Finally, British national’s persistence pays off, traces history of ancestors

The quest to trace history of her ancestors, who served in India in the pre-independence era, has brought Rose Mary Crump, a 79-year-old British National to the erstwhile summer capital of the British.

Born in Mussoorie in 1945, she finally managed to find the death certificate of her great great grandfather, who once lived in Shimla and worked in the Indian Railways. Crump, who now resides near Cambridge in England, had made tracing her family history as her post retirement goal on which she has been working tirelessly since around 2015.

“I would like to pass on all the documents, linked to my ancestors, to my nieces in England. Maybe at some point of time, they would like to trace the family history,” said a nostalgic Crump.

Her mother was born in Shimla and her great great grandfather breathed his last here and was buried in one of the cemetries. “Though I have been visiting India on various occasions, this is my first visit to Shimla. I wanted to experience as well as witness the place where my ancestors lived and worked,” she said. Fortunately, her endeavour did not go waste as she was able to locate the death certificate of her great great grandfather at the Municipal Corporation, Shimla.

“India has been home to several generations, who once owned properties in various locations across the country. While my maternal family had lived in India since around 1824, with several generations engaged in farming in West Champaran in Bihar, my father came to India to work in the sugar industry in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar around 1934 and stayed in India till 1965,” she revealed.

Crump also plans to visit the historic Christ Church in Shimla to check whether there are any records of her family. She reached India on April 24 and headed straight to Kashmir to relieve the memories of her family and identify the locations in the photographs the family clicked way back in 1930s.

With the help of Shimla Walks’ Sumit Vashisht, she was able to visit the Municipal Corporation, Shimla to look for her ancestors’ death certificate. During her tour, she was also mesmerised with the town as well as the building, calling it an old British town.

Being one of the oldest municipalities across the country, Municipal Corporation, Shimla has a vast record of Britishers who lived in the town during the pre-independence era. Over the years, many Britishers have visited the Corporation to get the birth and death certificates of their ancestors who once lived in the town.

Himachal Tribune