William Hall in India and In Scotland

Three Presidencies in India

July 10, 2012 at 7:33 pm Leave a comment

Presdencies, or provinces, were the administrative units of India, originally under the East India company and, after the rebellion of 1857, under the crown itself.  Each presidency started out as a trading post, with a factory and a fort. The area around each trading post grew rapidly and expanded during the years of British rule. The three major presidencies were the Bombay Presidency, the Madras Presidency, and the Bengal Presidency.

Although this map was drawn in 1931, I believe it is good representation of the administration of India when William and Lydia lived there in the 1860s and 1870s. For most of their time in India, William and Lydia lived in the Madras Presidency, although in different cities, including Fort St. George and Bangalore. Their daughter Jane was born on Port Blair,  an island in the Bay of Bengal about 700 miles from Fort St. George. Port Blair is in the Bengal Presidency.

Entry filed under: Halls. Tags: Bengal, Bombay, Madras, Presidencies, Queen Victoria.