Anglo-Indians: A Life Through Six British Monarchs (Biography of Dolly Dudmana)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Born in Patna in 1936 Elizabeth James, nee Faithful grew up in a world which no longer exists - the Raj, and from a childhood steeped in British tradition saw the changes which took place with Independence, partition and the subsequent refugee settlements.

In this book she has tried to portray something of the lifestyle of Her forbears but most of all to immortalise a lady who played a large and important part in both her own and the life of all her siblings.

"My mother always said she was a 'true Anglo-Indian"" she says in that the original term was applied to those of European extraction (mostly British) who lived in India. Those of mixed parentage were first referred to as Eurasian - a fact which they often tried to disguise. Many romantic films and books such as "King of the Khyber Rifles" tried, not very successfully to portray this. As the years went on and mixed marriages became more and more common, it came to mean anybody with one parent of European extraction and eventually covered a much larger range!

Her writings try to record life in the twentieth century for Anglo Indians drawn of course from her own experience as she feels that she is probably one of the last remaining of her generation and that the story of these people will "slip into anonymity".

India, since time immemorial has been a multi-cultural society which has enjoyed a civilisation dating back thousands of years before Christ.

It has a fascinating history and there have been many popular misconceptions regarding India, in particular, regarding the British Raj and the Independence Movement.

This book is the story of a lady of English parentage who, like many others like her, was born in India and lived her life there albeit on Western lines. Her life was notable, if only because she had the courage to buck the system in the 1930s when women who flouted the conventions were heavily penalised even in the UK but much more so in the Colonies where life seemed to remain much as it had in the Victorian Era.

She lived through six British Monarchs - Victoria, Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II. The changes she witnessed during her lifetime encompassed things like the introduction of electricity, telephones, the motor car and the devestating changes experienced by those left behind by the Raj. She was also a witness to the intense political activity which prevailed in India from the twenties until Independence and indeed for several years after that.

I owe a debt of thanks to my mother who was Dolly Dudman's sister and who has proved invaluable to me with her first hand knowledge of the life and times of her sister.