verandah into a small room. This view shows the building after these additions. Later in 1814-15 the building was greatly extended by the Marquis of Hastings who added a new storey.
Artist : Forrest, Charles Ramus
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European Quarter, Dalhousie Square North, Calcutta, 1922

ডালহৌসি স্কোয়ার অঞ্চল, তদানীন্তন সাহেব পাড়া, ১৯২২
European Quarter, North of Dalhousie Square, Calcutta
Photograph taken in 1922

Government House, Dalhousie Square, 1860

লাট ভবন, কলকাতা, c১৮৬০
It was called Government House in those days. The Government House was a palatial residence for the Governors-General of Calcutta, commissioned by Marquess Wellesley in 1798. Captain Charles Wyatt, the architect, based the building on designs for Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire, with specific changes to combat the heat of Calcutta by allowing greater movement of air through the building.
Photograph by Samuel Bourne in c1860