Portuguese in India?

[rebeccaclaire86]

I have no previous experience of Indian research, so posting here for any thoughts from anyone more knowledgeable.

My several times great uncle William Higgs settled in Chandernagore where he was living in the 1820's when he remarried and wrote his will. He is mentioned in the British India Office records on FindMyPast. I've found his will online (which I'm over the moon with as it proves the link back to the English family with certainty and has proved my link to the Higgs family that I always thought my ancestor linked into). However there are two versions of the will, one in what I initially thought was French, and one in English.

The English translation describes that he had lost his eyesight, and dictated his will in the Portuguese Language of India. I don't think he has any connection to Sri Lanka (which from a brief search on google I think the Portuguese ruled at that time), but he was a mariner so presumably travelled. There are a number of witnesses to his will that I thought had French surnames (Lefevre, Pinnetz, Lemeure, Violette, Filatrieu etc) but now I'm guessing they could have been Portuguese.

Has anyone else come across a Portuguese connection in a India? Did many Portuguese settle there? I feel like I may have missed something, and my knowledge of India in this time period is fairly limited.

Any thoughts or historical knowledge very appreciated!

[rebeccaclaire86]

Sorry I meant Goa, not Sri Lanka above!

[iluleah]

When India became independent in 1947, Goa remained under Portuguese control. India annexed Goa and when Portugal granted their Indian colonies independence, but that failed, in December 1961, Indian troops crossed the border into Goa and liberated it, it received Indian statehood in 1987.

This might be a start http://www.dholmes.com/master-list/india/goa.html

[rebeccaclaire86]

Thanks for your response, some useful history there.  It seems he lived in North Eastern India (Chandernagore and Chinsurah) near Kolkata/Calcutta, so the Portugese element is throwing me a bit!

[osprey]

bit of background here

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Portuguese_India

[davidqueneherve]

The Asiatic Annual Register, Or, a View of the History of Hindustan ...
https://books.google.fr/books?id=A3ZfAAAAcAAJ - Traduire cette page
1802 - ‎India
*September, at Calcutta, Mr. Paul Ferries, to Miss Esther Mullins; at Chandernagore, Capt. ... Dece MBER, at Calcutta, W. Higgs, esq. to Miss Sarah Avery; ditto, Mr. Geo. ... John Williams, of Monghyr, to Mrs. Sibbald; at Dimapore, Lieut.

The Oriental Magazine, and Calcutta Review
https://books.google.fr/books?id=HRooAAAAYAAJ - Traduire cette page
1823
William George Stephen, late a Captain of Engineers in the H. C. Service, ... John Marchant, late of Mozambique, a Portuguese settlement in the Coast of Africa, ... William Higgs, late of Chandernagore, in the province of Bengal, gentleman, ...

The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign ...
https://books.google.fr/books?id=VJ1FAQAAMAAJ - Traduire cette page
1843 - ‎Asia
At Hackney, Mary, wife of Mr. Joseph Gooderham, niece of the late Wm. Higgs, Esq., of Chandernagore. 18. In Abingdon Street, Rear Admiral William Maude.

The Bengal Obituary: Or, a Record to Perpetuate the Memory of ...
https://books.google.fr/books?id=T-HwSiLns14C - Traduire cette page
Holmes and Co. (Calcutta, India) - 1851 - ‎Lire - ‎Autres éditions
Here repose the remains of William Vant Hart, Esq. Senior, who departed this life on Sept. ... H. M. 44th Regt. and Jessy his wife, he died at Chandernagore, Feb. 11th ... Sacred to the Memory of William Higgs, Esq. of Chandernagore. To the ...

The Gentleman's Magazine - Volume 113 - Page 589
https://books.google.fr/books?id=YbLPAAAAMAAJ - Traduire cette page
1813 - ‎Lire - ‎Autres éditions
William Worth. She bore a long and severe illness with true Christian fortitude and resignation. She had a turn for poetry, even when very young; and it seems intenued by her friends to publish a ... At Richmond-green, Surrey, after a painful illness of many years, Sarah, wife of Wm. Higgs, esq. Chandernagore, East Indies.

Hello,

Most of the names you mentioned are French. Chandernagore was a French terrritory in India and some of the inhabitants were of Portuguese decent.

PINNETZ

http://anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/caomec2/pix2web.php?territoire=INDE&commune=CHANDERNAGOR&annee=1823

Frame 18

Marriage record of Charles Francis PINNETZ, born in Calcutta, son of John Francis PINNETZ and the late Margaret. He marries Marie DUPLESSIS.

He has a sister Eliza PINNETZ LEMEUR. Her husband is Ambroise LEMEUR, 25 years old.

Death record of William HIGGS in 1823

http://anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/caomec2/pix2web.php?territoire=INDE&commune=CHANDERNAGOR&annee=1823

Frame 37 - number 33

Le 3 juillet 1823 William HIGGS, ancien marin, rentier, âgé de 72 ans, né à Londres, époux en troisième noce de la dame Mary Ann BREISE, est décédé en sa maison à Manique Chandé

see number 35 death record of François DESOUZA, a typical Portuguese family name.

and number 36 the witnesses are Stanislas FILATRIAU, huissier du tribunal de première instance, 34 ans, et Charles Edouard VIOLETTE, écrivain au bureau des approvisionnements, 31 ans.

http://gw.geneanet.org/cgresequecatala?lang=en&p=stanislas+andre&n=filatriau

[rebeccaclaire86]

David, thank you so much for taking the time to look those up, I hadn't found any of those myself! Thanks also for explaining about the French connection. Will be spending my Sunday looking into those now, thanks so much for your kind help 

[davidqueneherve]

http://dutchcemeterybengal.com/dutch/node/126

"Relationships:
Husband of Mary Ann Breeze. They got married at Chandernagore on 06.01.1823."

Not found in the 1823 French register. May be it was a religious ceremony.

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Marriage record of Stanislas FILATRIAU in 1821 at Chandernagor

http://anom.archivesnationales.culture.gouv.fr/caomec2/pix2web.php?territoire=INDE&commune=CHANDERNAGOR&annee=1821

Frame 17

and frame 26 marriage of Ambroise dit LEMEUR and Eliza PINNETZ.

[rebeccaclaire86]

Thank you! His marriage to Mary Ann appears in the British India Office records.