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Kolkata has been famously heralded as the “City of Joy” but on the other hand Rudyard Kipling heralds it infamously as the “City of Dreadful Night” but I personally would not shy away from calling Kolkata the “City of Love” as well. This city has been the haven and nestle for many lovebirds new and old.
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However, it is almost disheartening to see that a city that holds love so near to its heart conveniently chooses to forget the most beautiful woman that set foot in this city. In the pages of history, she is just “The Celebrated Miss Sanderson”.
Our story takes place right after the Battle of Plassey (1757) and the Battle of Buxar (1764) - The British have fully consolidated their position in this part of the country. Hundred of young boys were leaving England to work for the British East India Company in lieu of a lucrative career.
Naturally, if you gather a bunch of single cockney boys thousands of miles away from their hometown there are bound to be some problems and frivolities. These boys frequented the alehouses of Calcutta, drenched themselves with gin which was originally brought in to cure malaria, and were regular customers at the local whorehouses. When men lead such reckless lives, there are bound to be diseases of all kinds.
The unruly conduct of these new recruits was a major concern for the Company and the solution was also simple - dozens of young girls from England were given money and sent to India on ships with one sole objective - to find a husband within a year. These women were given a rather insensitive name - “The Fishing Fleet”.
Lucky girls would get an eligible young bachelor within a few days and those who were unlucky would head back to England at the end of the year. Apart from this, many women may have gone to England to complete their education and returned back to India to their parents. One of them was Robert Sanderson’s daughter Elizabeth Jane.
The moment Elizabeth got off the ship, news spread all over that an angel of immeasurable beauty had adorned the godforsaken malaria-infested marshy city. Boys lined up for her and everyone wanted her company. Everybody expected that they would be the lucky suitor to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was well aware of her popularity and reputation and at times took advantage of that. For Example, once sixteen boys asked her out on a ball. She committed to everyone separately that she would go with them. However, to have a good laugh she requested every one of those sixteen boys to wear a pea-green frock coat with pink lace piping as it would go marvellously with her gown.
The result of this neatly etched-out plan was this - in the ball, people witnessed sixteen clueless boys wearing the same old shiny green frock coat. The boys however took it sportingly and Elizabeth danced with each one of them. Later on, the sixteen suitors lit torches on both sides of the road and walked with her horse-drawn carriage singing songs.
Then, as is the case with such a beautiful woman - Elizabeth got married to Richard Barwell, a very close friend of Warren Hastings. It is said that Barwell had two very bad habits - gambling and women. Thus, it is amply clear that the marriage wasn’t a particularly happy one.
They were married on the 13th of September 1776 and two years later on the 9th of November 1778 at the tender age of 23 Elizabeth died from complications arising out of childbirth.
This city and its people might have forgotten the name of this once lovely soul but after her death, Elizabeth found a place among the greats of her age in South Park Street Cemetery. The obelisk of her tomb is still one of the tallest in the area and one can still read in the marble plate “Elizabeth Jane Barwell, The celebrated Miss Sanderson”
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