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| Old Government House Barrackpore elegraphindia.com |
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| Former Govt. House and park, Barrackpore, WB.bestbengal.info |
It was lord Richard Wellesley who took over as the administration in 1801 made a decision to improve the Cantonment and had been using the house there as the week-end retreat. and planned to convert into a self-contained GG house for future Governor Generals of India to run the administration and trade activities. The architect was Captain Thomas Anbury who in 1813 designed Governor General's House as classical mansion with one upper floor along with landscaped gardens that included a large banyan tree and English-styled bridge across the stream there. He added aviary and a theater for entertainment. To enhance the beauty of the site he also included a park which was later known as Barrackpore park. The central hall of the building was once a venue for week-end balls and entertainments. for the biggies who ran the growing British Empire
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| Government House at Barrackpore telegraph.co.uk/ |
Above image: Once the summer residence of Governors-General in the early period, Government House at Barrackpore was one of the seats of power during the company rule. Prior to 2015 this grand mansion was derelict, abandoned and uncared for after its last use as police hospital, .Barrackpore House was occupied by as many as twenty-four Governors-General of India until it ceased to be the residence of the Viceroy in 1912. Till such a time the small town with a placid river was believed to be an enchanting green gem in in the Raj, but it was meant for only white settlers..................
Wellesley's dream project was put in old storage by the EIC officials and considered it a waste of company's money to have two residences for the Governor General and frequently shunting between them. Subsequently, his relationship with the company directors became soured. It was Lord Warren Hastings, predecessor of lord Minto understood the strategic importance of the location near the river Hooghly and the Cantonment. The work on the GG House that began at the initiative of Wellesley was successfully completed by Hastings 1823. Since then, it had started gaining popularity as a week end getaway and successive Governor Generals never failed to take respite on week ends in the palatial house in a serene ambiance in Barrackpore.
The history of this place where the British cantonment stood, is much older and was earlier called Chanak before the British settlement. Inhabited mainly by the Bengali zamindars, this and other adjacent places like Nona Chandan Pukur grew up as townships impacted the English company's growth.
Located in Lat Bagan, the historical house was in in a dilapidated state owing to lack of periodic repairs and official negligence. There was public outcry and the historians and heritage lovers vented their anger and asked the government to save one of the oldest colonial buildings in West Bengal. Since the colonial capital was shifted to Delhi in 1912, this mansion in the prime part of the cantonment had lost its utility in its entirety. After 1947, no serious attention was paid to this grand house except that it was converted into a police hospital when a State Police Training Academy was functioning in the complex..
The West Bengal Commission on Heritage inspected this site and finally made a decision and in 2012 the building and adjacent areas were renovated at a cost of Rs.5.5 crore. The conservation work was done under the guidance of Souman Mitra ADG who established a museum in the GG House in the ground floor. The museum covers the history of this complex, including the large garden, gate hoses, fountain and other related structures. On display in the gallery here are British era arms and ammunitions, etc. The alveary is also restored with a body of water. The work on the heritage site began in 2017 with funds from the state government and completed in 2021.
In November 2021 the West Bengal Heritage Commission (WBHC) commemorated the World Heritage Week coinciding with 160th death anniversary of Lady Canning, wife of Gov. Gen. Charles Canning. Her marble memorial was here and later shifted to St. John's church, Kolkata. instead, a replica of her memorial is here. Incidentally in was in 2013 this Governor General's House was declared as a heritage site by the state government and in November 2021 a heritage plague was fixed at the site as part of world heritage week by the WBHC.
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