Old warehouse unfolds treasure-trove of artefacts about Kolkata’s colonial past

Old property deeds, priceless photographs, sketches, precious stones, gold medals recovered from colonial-era warehouse that has remained unopened for decades

A war-plane landing at Kolkata’s Eden Garden during the years of World War I, women participating in a cremation at city’s Keoratala crematorium, water bodies surrounding Calcutta High Court, a bridge on river Hooghly predating the iconic Howrah Bridge and hundreds of such never seen photographs and sketches have recently been discovered from an old warehouse in Kolkata.

The warehouse of the Office of the Administrator General and Official Trustee, West Bengal, which was lying in neglect, had not only revealed priceless images but also pieces of gold, silver and precious jewels. “We have recovered photographs, sketches and other valuables worth crores of rupees,” Biplab Roy, the current Administrator General and Official Trustee of West Bengal told  The Hindu.

The New Secretariat Building, housing the Office of the Administrator General and Official Trustee, West Bengal, stands at the corner of Strand Road overlooking river Hooghly and lies next to the neo-gothic structure of the Calcutta High Court. Mr. Roy said that the warehouse of the Office on the ground floor of the New Secretariat Building was not opened for decades.

From the ground floor warehouse, the documents and artefacts were recently brought to the 10th floor of the building, where they were sorted out one by one.

The Office of the Administrator General and Official Trustee, West Bengal, is today responsible for the maintenance of hundreds of prime properties and large parcels of land in Kolkata and the rest of the State. As per the laws of British India, any estate or property that did not have any legal heir would pass into the hands of the Administrator General. This well could have been the reason how the valuables landed at the warehouse.

Mr. Roy delved a little into the history of the Office of the Administrator General and Official Trustee, West Bengal. Mr. Roy said that the first Act relating to Administrator General of Bengal was passed in 1874, which was then amended by another Act in 1913. There was also an Official Trustee Act, which was in effect from the 1870’s. In 1916, the office of Administrator General and the Official Trustee were merged and the office of Administrator General and Official Trustee came into being and has continued to function since then.

The recently discovered images at the warehouse have all been painstakingly preserved, restored and framed. Mr. Roy, a judicial officer who holds the rank of a District Judge, is particularly fond of a sketch by British military official and artist James Hunter. A sketch titled  The Delhi Gate of Bangalore by James Hunter, dating back to 1792, is carefully preserved in one of the wardrobes of the office.