ABSTRACT

INTERVIEWEE NAME: Innes, Pelly, H.P. Hall

COLLECTION: Innes, 4700.579; Pelly, Hall, 580

IDENTIFICATION: Britons in pre-Independence India

INTERVIEWER: Frank De Caro, Rosan Jordan

PROJECT: British Voices in South Asia

DATES: 2/14/78, 2/15/78, 3/1/78 FOCUS DATES: 1930s

England as home, even to those born in India; in Britain, he sought others who=d lived in India; Brits who didn=t live in India can=t understand; re-adapting to life in England; visiting with other ex-Anglo Indians; brought few souvenirs back from India, few photos; Innes= children; son who wants to serve in India; preparing a wardrobe for India; topis; dangers of sunstroke; Anglo-Indian slang; reactions of Britons to India, mostly positive; British women=s adjustment to India; women torn between husbands in India and children in England; health dangers, dysentery, malaria; childhood memories of India C snakes by side of road, listening to howling of jackal; role of servants; prejudice of neighbors against Indian servant brought home to England; terms to describe British in India; term Athe Raj@; Pelly talks about Oxford=s connection to India; studied history; Pelly=s desire to go overseas; acceptance into Indian civil service; posted to Punjab; mostly Muslims and Sikhs in Punjab; Hindu predominance in other areas; relatives who were Catholic missionaries in South India; expectations of India; courses in Muslim and Hindu law to prepare him; probationary year; persistence of Victorian tradition C also had to pass exam in horse riding; remoteness of Anglo-Indian life; tradition of going out on tour on horseback; ships to India; boats that came alongside to sell leather goods, clothing, etc.; duty-free goods; ship called at Marseilles, Cairo; origin of word Aposh@: port outward, starboard home; AFishing Fleet@: British women who went to India to catch British husbands; advantages of marrying a civil servant; recalls scene in bar with Fishing Fleet girls; Pelly also served in Persian Gulf, met oilmen from Texas; air conditioning only known in railroad cars; retreating to hills during hot season; heat rash; families sent to hill stations during hot season; train journey to hill station; bribery, buying witnesses; negotiations in Saudi Arabia regarding boundaries of countries; cavalry station at base of Kashmir hills; Pelly bicycled to court every morning, station seemed to be populated solely by horses; Victorianism C had sabers as well as rifle; persistence of Victorian ideals; emphasis on classics at Oxford; how old-fashioned ideals carried over into British administration; pros and cons of autonomy of district officers; mail delivery; effects of remoteness from England.

wealth and effectiveness of maharajahs; autocracy; tradition of reverence for a ruler, obeisance; Pelly=s marriage and children; children generally sent to England for schooling; strain on women; 18^th century Englishmen more tolerant than those that followed; division deepened after Mutiny; type of Briton who thrived in India; difficulties for women in India; futility of trying to improve living conditions for Indian peasants; using camels to help build roads; eccentric man in Simla; ceremonious nature of British; British affection for India, feeling that it couldn=t last; interest in India has waned; India as paradise of upper class Britons; backlash against British hypocrisy; example of British hypocrisy in Kuwait; description of Indian bungalow; relationship between India and Persian Gulf, interests of British in Persian Gulf; Turkish invasion of Gulf; British efforts to keep peace in Gulf; Pelly worked in Persian Gulf after India=s independence; uniforms, topis; eccentric gentleman he knew in Punjab; H.P. Hall=s father was in Indian army; parents= reluctance to let Hall go to India; joined Indian Army because he wanted adventure; arrived in India Nov. 2, 1933; living in tents and huts, area surrounded by barbed wire at his first posting; , locals raiding camp and shooting; stayed at Peshawar his first night; moved down to Ambala in the Punjab, big military station there; staying in hill station in summer, training Kulka; Hall born in India; trip aboard ship home to England as child; early schooling in India and England; playing hockey with children of Indian servants; was junior tennis champion in Southern England; learned to shoot very young; sadness of separation from family; Eaton colors worn at Indian school; rivalry between Protestant and Catholic European schools; disadvantages of schooling in India; Hall=s skill at games; preparing a wardrobe for India; relearning language of India; his puppy that got rabies, went mad, infected 13 people who had to get shots; Pasteur Institute in Kasabi?, provided all the rabies and snake bite antidotes for India; rabies virus, serum produced from goats= brains; joining the Cheshires in the Indian Army; friend whose leg was amputated; Christmas Eve drinking whiskey in Bangalore; choosing which unit to join.