View of Court House Street Calcutta (Kolkata), from near the South-Eastern Gateway of Government House by James Baillie Fraser - 1826

This is plate fourteen from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced these animated sketches of the busy city, published later as a collection of 24 superbly aquatinted plates. In the collection he devotes three plates to the Government House, all of them taken along its eastern side.

The accompanying text reads: "The view up Old Court House Street, closed by St. Andrew's at the further end, although not totally successful, as the perspective distorts the right-angle relationship between the south front of Government House and Old Court House Street, renders this same south-estern gateway a veritable Roman triumphal archway."

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

A View of Esplanade Row Calcutta (Kolkata), from the Chowringhee Road by James Baillie Fraser - 1826

This is plate 3 from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced these animated sketches of the busy city.

Chowringhee Road, now Jawarhalal Nehru Road, was the main north-south road through the city, and also the main settlement for the British in Calcutta at the time. The road runs for two miles along the Maidan, a wide, grassy open space.

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

A View of the Black Pagoda, in the Chitpore Road Calcutta (Kolkata) by James Baillie Fraser - 1826

This is plate 23 of James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced these animated sketches of the busy city.

Moving south into the heart of the city itself, he includes the view of the Black Pagoda in the Chitpore Road, a predominantly native part of Calcutta. This was built in 1731 by Gobindram Mitter, a local zamindar (landlord). It was never completed, and decayed so much that the main tower collapsed around 1813. One of the two subsidiary towers is shown in this image, with the Navaratna, or nine pinnacles.

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

A View of Chandpal Ghat Calcutta (Kolkata) by James Baillie Fraser - 1826

This is plate one from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years had produced these animated sketches of the busy city.

This first plate in the collection extends from the west end of the city, where Esplanade Row meets the River Hooghly. It was the main landing place for visitors to the city and "fast-growing and squalid, largely owing to the presence of a tank [reservoir]". The chunam-covered buildings, shining brightly in the sunshine, as here, were an exciting introduction to the city.

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

A View of the River Ganges, Shipping and Town Calcutta (Kolkata), from near Smith's Dock by James Baillie Fraser - 1826

This is plate 18 from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced these animated sketches of the busy city, published later as a collection of 24 superbly aquatinted plates.

This view was taken from the premises of Smith's Dock Company on the bank of the River Hooghly in Calcutta.

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

A View of the Botanic Garden House and Reach opposite side of Calcutta (Kolkata) by James Baillie Fraser - 1826

This is plate 4 from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced these animated sketches of the busy city, published later as a collection of twenty-four superbly aquatinted plates.

One of two views of the river Hooghly, this one looks up to the Botanic Garden House on the left and the palatial country residences of Garden Reach on the right. The house, built in 1795, was the residence of the Superintendent of the Gardens, the great botanist Dr William Roxburgh. The gardens were established by the East India Company in 1786, through the efforts of Colonel Robert Kyd, its first superintendent.

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

View of St John's cathedral Calcutta (Kolkata) by James Baillie Fraser - 1826


This is plate 19 from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced these animated sketches of the busy city of Calcutta, published later as a collection of 24 superbly aquatinted plates.

St John's cathedral, built in 1787, was designed by Lieutenant James Agg of the Bengal Engineers and based on the design of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. A ramp had been built by the side of the Cathedral to allow easy access for palanquins. To the right of the cathedral is the monument to the Rohilla campaign of 1794.

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

A View of Calcutta (Kolkata), from a point opposite to Kidderpore by James Baillie Fraser - 1826


Plate twenty from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'.

Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years had produced these animated sketches of the busy city. He included in his collection two lovely views of the river.

This one was taken from Shalimar Point opposite Kidderpore, "where the river bends round to the west. Here Colonel Robert Kyd, who persuaded the Company in 1786 to establish the great Botanic Gardens just downriver at Sibpur, and who became their first Superintendent built his famous domed house called Shalimar From here Fort William occupies the centre of the composition with the buildings of Esplanade Row and Chowringhee Road spread around it."

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

A view of Writers Buildings Calcutta (Kolkata) with Holwell monument at the West End by James Baillie Fraser - 1826


This is plate 6 from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced these animated sketches of the busy city, published later as a collection of twenty-four superbly aquatinted plates.

The accompanying text reads: "[Fraser's] view at sunrise from the west of the Writer's Buildings shows us a close-up of the Holwell monument to the Black Hole now in the last years of its existence. It was taken down by the order of the Marquess of Hastings in 1821, on the grounds of its increasing unsightliness. Built only of brick and plaster, it had also obviously become a kind of lounging place, where barbers plied thier trade. An impromptu verandah has been added all along the facade of Writer's Buildings. At the far end of the square we catch our first glimpse of the new St. Andrew's Church."

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

A view of the Loll Bazaar Calcutta (Kolkata) by James Baillie Fraser - 1926

This is plate 16 from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced these animated sketches of the busy city, published later as a collection of twenty-four superbly aquatinted plates.

He included in this collection two views of the Lall Bazaar, "famous for its punch houses and other places of entertainment." From the junction with Mission Row, Fraser drew the view eastward down the length of the street. The grand house dominating the composition is the house of John Palmer, the so-called Prince of Merchants, which was sold shortly afterwards to the government and converted into a police station. Beyond it, on the intersection with Chitpore Road, is the house that served as a court for the Justices of the Peace. Opposite Palmer's house are the emporium and auction rooms of Taylor and Company.

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

Storm approaching from the north-west at Salkia (opposite side of Calcutta) by James Baillie Fraser - 1826

This is plate 7 from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced thse animated sketches of the busy city, published later as a collection of twenty-four superbly aquatinted plates.

The Salkia Ghat is the bank opposite Chandpal Ghat, the main landing place for tourists. Fraser made a feature of the river in many of his views of Calcutta, and this dramatic print shows a storm approaching from the north-west.

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

A View of the Town Hall Calcutta (Kolkata) by James Baillie Fraser - 1826

This is plate 11 from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced these animated sketches of the busy city, published later as a collection of twenty-four superbly aquatinted plates.

Fraser wrote: "The Old Court House in Tank Square had been used as a place of public entertainment, but its demolition in 1792 left Calcutta without any grand halls for public suppers or dances. It was resolved to in February 1804 to erect a Town Hall for this purpose, and a lottery was proposed to raise the money. It was apparently already designed (by Colonel John Garstin of the Engineers) before Wellesley left Calcutta in 1805, but it was not completed until 1813 under Lord Minto."

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

A View of Government House Calcutta (Kolkata), from the Court House by James Baillie Fraser - 1826


This is plate 9 from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced these animated sketches of the busy.

He devotes three views in the collection to the Government House, all of them taken along its eastern side. This view "from the north-east," writes Fraser, was "taken from the premises of Johnson and Company in Old Court House Street, shows the north front and the northern wings crowned with the Company's coat-of-arms". He draws the Governor General Lord Hastings "about to set off for a drive, as his carriage and bodyguard await him". The grounds are "surrounded by an iron railing upon a plinth interrupted by four triumphal gateways at both ends of the carriageways running across the north and south facades of the building. Beyond the far gateway of Government House, we can see part of the Treasury building in Council House Street, and the east wall of the Town Hall".

Source: British Library (bl.uk)

View of St Andrew's church Calcutta (Kolkata), from Mission Row by James Baillie Fraser - 1826


This is plate 13 from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced animated sketches of the busy city, published later as a collection of 24 superbly aquatinted plates. He included in his collection five views of Tank Square, of which two provide us with views of St Andrew's church.

The view represented here was taken from the "junction of Mission Row with the Lall Bazaar showing the east facade of the Church and the other Doric portico at the north entrance ... we may note the Oriental Library on the left corner of Fraser's view and St. Andrew's Library opposite." These were bookshops rather than libraries.


Source:bl.uk (British Library)

A view in the Bazaar, leading to the Chitpore Road by James Baillie Fraser - 1826

This is plate 24 from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and within six years had produced animated sketches of the busy city. The last plate in the collection is this view of the bazaar leading to the Chitpore Road, effectively the border between native and European parts of the city.

Fraser wrote: "At the east end of Esplanade Row, the European quarter continued if one turned at right angles southwards down the Chowringhee Road. However, if one turned left up Cossitollah Street (named from its being the butcher's quarter originally), one began to enter the Indian city, and especially so when this road crossed the Lall Bazaar and became the Chitpore Road. The Street exhibits a bewildering mix of Indian and decaying Palladian architecture, but is very obviously a bazaar. Cossitollah Street had in it a large number of purely European businesses."

Source:bl.uk (British Library)

A View of Tank Square Calcutta (Kolkata), from the West by James Baillie Fraser - 1826

This is plate 8 from James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'.

Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years time produced these animated sketches of the busy city. He incorporated into his collection five views of Tank Square.

This image shows the Great Tank, which was an important reservoir supplying much of the city. Fraser wrote: "Inside the gate, a ramp, crowded with those who come to draw water, slopes down to the water's edge...the Bengali inhabitants of the city add interest, with a group of bhistis or water carriers with their goat-skins for carrying the water slung over their shoulders." Turnstiles in the gateway stopped animals from entering. The box at the entrance was the station of the watchmen, or chowdikars, who prevented people from bathing in the Tank.


Source:bl.uk (British Library)

A View of the Scotch Church of Calcutta (Kolkata), from the Gate of Tank Square by James Baillie Fraser - 1826

This is plate 12 of James Baillie Fraser's 'Views of Calcutta and its Environs'. Fraser (1783-1856) arrived in Calcutta in 1814 and in six years produced animated sketches of the busy city, published later as a collection of twenty-four superbly aquatinted plates.

He included in his collection five views of Tank Square. This is one of two that provides us with a view of St Andrew's church in the north-east corner of the square, on the site of the demolished Old Court House. A congregation of the Church of Scotland was formed here in 1815 by the Reverend James Bryce. The government supplied the site and private money was employed to build a kirk. In the meantime, the Exchange Building across the square was used as a church.

The kirk was ready to worship in March 1818. Fraser's view from the eastern gate of Tank Square shows "the Doric southern portico crowned by its handsome spire ... Behind the church may be seen part of the colonnade of the premises of the coachbuilders James Stewart and Company".

Source:bl.uk (British Library)