EARLY LIFE

Trichinopoly Rayalu Arakiaswamy Thumboo Chetty was born in Madras? or Trichinapoly? In April 1837 of Roman Catholic parents. (page 1)

T. R. A. Thumboo chetty lived his early years of his life in Malayappan Street, George Town, Madras, Tamil Nadu. (page 283)

In the Year --/04/1894 we see the Residence of T. R. A. Thumboo chetty at N° 58 Thumboo Chetty Street, Madras. (page 157)

Thumboo attended the pial school (vernacular education : Telugu and Tamil Language?). (page 2)

A pyal School near Vepery. Location: Madras Date: 1862-76. Source : http://dsal.uchicago.edu/* Students were taught on the raised porch at the front of their home (tinnai), later called their schools tinnai-ppalli-kkutam "porch schools".

~ 1849: Thumboo Chetty lost both his parents at the age of twelve. He was brought up with care and attention by five executor, One of the principal executor was Mr Ponnoo Chettiar, whom afterwards became his father-in-law. (Page 2)

Madras Christian College in George Town, Parrys Corner.Esplanade, 1906. At left are the High Court buildings and in the extreme right is the College House. Next to it is the Madras Christian College building. The dome is the Anderson Hall which was earlier the Anderson Church, where the college assembly and other functions were held. Next to it is the Anderson Church built between 1881 and 1906. source : http://www.frontline.in


Mr. Thumboo Chetty was one of the earliest pupils of this institution. (page 89) . The history of MCC began in June 1835 when two Scottish Chaplains in Madras Rev. Lawrie and Rev. Bowie started a school in the vicinity of St. Andrew's Kirk, Egmore. On their request the Church sent Rev. John Anderson, who, on April 3, 1837, relocated this General Assembly School with 59 boys to Armenian Street in Black Town. With the arrival of his friends, Rev. Johnston (1839) and Rev. Braidwood with his wife (1841), Rev. Anderson was able to run many branch schools successfully in Madras and its suburbs. Source : www.mcc.edu.in ; http://www.thehindu.com/

Gifted with a graceful figure and action, a clear and powerful voice, he used to repeat, with singular facility, the stanzas of that celebrated sage, Vemana, whose Satliakam may be regarded as a book of Indian wisdom, not inferior in excellence to Solomon's Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Thumboo' s home was one in which the precepts and counsels of the Christian Gospel were scrupulously attended to, so that he was trained in those practices of piety and virtue, which afterwards developed themselves remarkably in his life. (page 8)

Ample provision was made, out of family funds, for giving Thumboo, after leaving the pial school, a sound and liberal education in English, and he received his early English education in that celebrated school, known as 'The Free Church Mission Institution,' and which is now familiar to us as the Madras Christian College, situated close to that picturesque part of the city, of Madras, where, on one side, are the attractive charms of the sea and the shore... (page 8)

Group portrait of students, Madras Christian College. Group portrait of students under the instruction of the Reverend William Miller of the Free Church of Scotland Mission at Madras. The large group of students are standing in front of a building, with two Europeans, one of whom is the Reverend Miller, seated in the centre. The Mission School later became the Madras Christian College Dr. William Miller was appointed Principal. source : http://www.bl.uk

~ 1846 : Thumboo Chetty received his English education for eight years from the Madras Christian College.

Thumboo Chetty is one of the earliest pupils of the institution. (page 8, 89). Thumboo had always a grateful remembrance of the unwearied care and attention bestowed on him by the original founders of the institution, Rev. John Anderson, Rev. W. Johnson and Rev. J. Braidwood, M.A., and their assistants, Rev. P. Rajagopaul, Rev. A. Venkataramiah and Rev. Ethirajulu who worked hard in imparting instruction to those who were anxious to undergo a course of sound and liberal education.(page 3) .

--/--/1854 : Thumboo received the first prize for general proficiency, Madras Christian College. (page 3, 6)

Portrait of the Rev. P.Rajahgopaul of the Free Church of Scotland Mission, Madras. Full-length seated studio portrait of the Reverend Rev. P. Rajahgopaul of the Free Church of Scotland Mission, Madras. This photograph was taken in the 1860s. The Reverend P. Rajahgopaul was Presbyter to the Indian population from 1858. source : http://www.bl.uk

In December 1855, three vacancies for clerkships in the office of the Quartermaster-General of the Madras Army were advertised, and out of about 150 candidates Thumboo Chetty, after undergoing a departmental competitive examination in precis-writing, composition, etc., was appointed clerk. He rapidly rose, in the course of four or five years, to be the cash keeper and indexer of the office. (page 9)

~ 1861 : Thumboo Chetty married Rajamma, celebrated in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Refuge in Popham's Broadway, Madras. (page 13)

- for nearly four years and half Thumboo Chetty was the Manager of the Legislative Departement, Madras. (page 14)

- Thumboo Chetty's eldest son was born, Royalu Chetty (Thumboo Chetty father's name).(page 17)

- At the suggestion of J. D. Mayne, while still employed in the Legislative Departement, Thumboo Chetty joined Law Class, Presidency College, Madras, during three years. (page 18)

The Honorable Mr. John Dawson Mayne. The major portion of T. R. A. Thumboo Chetty’s public career was in the judicial line, and that the foundations for his legal attainments were laid by that eminent Jurist, the Hon’ble Mr. John Dawson Mayne, of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law, formally Officiating Advocate-General of Madras, and Author of “A Treatise on Damages”, “The Criminal Law of India,” etc., whose esteemed pupil T. R. A. Thumboo Chetty had the good fortune to be. Source T. Royaloo Chetty

In 1865 at the final examination Thumboo Chetty obtained the first prize for the proficiency in law. (page 18)

- In 1866, for nearly nine months, Thumboo Chetty was the Judge of the Court of District Munsiff of Purghi, in the Zilla of Bellary, on the recommondation of J. R. Kindersly, the then Civil Judge of the District. (page 18).

* District Munsiff Court (alternate spelling = District Munsif Court) is the court of the lowest order handling matters pertaining to Civil matters in India...

The Honorable Mr. Justice J. R. Kindersley. source : T. Royaloo Chetty

In 1867 transfer to Bangalore, and promoted to the post of Sheristadar of the judicial Commissioner’s Office .

The Hon. Mr. J. R. Kindersley wrote on 20th November 1867 : — T. R. A. Thumboo Chetty served under me first as District Munsiff of Purghi in the District of Bellary and afterwards I appointed him Sheristadar of the Judicial Commissioner's Office at Bangalore. He has always given me the most complete satisfaction as a public servant. He has great talent for business combined with an amiable disposition and uprightness of conduct, such as are seldom found united in any one person. I trust that he will always maintain the high character which he has now attained. (page 24)

* Sheristadar : A sheristadar is the chief officer in Indian court entrusted with the tasking of receiving and checking court pleas. The word has been derived from the Persian word sarishta-dār meaning "record keeper".

Source :

- The book "A brief sketch of the life of Raja Dharma Pravina, T.R.A. Thumboo Chetty" by T. Royaloo Chetty

- The hindu : http://www.thehindu.com/features/education/college-and-university/steeped-in-history-and-heritage-a-college-dedicated-to-public-cause/article3276965.ece