LADY MORSE’S NEW BIOGRAPHY OF ETHEL GRIMWOOD

HEADLINES LONDON PROGRAM ON MANIPUR AND THE EVENTS OF 1891


LONDON, 19 September, 2008: The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland presented a unique and enjoyable program to a packed audience in London on September 17, when Belinda Morse, together with L. Somi Roy, the New York-based film curator, gave an illustrated talk titled JOURNEY TO MANIPUR to a distinguished and diverse international audience, including many Britons, Americans and Manipuris.


The evening was hosted by Alison Ohta, Curator of the Royal Asiatic Society. The Society was founded in 1823 by the eminent Sanskrit scholar Henry Colebrooke and a group of likeminded individuals. It received its Royal Charter from King George IV in the same year 'for the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia'.


Among the audience for JOURNEY TO MANIPUR were Judith Grimwood Macaulay and other descendants of the family of Frank Grimwood, the ill-fated Political Agent of 1891; the Gyalmo Hope Cooke, the last Queen of the Kingdom of Sikkim; and Stephanie Roy, London curator of the Alkazi Collection of Photography, which had generously lent their historic slides for the talk. Also present were members of the Royal Asiatic Society, officials from the Royal Society of Asian Affairs, scholars from the University of Kentucky, families of veterans who fought in Imphal in the 2nd World War, and several Manipuris and other Londoners from North East India. Dr. Zosanglura Rawlchimm, a doctor from Mizoram, later commented that “the talk had finally given him some insightful understanding of the place in which he had learned his profession.”


The evening ‘s centerpiece was a dramatic retelling of Ethel Grimwood’s experiences in Manipur followed by a touching account of Mrs. Grimwood’s story by Lady Morse and her captivating reading from her book CALAMITY AND COURAGE: A HEROINE OF THE RAJ: The Story of Ethel Grimwood and Manipur” (Book Guild Publishing, London, 2008). The reading also afforded the audience a rare and unprecedented look at photographs from the events of 1891 from the Alkazi Collection of Photography; period photographs from the British Library and the Maharaj Kumari Binodini Devi Collection. Her illustrations also came from the British Library, the Royal Collection and the Illustrated London News Picture Library, together with the Manipur State Archives. Lady Morse recounted how a portrait painted by her great-grandfather, the eminent Victorian artist John Hanson Walker, of Mrs. Grimwood, inspired her to write about the remarkable life of Mrs. Grimwood, and discovering the unknown story of the years after her experiences in Manipur.


Mr. Somi Roy gave an introductory overview of Manipur and its history leading up to 1891. His presentation included a survey of Manipuri books and manuscripts on the subject of 1891. He noted that the Royal Asiatic Society had also published the first volume of “The Court Chronicle of the Kings of Manipur - Cheitharon Kumpapa” by Saroj N. Arambam Parratt and that the second volume was due out shortly. He concluded with comments on the importance of memory and recollection among descendants of the historical figures of 1891, using contemporary photographs as well as his own family archival photographs from the Maharaj Kumari Binodini Collection.


Somi Roy also offered a novel presentation of the Manipuri perspective with a short film of a performance of Khongjom Parba, the celebrated Manipuri ballad of 1891. Produced specially for the Royal Asiatic Society event by Manipuri filmmaker Dave Thoudam and balladeer M. Mangangsana Meitei, the ballad was performed by Th. Ibemhal The noted Khongjom Parba balladeer performed sections of the ballad that referred to the events in Lady Morse’s book. They included the British planning the capture of Crown Prince Tikendrajit and a lyrical episode imagining Ethel Grimwood plucking English roses in her Residency garden to send to the Prince to warn him that he was in danger.


Lady Morse autographed copies of her book, several of which she has generously sent to Manipur, including copies for the Manipur State Public Library and Manipur University. Guests attending JOURNEY TO MANIPUR continued their discussion with Lady Morse and Mr. Roy at a reception following the program.