35past horizons The most striking and, for many, the most important aspect of the cemetery is the genealogical information it contains. Inscriptions tell a wealth of human stories, many of which are peculiar to the Calcutta situation. There is also great poignancy; so many expired at such a tender age – children, young wives, young sailors and company officers, most victims of the pestilential sub- continental climate. Recorded graves include those of a Glasgow iron- master named Boyle; the director of the Calcutta Zoological Gardens; officers of the Honourable East India Company; Mr James Wheatley, police constable, ' who was murdered in the execution of his duty', 1844; The Rev. John Adam ' late Missionary to the heathen…', numerous jute workers, a tea planter, an American sailor, Anglo- Indians and an occasional dissenting Welshman. The towns, villages and shires of origin are scrupulously recorded: Duffus, Paisley, Broughty Ferry, Sutherlandshire, Inverkeithing, Fife, Campbeltown, and many from the Dundee area, the major processing centre for Bengal jute. The cemetery project has stimulated considerable interest both in India and in Scotland. In Scotland this has been on many levels from government down, and from local history archives, family history groups and family members hoping to trace the burial place of their forebears. In one such case it was possible to relocate a grave for relatives who had had no knowledge of its whereabouts for over 70 years. A photograph album held at Dundee archives contains mid 20th century images of 25 individual graves. These were relocated on site in 2008 and recorded, the comparison providing a striking measure of the extent of decay and physical damage to the site in the intervening years. The Scottish Cemetery seems to have been maintained to the early 1950s. Early photographs of that time show the grass beginning to grow up but otherwise the site is well preserved. In the intervening half- century the site was only occasionally cleared and in later years became wholly overgrown. Robbing of materials from graves occurred. Lead inset lettering was systematically but very carefully removed from inscriptions throughout the site, all cast iron has now gone and stone robbing took place in isolated areas. The most severe physical damage to monuments has been caused by invasive root systems, a number of individual structures simply having ' exploded'. The brick and plaster monuments suffered the worst from the effects of general weathering, many now little more than crumbling rubble piles. In the 1980s a number of monumental inscriptions were removed for their own protection and relocated at the South Park Street Cemetery. family history the cemetery since 1950 continued ? ? there is also great poignancy - so many expired at such a tender age. Recording gravestone inscriptions

past horizons36 The plight of such European cemeteries came to the public's attention in 1976 with the publication of Two Monsoons; The Life and Death of Europeans in India by Theon Wilkinson MBE, who went on to found the British Association for Cemeteries ( BACSA) in South Asia. Over the last 30 years BACSA has effectively spearheaded the conservation of this important element of cultural heritage, working closely with Indian NGOs and local communities in the restoration and maintenance of cemetery sites. For more information see: http:// www. bacsa. org. uk ? Two monsoons Drawing the monuments