November 6 2008
We have to thank Larry Brown. He has done a magnificent job for Memory Lane
FOREWORD
Not very much has been written about the Makum Namdang Tea Company and it is good that Larry Brown has at least put pen to paper and given a comprehensive record of his time with the Namdang Tea Company and importantly, he has listed the people who were with the respective Makum and Namdang Tea Companies, right from the new Assistants to the most senior Managers.
The first land clearance started at Margherita Tea Estate in 1890 and in September 1891 78 acres had been planted. By June 1894 a thousand acres were under tea. Lord Curzon visited in 1900 and said about the Makum Company Teas "Will they not be drunk and appreciated all over the world? Teas once tasted, never abandoned"
Plantings were started at Namdang 1909 and under William Warren's charge increased rapidly to cover nearly 500 acres.
The Jack family, like William Warren, were of Scottish descent and recognizing this it was decided to incorporate the Saxon 4th figure in the trademark. This unique symbol appears in the Armorial bearing of the Merchant Guild of Stirling, which was the fourth of of the four original burghs (Berwick,Roxburgh,Edinburgh and Stirling)
The Companies had close ties with the Assam Company and the shared Directors and Chairmen, included John Berry White, Sir Annesley de Renzy, A.W.Madden and others.
I am happy to have been of assistance to Larry when he was compiling this record and it was interesting to delve into my memory bank to recall times and places-and people that were all intertwined. Like Larry, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Assam and I hope this record jogs the memories of others who were there.
James Beven
Norfolk July 2008.
*******************************************
My daughters have often asked me to write a few lines about my time in India and I have only now got around to doing this.
My pathway to tea and for other prospective young tea planters, was the Interview-Mincing Lane or Aberdeen-The Circassia/Cilicia or the Caledonia or on a P & O boat - the Bay of Biscay- Gibraltar-Port Said- Karachi - Bombay.
Some complained of the hardships of heat and dust encountered during the journey but I think most of us revelled in just about every aspect of going to India and the time that was spent there. My journey, and my time in India, although relatively short in my overall span of three score and ten years, perhaps make up the most memorable chapters in my life. I hope that this record will be of some interest to those who were there and to those who are in the Makum Namdang Company today. In about 50 years from now, the sixties will have receded over 100 years into the past and the names that are recorded here , will, I hope, not be forgotten. At that time there will be no expatriate or Indian tea planters left who experienced those times. In a hundred years no doubt changes will have happened. Radical upheavals are occurring in Assam today and the halcyon days in tea that I so fondly remember will never be repeated.
It is a credit to the Planting Communities of the 2000's, that in spite of adversities they can still have a good Club life, and have Meets , Flower shows and so on and in 'The Camellia' tea magazine the photos show groups of happy planters and their wives but I still think that the Golden Years were from the early 50's to the early 70's and these were relatively carefree and non political. One worked hard and played hard and appreciated that they were guests of a lovely people in their lovely Province.
I feel very privileged to have been in tea, and in Assam, and with the Namdang Tea Company and to have met and known so many wonderful people I would hope that others, particularly the diminishing band who attend the different Reunions, will get around to recording the memories that they had when they joined tea as young men so that their times, their experiences, and their friends will not be forgotten.
My account is fairly localized as the company gardens were in the Margherita/Digboi area, and as such it may have only a limited interest to the wider tea community. Nevertheless, many names are mentioned and these may be familiar to a wider group. Some are still with us and others, sadly, but not forgotten, have gone to the Tea Planters abode in the sky.
Forgive me for jumping from the past to the present and back in this narrative and perhaps getting some names, dates and places wrong.
*****************************************
A Young Irishman joins Tea.
Click to read part One --Chapters 1 through 12
CHAPTER ONE: ARRIVAL.
CHAPTER TWO: PEOPLE IN THE COMPANY.
CHAPTER THREE: SOME STORIES OF THE MORE COLOURFUL CHARACTERS IN THE COMPANY AND IN THE DISTRICT.
CHAPTER FOUR: LOCAL LEAVE
CHAPTER FIVE: SOME FRIENDS AND MORE PEOPLE AND PLACES
CHAPTER SIX NAMDANG FACTORY BUNGALOW GHOST.
CHAPTER SEVEN RIVERS
CHAPTER EIGHT. OBSERVATIONS ON TEA
CHAPTER NINE SOME MORE EXPERIENCES and more amusing stories from Tony Pickford about people in the Company. CHAPTER 10 PLANTER'S DOGS.
CHAPTER 11: HOME LEAVE.
CHAPTER 12: AFTER HOME LEAVE.
End of part One
Click to read part Two --Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13: WEDDINGS.
Click to read part Three
CHAPTER 14: PHOTO GALLERIES.`
Click to see photo galleries
Conclusion: People who were there at the time.
(This account of my time is supplemented by some stories of events, people and situations within the Makum /Namdang Tea Company and surrounds, by Tony Pickford, Ali Zaman and Phil Bayley and I thank them for these. I have had photos from Jimmy Beven, Peter Bartlett, Alan Lane, Bill Addison, Vic Pearson,Paul Sherman-James and others and I thank them and all the people who kindly sent their wedding photos. Jimmy Beven and Bob Jones have been great in helping me to compile some background on the people and events in the Makum Namdang Company.) |