June 1-15, 2010 MADRAS MUSINGS 5 Some Madras street names and their history A four-page pull-out by the Madras Musings team ith the Corporation of cials has been pointing out rename only those streets that currency). You will thus not tory, People, Commerce and In- WChennai taking a deci- that in many cases roads and commemorate British names. find Lloyd’s Road or dustrial Resources by Somerset sion that it will rename after streets were named after ob- Our boundaries were, there- Moubray’s Road in this list. Playne (1914/15, identified Tamil scholars all those streets scure Company/Government fore, clear – Tiruvottriyur/ This was the easier part of here as SI), and The High that still sport the names of servants and businessmen to Washermanpet/Royapuram in the exercise. The more diffi- Court of Madras Centenary our erstwhile colonial masters, whose properties and garden the North, T’Nagar/West cult task was to identify who Commemoration Volume a whole host of re-namings is houses these thoroughfares Mambalam to the West, was being commemorated in (1962, identified as HCM). just around the corner. Ma- had once led. But in a few in- Adyar to the South and, of each instance. In this task we We also found a resource on dras Musings has already high- stances, the names so com- course, the sea to the East. We have been greatly helped by the internet to be most useful. lighted the futility of such an memorated are still worthy of have, however, included Love’s Vestiges of Old Madras This is a ‘Madras Notebook of exercise, for street names are retention thanks largely to the Guindy and Saidapet in our (1913) (referred to as Love in 1833’ (identified as MN) hardly the way to commemo- individual’s service to the city, listing, as these are old areas this listing), in which the third which is featured in the web rate anyone in these modern to the world at large or even, which had close links with the volume has a list of some site http://valmayukuk. tripod. times. It has also pointed out as in the case of F.W. Ellis, to city though being not within it street names with the history com/index.html. This has the that those who live on streets the cause of Tamil. These in 1947. behind each one of them. It names of some British officials that are being renamed will be names, Madras Musings In our search, we found a must be pointed out here that and their places of residence. put to enormous hardships, strongly feels , deserve to be few streets in different locali- even when Love wrote the Wherever we are hazarding a having to notify various agen- retained. ties having the same names. In book, several names had be- guess about the origin of the cies and institutions about Having said that, we are such cases, we have tried to come obscure and he too had name, we have cited MM. changes of address. But as all glad to inform you that Madras discover whether the streets difficulty in definitely attribut- Based on these resources, these arguments are likely to Musings’ volunteer staff, in commemorated the same per- ing a street to a particular in- the Madras Musings team has fall on deaf ears, especially the wake of all this inquiry, de- son or different people. dividual. In our times this has put together a list. Against when populism is the name of cided to embark on an exer- Successful or not, in those become even more specula- each name we have given the the game, this publication had cise to identify the streets cases where a street name is tive. In addition to Love’s details that we have been able appealed that, before the old named after Europeans and common to different localities, work, we referred to J. Talboys to find in a couple of weeks. names were all changed in one colonial servants. We used the we have repeated the street Wheeler’s Madras In the Olden There are, however, several sweep, it would be best to look Eicher City Map of Chennai name, but indicated the local- Time (first published in 1882, names about which no details at what had led to the streets (2008 edition) as our basis, ity in brackets. In all, we found identified here as MIOT), J. were found and these have being named after a particular referring to its index of street that there were 176 roads/ Chartres Molony’s A Book of been listed but the reason for person in the past – and that, and locality names. In this ac- streets/localities that still bear South India (first published in the naming left blank. We in- we must say, the Corporation tivity, we decided to concen- colonial names. This does not 1926, identified here as JCM), vite readers of Madras has been, in a show of consid- trate only on those localities include roads that have al- The Madras Tercentenary Musings to send in any infor- eration, doing. Madras that existed in Madras city in ready been renamed (though Commemorative Volume mation they may have that will Musings, for its part, while 1947, for the Corporation has it must be pointed out that the (1939, identified here as help fill in these blanks. helping the Corporation offi- made it clear that it wants to old names are still in popular MTV), Southern India, Its His- Adam Street MM Possibly after Sir Frederick Adams, Arathoon Road Old Armenian family of (George Town) Governor of Madras, 1832-1837. (Royapuram) John Arathoon, c. 1819. Arundale Street Sir A.T. Arundale, President, Madras Adam Street (Mylapore) Corporation in the 1890s, and the (Washermanpet) man who ensured VP Hall became a reality. Adam Street Love quotes from the 1784 work Genuine Aspiran Garden Colony (Ayanavaram) (Mylapore) Memoirs of Asiaticus whose author Philip Dormer Stanhope writes of having Atkinson Road Love Is believed to take its name from dined in June 1775 with Reynold Adams, Free (Vepery) Edward Atkinson, a civil servant of Merchant and by then Master Intendant, at 1783 and Secretary to the Hospital Fort St George, who has a “most elegant Board in 1788, who appears to have mansion in the parish of St Thomas” had a house in this street. (this being San Thomé now). Austin Nagar (Alwarpet) Adam Street MTV Reynold Adams, who came in 1764 Baker Street Love This street was probably named (Triplicane) as a free merchant and later became (George Town) after George Baker who owned Master Attendant, owned a house here. property in Peddanaickenpet and who first mooted the Seven Wells Alexander Road (Choolai) scheme for water supply to Madras. He was the Master Attendant. Anderson Road Love Dr. James Anderson, Physician-General Nungambakkam/ in 1786, renowned botanist who had his Bishop Waller Avenue The Church of South India records the Egmore) home and botanical gardens in the area. (Mylapore) Rt. Rev. E. Waller being the Archbishop of the Diocese of Madras from 1922. Anderson Street Love has it that this street too was (George Town) named after Dr. James Anderson, but it is more Blavatsky Avenue Madame Blavatsky, founder of the likely (MM) that it was John Anderson, the (Adyar) Theosophist Movement. founder of the General Assembly School which later became the Madras Christian College. Ballard Street (Perambur) Anderson Road (Ayanavaram) (NOTE: Most Ayanavaram and Perambur Balfour Road Dr. Edward Green Balfour who in the roads are likely to have been named after (Kilpauk) 1840s came to Madras as Surgeon-General officials connected with the Loco Works.) and founded the Madras Zoo and Museum. He also helped found the Mohammedan Annie Besant Street Freedom fighter, Theosophist, Library in Triplicane and helped in making (Tondiarpet) women’s rights activist, educationist. the Nawab’s Madrasa a public school. 6 MADRAS MUSINGS June 1-15, 2010 June 1-15, 2010 MADRAS MUSINGS 7 Bamford Road (Ayanavaram) Constable Road SI Col. W.V. Constable, Director on the Board of Gray Nagar (Choolai) Lloyd Colony (Royapettah) (Ayanavaram) the Madras & South Mahratta Railway, c.1900. Barnaby Road Probably Burnaby after Henry Burnaby, partner Gregory Street (George Town) Lock Street (Ayanavaram) Cox Street (Park Town) (Kilpauk) in the firm of Kindersely, Watts & Co who bought Haddow Road Love Takes its name from George John Hadow who Maddox Street (Park Town) land in the area from one Hall Plumer. This is as D’Monte Colony John de Monte, 19th Century business (Nungambakkam) entered the civil service in 1805 and was Collector interpreted from a reference in Love. But even in Madley Street (T’Nagar) JCM Madley was the Engineer of Madras Corporation (Alwarpet) magnate and philanthropist of Madras. of Sea Customs in 1822. A house in that road who laid the city’s drainage network. c.1914-1925. 1921 this road had the name Barnaby. known as Blenheim, which has recently been D’Silva Road Love Called so after Francis De Silva, a publican who, in demolished, is marked G.J. Haddow in the Molony Road (T’Nagar) JCM J. Chartres Molony, President of the Madras Barton Wright Road William Barton Wright, Locomotive Superintendent (Mylapore) 1798, received a grant of 6 acres in Luz (San Thomé). (Ayanavaram) of Perambur Loco Works in the 1860s. His son map of 1822. Corporation in 1920s. He was one of the prime movers behind the Madras waterworks scheme. E.W. Barton Wright was a jujitsu exponent and Dams Road (off Mount Road) Hall Road Love Derives its name from General Hamilton Hall or created a new style – the Bartitsu (Barton Wright’s Davidson Street Love Doubtless named after Alexander Davidson, (Egmore his widow (Flora Tondeclair).