Dear Member of the Macbean clan,
I got your email address from the Macbean clan website
I am doing family research. With this email I included my family tree
of my grandfather who is George a son of Charlie and Prescilla.
At the moment I got stuck at Samual Macbean.
I found birth certificates of other members in earlier
generations and I found Samuel Macbeans death cetificate. With this
certificate I found out he was buried in Dacca in Bengal and he was a
clerk. He was born in 1872. But I can't find his birth certificate, I
don't know if he was born in Scotland or not. I've already consulted
the British Library and saw all there registers of India.
Would it be possible to find something in the archive about history
closly related to the Macbean family. Do you have any suggestions were
I could find out more about Samuel Macbean. Would there be any
documentation about shipowners during that time?
Would it be possible to see if this person is related to the scottish
Macbean clan?
Hopefully you can reply to my email it would be very helpfull if I can
include more information for my MFA Photography project that is
related with this family research.
My graduation will be next month so hopefully you can let me know if
there will be a possibility to find something in a short amount of
time?
Best Wishes
Sarojini Lewis
Modern Macbean
Ancient Macbean
Clan MacBean Arrives On The Moon
The official records show that when Apollo 12 flew to the Moon, the crew was Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon, and Alan Bean. That's true...as far as it goes.
We also represented the hopes and dreams of the scientists and engineers who designed the rockets, spacecraft, and experiments. Our skilled instructors and flight controllers were there, too, as were our families and friends and all the American taxpayers who paid the bill. I found out later that as I stepped on the Moon on the morning of November 19, 1969, I represented my forefathers of the Clan MacBean.
The first mention of the Clan MacBean in Scottish history occurred about A.D. 1300. The word "Bean", at that time, meant "the lively one", and the "Mac" signified "the son of Bean". I think my mother would have agreed, when I was in my twos and threes, that she had a lively one.
The clan flourished in the Scottish highlands. John MacBean brought the clan to the new world, but not by choice. He was in the ranks, fighting for the Scottish King Charles II against Cromwell, the British dictator, at the Battle of Worcester. The Scots lost the battle and John MacBean was deported to Boston as a prisoner, arriving there on February 24, 1652.
John Bean (the ship's clerk had anglicized his name) was sold as an indentured servant to a sawmill operator in Exeter, New Hampshire. The boss's daughter quickly fell in love with him and, a short while later, they were married. Pete and Dick have laughed at this story and said, "The gift of great good luck was in the Bean genes even way back then."
Editor's note: A widely circulated story claims that Alan placed a piece of MacBean tartan on the Moon. We have the following from Alan, written on 30 April 2005: "As I remember it, I took Clan McBean Tartan to the moon and returned it to Earth. I did not leave any Clan McBean Tartan on the surface. I did, in fact, give a piece of the Tartan to the Clan McBean and also to the St. Bean Chapel in Scotland. And I've still got some of it in my possession. I did not, however leave any of it on the moon.
Dear Aunt Joyce
How are you? I hope you are doing well and you have a good health.
Almost two years ago we met in the Mother Teresa House in Calcutta.
I was very happy to meet you. I have never met my father’s father and
so it was a very special moment to meet you.
At the moment I am studying photography at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland.
I brought the family tree you showed me in Calcutta to Scotland. I am
eager to learn more about this part of the family. I spent time
studying documents in the India office in the British Library and
found some documents including burial certificates and baptism
certificates.
The last document I found was about Samuel Macbean. In the family tree it shows that he is your grandfather. I cannot find anymore
information about older generations in the family tree. Samual Macbean
was buried in Dacca.
I would be very happy to find out more about his life. Was he the
person who emigrated form Scotland to India? Do you know his place of
birth and the date of his birth. The name Macbean facinates me. I
would like to find out who in the family tree was Scottish and were
they would be from in Scotland. I would like to photograph this place
in Scotland for my final Master project for the Art School.
I would be happy to know more about your family and the history of the
family tree. Would it be possible to write me about it?
I am also researching about my own grandfather George Samuel Lewis, I was wondering if you could write me about some memories that you have of him.
I really hope you can help me, it is so hard to find out something
without family who knows more about this history.
For me it is very important to know more about the past!
Hope you have the possibility to write me back,
With much love
Sarojini Lewis
9 Bellevue Street 2f2
Edinburgh EH7 4BX
Scotland
United Kingdom
Missionaries of Charity
54/A Lower Circular Road
Kolkata
700 016
India
Dear Sisters,
Please note my letter for Joyce Lewis who is my grandfather’s sister.
If she has the capability to read my letter please make sure that she receive this letter.
I send a similar letter about 7 months ago without any response.
My father and me both tried calling the Mother Teresa House to inform about her health and if she was able to receive my letter. There seem to be a wrong phone number on the Internet and we both tried calling several times.
I tried calling 0091-33-2217 2277 and the number on Internet 033- 245 22 77 are these both wrong phone numbers? I’m calling from the United Kingdom.
Please could you inform me about her health and how she is doing?
Hopefully you could inform me as well if she is able to write me back?
Since I have been waiting for almost a year for a response it is very important for me to know if the Missionaries of Charity will receive this letter.
Please respond to me as soon as possible as the information I am asking sister Joyce Lewis to send me is part of my graduation project from Edinburgh College of Art and without the information my graduation is not complete.
Hope to hear from you and thank you for your help,
Best Wishes ,
Sarojini Lewis
Sarojini Lewis
9 Bellevue Street 2f2
Edinburgh EH7 4BX
Scotland
United Kingdom
How are you? I hope you are doing well and you have a good health.
Almost two years ago we met in the Mother Teresa House in Calcutta.
I was very happy to meet you. I have never met my father’s father and
so it was a very special moment to meet you.
At the moment I am studying photography at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland.
I brought the family tree you showed me in Calcutta to Scotland. I am
eager to learn more about this part of the family. I spent time
studying documents in the India office in the British Library and
found some documents including burial certificates and baptism
certificates.
The last document I found was about Samuel Macbean. In the family tree it shows that he is your grandfather. I cannot find anymore
information about older generations in the family tree. Samual Macbean
was buried in Dacca.
I would be very happy to find out more about his life. Was he the
person who emigrated form Scotland to India? Do you know his place of
birth and the date of his birth. The name Macbean facinates me. I
would like to find out who in the family tree was Scottish and were
they would be from in Scotland. I would like to photograph this place
in Scotland for my final Master project for the Art School.
I would be happy to know more about your family and the history of the
family tree. Would it be possible to write me about it?
I am also researching about my own grandfather George Samuel Lewis, I was wondering if you could write me about some memories that you have of him.
I really hope you can help me, it is so hard to find out something
without family who knows more about this history.
For me it is very important to know more about the past!
Hope you have the possibility to write me back,
With much love
Sarojini Lewis
9 Bellevue Street 2f2
Edinburgh EH7 4BX
Scotland
United Kingdom
Missionaries of Charity
54/A Lower Circular Road
Kolkata
700 016
India
Dear Sisters,
Please note my letter for Joyce Lewis who is my grandfather’s sister.
If she has the capability to read my letter please make sure that she receive this letter.
I send a similar letter about 7 months ago without any response.
My father and me both tried calling the Mother Teresa House to inform about her health and if she was able to receive my letter. There seem to be a wrong phone number on the Internet and we both tried calling several times.
I tried calling 0091-33-2217 2277 and the number on Internet 033- 245 22 77 are these both wrong phone numbers? I’m calling from the United Kingdom.
Please could you inform me about her health and how she is doing?
Hopefully you could inform me as well if she is able to write me back?
Since I have been waiting for almost a year for a response it is very important for me to know if the Missionaries of Charity will receive this letter.
Please respond to me as soon as possible as the information I am asking sister Joyce Lewis to send me is part of my graduation project from Edinburgh College of Art and without the information my graduation is not complete.
Hope to hear from you and thank you for your help,
Best Wishes ,
Sarojini Lewis
Sarojini Lewis
9 Bellevue Street 2f2
Edinburgh EH7 4BX
Scotland
United Kingdom
Army Personnel Centre
Mail Point 555
Kentigern House
65 Brown Street
Glascow G2 8EX
Date: 15th March 2011
D/APC/HD/ABLT/211842
Dear Mister Mc Ardli,
Recently I handed in my application regarding the historical documents of the army that concern my grandfather George Samuel Lewis.
Margaret Kinnie wrote me a letter that included the fact that family interest enquiries may take as long as nine to twelve months to complete due to the very high volume of welfare requests on behalf of former soldiers.
She advised me to write you a letter if I have any reasons for the process to be finished earlier than the amount of time that is mentioned by her.
I would kindly like to inform you about the importance of this matter to my academical research concerning my graduation at Edinburgh College of Art. Without this information my research will not be complete and I will have to graduate after receiving the documents. My graduation is planned to be presented this academical year in May.
I do understand that in some cases there is no information available, if this is the case I can state that in my academical research.
Hopefully the urgency of this matter is very clear and there would be a chance for me to receive these documents before the 22nd of April. I would be very delighted to graduate with the full information provided with the specific details included in these documents.
Yours truly,
Sarojini Lewis
9 Bellevue Street 2f2
EH7 4BX
Edinburgh
Scotland
Mail Point 555
Kentigern House
65 Brown Street
Glascow G2 8EX
Date: 15th March 2011
D/APC/HD/ABLT/211842
Dear Mister Mc Ardli,
Recently I handed in my application regarding the historical documents of the army that concern my grandfather George Samuel Lewis.
Margaret Kinnie wrote me a letter that included the fact that family interest enquiries may take as long as nine to twelve months to complete due to the very high volume of welfare requests on behalf of former soldiers.
She advised me to write you a letter if I have any reasons for the process to be finished earlier than the amount of time that is mentioned by her.
I would kindly like to inform you about the importance of this matter to my academical research concerning my graduation at Edinburgh College of Art. Without this information my research will not be complete and I will have to graduate after receiving the documents. My graduation is planned to be presented this academical year in May.
I do understand that in some cases there is no information available, if this is the case I can state that in my academical research.
Hopefully the urgency of this matter is very clear and there would be a chance for me to receive these documents before the 22nd of April. I would be very delighted to graduate with the full information provided with the specific details included in these documents.
Yours truly,
Sarojini Lewis
9 Bellevue Street 2f2
EH7 4BX
Edinburgh
Scotland
March 9, 1997
Followers Struggle to Fill Mother Teresa's Sandals
By JOHN F. BURNS
CALCUTTA, India, March 5— Off an alleyway in the teeming heart of this city of 15 million people, a plain wooden board with simple white lettering hangs on the wall inside a discreet doorway. By means of a slide that can be adjusted by the nuns within, the board tells visitors what they mostly want to know.
''Mother Teresa: In,'' it says.
From the gray-washed building Calcuttans know simply as the ''Mother House,'' Mother Teresa has presided for decades over the Order of the Missionaries of Charity. The order has been judged by many to be the most successful Roman Catholic mission of the century, as well as one that has helped sustain the church's reputation for compassion in an age when its critics have frequently accused it of doctrinal rigidity.
From a start in 1948 when Mother Teresa, an ethnic Albanian, ventured alone into Calcutta's streets to tend to the ''poorest of the poor,'' the order has grown to a worldwide institution with more than 4,000 nuns and 400 Catholic brothers running nearly 600 homes, clinics and schools in more than 100 countries, including the United States. Mother Teresa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, may be better known than any living Catholic leader aside from Pope John Paul II.
But the signs from the Mother House these days suggest that the era of Mother Teresa, who is 86 years old and weakened by a chronic heart ailment and other health problems, is drawing to a close.
For weeks, an electoral college composed of more than 100 nuns and brothers from around the world, including at least half a dozen Americans, has been gathered in the house on Lower Circular Road, struggling with the problem of choosing a successor to Mother Teresa as the order's superior general.
A month ago, a deadline for a decision passed with no announcement, other than a statement that the nuns and brothers would continue their retreat. Now, fresh reports, purportedly originating from the Mother House, have suggested that a decision could come soon, possibly in days. Few church matters have aroused such anticipation since the last time the College of Cardinals in Rome chose a Pope, in 1978.
Once before, in 1990, the order met to find a successor to Mother Teresa, at her request, but a last-minute wave of sentiment led to a vote in which only a single vote, Mother Teresa's own, was cast for an alternate candidate.
At the time, Mother Teresa was already in ill health, with a heart pacemaker that had been fitted in 1989, and had permission to step down from Pope John Paul, who directly oversees the work of the order.
This time, there seems little chance that Mother Teresa's wishes will be defied. Five feet tall when in good health but bent lower now by a spinal affliction and in a wheelchair for much of her days, Mother Teresa is said by those close to the Missionaries of Charity to have convinced the order that it is time for her to step down.
To do so, Mother Teresa has had to confront worries that the order, without her charisma and rigorous leadership, may have trouble making a transition to a new era.
Loyalists within the order are said to have been convinced that Mother Teresa should be allowed to retire when she spent much of the last three months of 1996 in and out of Calcutta hospitals. More than once, she hovered at the brink of death with complications from what doctors described as a mild heart attack, followed in late November by a balloon angioplasty -- her third in six years -- a procedure designed to clear blockages from the arteries that supply blood to the heart.
''Every single sister I have spoken to has acknowledged that they must let her go this time, because she is so sick,'' said Navin Chawla, a senior Government official who has written two biographies of Mother Teresa. Mr. Chawla, 51, who has spoken to Mother Teresa by telephone from New Delhi in recent days, said the mood in the Mother House appeared solemn, but resigned.
''I can't imagine any last-minute change of heart this time,'' he said.
Mr. Chawla said that Mother Teresa sounded stronger than she had in weeks, but that this appeared to be due more to willpower than returning health. With oxygen equipment and a heart monitor in her bedroom, and capable of standing unassisted for only brief periods, Mother Teresa has spoken often recently of her own death. In the spare sentences that have been her hallmark, she has said that dying holds no fear for her, that on the contrary it is something she awaits with anticipation.
''It will come when my work is over, when the example has been given,'' she told an Italian friend, Gabriele Romagnoli, who visited her in a Calcutta hospital in December and wrote an account of their discussion that appeared in The Week, an Indian news magazine.
Mr. Romagnoli quoted Mother Teresa as adding, ''I know that God will know when the time is right, and so I cannot do anything other than wait peacefully.''
The order's reluctance to allow Mother Teresa to retire appears to have been compounded by uncertainty over whom to appoint in her place. Unconfirmed reports in 1991 said that Mother Teresa had signaled her preference for Sister Frederick, an 80-year-old nun of mixed British and Maltese descent who has acted as the principal administrator of the order in recent years and who has a reputation for being a strict disciplinarian.
But Sister Frederick, who has overseen the medical care of Mother Teresa, is said to be ailing herself and reluctant to take on the job.
Another nun considered to be a possible successor in the past, Sister Agnes Das, 66, is said to be suffering from cancer, and to have ruled herself out. Many in the Missionaries of Charity are said to have considered Sister Agnes to be the natural successor, since she was the first nun to join Mother Teresa in her work among the poor in the late 1940's.
She would also have been a popular choice in India, since she was born in what is now the Indian state of West Bengal, whose capital is Calcutta.
Recent speculation in India had focused on several other senior nuns, all native-born Indians. Among these three, the most widely discussed possibility has been Sister Priscilla Lewis, the order's official spokeswoman, who is in her early 60's, and who is favored by many in the order because of her experience running the order's missions outside India, including 16 years in New York City.
With secrecy surrounding the retreat, outsiders have speculated about the influence of Pope John Paul. People with close links to Mother Teresa have said that the Polish-born Pope's interest is partly personal, as a fellow Eastern European and religious conservative who has developed a deep bond with Mother Teresa. In the 1980's, the Pope bowed to what Mr. Chawla described as ''a bit of friendly bullying'' by Mother Teresa when he agreed to allow the Missionaries of Charity to open a soup kitchen inside the Vatican walls.
Inevitably, many in the order are said to be apprehensive. One point of concern is the attitude of future Indian governments toward the order once the shield provided by Mother Teresa's international renown is removed. India, as a predominantly Hindu country, has been less accommodating to Christian missions generally than it has to the Missionaries of Charity, which has been strongly favored ever since India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, met Mother Teresa in the 1960's and promised her whatever help she needed.
But Mr. Chawla said there would be no change in official attitudes. He said Indians were deeply proud of the Missionaries of Charity and of Mother Teresa, who took Indian citizenship in 1950, and saw the order as part of broader Indian tradition of spirituality and compassion.
The apprehensions are palpable at the first of the order's missions, the Sacred Heart Institute for the Sick and the Dying in the Kalighat district of Calcutta, which was opened in 1952 when Mother Teresa moved her mission off the streets for the first time.
While many of the men and women lying on the steel cots in the soft yellow light of a Calcutta evening seem to be too ill even to know who Mother Teresa is, the volunteers who do much of the work at the mission focus much of their conversation these days on ''Mother,'' as she is known.
The volunteers wonder about many things, including the flow of donor funds for the Missionaries of Charity once Mother Teresa's leadership is gone. But Andreas Wimmer, 42, a native of Munich who has spent eight years at Kalighat, said he took heart from Mother Teresa's own answer.
''She has told us, 'If the work were mine, it would die with me, but it is the work of God, so He will look after it,' '' he said.
Photo: Mother Teresa, 86, weakened by a chronic heart ailment, talked with visitors at her missionary order's house in Calcutta, India, in December. (Dieter Ludwig for The New York Times)
Followers Struggle to Fill Mother Teresa's Sandals
By JOHN F. BURNS
CALCUTTA, India, March 5— Off an alleyway in the teeming heart of this city of 15 million people, a plain wooden board with simple white lettering hangs on the wall inside a discreet doorway. By means of a slide that can be adjusted by the nuns within, the board tells visitors what they mostly want to know.
''Mother Teresa: In,'' it says.
From the gray-washed building Calcuttans know simply as the ''Mother House,'' Mother Teresa has presided for decades over the Order of the Missionaries of Charity. The order has been judged by many to be the most successful Roman Catholic mission of the century, as well as one that has helped sustain the church's reputation for compassion in an age when its critics have frequently accused it of doctrinal rigidity.
From a start in 1948 when Mother Teresa, an ethnic Albanian, ventured alone into Calcutta's streets to tend to the ''poorest of the poor,'' the order has grown to a worldwide institution with more than 4,000 nuns and 400 Catholic brothers running nearly 600 homes, clinics and schools in more than 100 countries, including the United States. Mother Teresa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, may be better known than any living Catholic leader aside from Pope John Paul II.
But the signs from the Mother House these days suggest that the era of Mother Teresa, who is 86 years old and weakened by a chronic heart ailment and other health problems, is drawing to a close.
For weeks, an electoral college composed of more than 100 nuns and brothers from around the world, including at least half a dozen Americans, has been gathered in the house on Lower Circular Road, struggling with the problem of choosing a successor to Mother Teresa as the order's superior general.
A month ago, a deadline for a decision passed with no announcement, other than a statement that the nuns and brothers would continue their retreat. Now, fresh reports, purportedly originating from the Mother House, have suggested that a decision could come soon, possibly in days. Few church matters have aroused such anticipation since the last time the College of Cardinals in Rome chose a Pope, in 1978.
Once before, in 1990, the order met to find a successor to Mother Teresa, at her request, but a last-minute wave of sentiment led to a vote in which only a single vote, Mother Teresa's own, was cast for an alternate candidate.
At the time, Mother Teresa was already in ill health, with a heart pacemaker that had been fitted in 1989, and had permission to step down from Pope John Paul, who directly oversees the work of the order.
This time, there seems little chance that Mother Teresa's wishes will be defied. Five feet tall when in good health but bent lower now by a spinal affliction and in a wheelchair for much of her days, Mother Teresa is said by those close to the Missionaries of Charity to have convinced the order that it is time for her to step down.
To do so, Mother Teresa has had to confront worries that the order, without her charisma and rigorous leadership, may have trouble making a transition to a new era.
Loyalists within the order are said to have been convinced that Mother Teresa should be allowed to retire when she spent much of the last three months of 1996 in and out of Calcutta hospitals. More than once, she hovered at the brink of death with complications from what doctors described as a mild heart attack, followed in late November by a balloon angioplasty -- her third in six years -- a procedure designed to clear blockages from the arteries that supply blood to the heart.
''Every single sister I have spoken to has acknowledged that they must let her go this time, because she is so sick,'' said Navin Chawla, a senior Government official who has written two biographies of Mother Teresa. Mr. Chawla, 51, who has spoken to Mother Teresa by telephone from New Delhi in recent days, said the mood in the Mother House appeared solemn, but resigned.
''I can't imagine any last-minute change of heart this time,'' he said.
Mr. Chawla said that Mother Teresa sounded stronger than she had in weeks, but that this appeared to be due more to willpower than returning health. With oxygen equipment and a heart monitor in her bedroom, and capable of standing unassisted for only brief periods, Mother Teresa has spoken often recently of her own death. In the spare sentences that have been her hallmark, she has said that dying holds no fear for her, that on the contrary it is something she awaits with anticipation.
''It will come when my work is over, when the example has been given,'' she told an Italian friend, Gabriele Romagnoli, who visited her in a Calcutta hospital in December and wrote an account of their discussion that appeared in The Week, an Indian news magazine.
Mr. Romagnoli quoted Mother Teresa as adding, ''I know that God will know when the time is right, and so I cannot do anything other than wait peacefully.''
The order's reluctance to allow Mother Teresa to retire appears to have been compounded by uncertainty over whom to appoint in her place. Unconfirmed reports in 1991 said that Mother Teresa had signaled her preference for Sister Frederick, an 80-year-old nun of mixed British and Maltese descent who has acted as the principal administrator of the order in recent years and who has a reputation for being a strict disciplinarian.
But Sister Frederick, who has overseen the medical care of Mother Teresa, is said to be ailing herself and reluctant to take on the job.
Another nun considered to be a possible successor in the past, Sister Agnes Das, 66, is said to be suffering from cancer, and to have ruled herself out. Many in the Missionaries of Charity are said to have considered Sister Agnes to be the natural successor, since she was the first nun to join Mother Teresa in her work among the poor in the late 1940's.
She would also have been a popular choice in India, since she was born in what is now the Indian state of West Bengal, whose capital is Calcutta.
Recent speculation in India had focused on several other senior nuns, all native-born Indians. Among these three, the most widely discussed possibility has been Sister Priscilla Lewis, the order's official spokeswoman, who is in her early 60's, and who is favored by many in the order because of her experience running the order's missions outside India, including 16 years in New York City.
With secrecy surrounding the retreat, outsiders have speculated about the influence of Pope John Paul. People with close links to Mother Teresa have said that the Polish-born Pope's interest is partly personal, as a fellow Eastern European and religious conservative who has developed a deep bond with Mother Teresa. In the 1980's, the Pope bowed to what Mr. Chawla described as ''a bit of friendly bullying'' by Mother Teresa when he agreed to allow the Missionaries of Charity to open a soup kitchen inside the Vatican walls.
Inevitably, many in the order are said to be apprehensive. One point of concern is the attitude of future Indian governments toward the order once the shield provided by Mother Teresa's international renown is removed. India, as a predominantly Hindu country, has been less accommodating to Christian missions generally than it has to the Missionaries of Charity, which has been strongly favored ever since India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, met Mother Teresa in the 1960's and promised her whatever help she needed.
But Mr. Chawla said there would be no change in official attitudes. He said Indians were deeply proud of the Missionaries of Charity and of Mother Teresa, who took Indian citizenship in 1950, and saw the order as part of broader Indian tradition of spirituality and compassion.
The apprehensions are palpable at the first of the order's missions, the Sacred Heart Institute for the Sick and the Dying in the Kalighat district of Calcutta, which was opened in 1952 when Mother Teresa moved her mission off the streets for the first time.
While many of the men and women lying on the steel cots in the soft yellow light of a Calcutta evening seem to be too ill even to know who Mother Teresa is, the volunteers who do much of the work at the mission focus much of their conversation these days on ''Mother,'' as she is known.
The volunteers wonder about many things, including the flow of donor funds for the Missionaries of Charity once Mother Teresa's leadership is gone. But Andreas Wimmer, 42, a native of Munich who has spent eight years at Kalighat, said he took heart from Mother Teresa's own answer.
''She has told us, 'If the work were mine, it would die with me, but it is the work of God, so He will look after it,' '' he said.
Photo: Mother Teresa, 86, weakened by a chronic heart ailment, talked with visitors at her missionary order's house in Calcutta, India, in December. (Dieter Ludwig for The New York Times)
Dear Majorie,
My grandmother is Desiree A. Harst-Lewis.
She gave me your contact details last summer.
I have been asking her to write about my request of finding out more about my family history.
She has been writing you about my request.
I was wondering if you would like to meet me sometime next month or at the end of this month. My grandmother gave me your address in Bournemouth.
I would be really happy to meet you, for me family is a very important thing in live.
I have been trying to contact you by phone before but nobody answered.
My grandmother told me it would be better if I would write you.
I am looking forward to hear from you, would it be possible to write me back?
Hope you could respond,
Best Wishes
Sarojini Lewis
My address:
Miss Sarojini Lewis
2F2
9 Bellevue Street
Edinburgh EH7 4BX
Scotland
My grandmother is Desiree A. Harst-Lewis.
She gave me your contact details last summer.
I have been asking her to write about my request of finding out more about my family history.
She has been writing you about my request.
I was wondering if you would like to meet me sometime next month or at the end of this month. My grandmother gave me your address in Bournemouth.
I would be really happy to meet you, for me family is a very important thing in live.
I have been trying to contact you by phone before but nobody answered.
My grandmother told me it would be better if I would write you.
I am looking forward to hear from you, would it be possible to write me back?
Hope you could respond,
Best Wishes
Sarojini Lewis
My address:
Miss Sarojini Lewis
2F2
9 Bellevue Street
Edinburgh EH7 4BX
Scotland
The army personnel centre
Ms support unit, P & D Branch
Historical Disclosures, MP 555
Kentigern House
65 Brown Street
Glascow G2 8EX
Dear Roddy Hay,
After having a phone conversation about the documents needed I would like to send you my application, the copy of my grandfathers death certificate and a cheque of 30 sterling payable to MOD Accounting Officer.
Please understand my reason for enquiry as I am the granddaughter of G.S. Lewis and would like to have more knowledge of what happened to him during his life as I did not know him because he died before I was born. It is very important for me and it would be nice to have as detailed information as possible send to me as soon as possible.
With kind Regards
Sarojini Lewis
Sarojini Lewis
9 Bellevue Street 2F2
Edinburgh EH7 4BX
mail@sarojinilewis.com
Ms support unit, P & D Branch
Historical Disclosures, MP 555
Kentigern House
65 Brown Street
Glascow G2 8EX
Dear Roddy Hay,
After having a phone conversation about the documents needed I would like to send you my application, the copy of my grandfathers death certificate and a cheque of 30 sterling payable to MOD Accounting Officer.
Please understand my reason for enquiry as I am the granddaughter of G.S. Lewis and would like to have more knowledge of what happened to him during his life as I did not know him because he died before I was born. It is very important for me and it would be nice to have as detailed information as possible send to me as soon as possible.
With kind Regards
Sarojini Lewis
Sarojini Lewis
9 Bellevue Street 2F2
Edinburgh EH7 4BX
mail@sarojinilewis.com
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE CIRCULATION.
Locus, a collection of new photographic and sonic works opens on 20th February at Stew Gallery, Fishergate, Norwich. Local artists Angus Sinclair and Mike Saunders recent work explores themes of flux and memory, using the referential forms of photography and field recordings to document Anglia Square shopping centre in its current state of flux.
Sinclair states that his photographs aim ‘to evoke a sense of place which exists independently of the artist, in the unoccupied perspective where the artist-narrator’s presence is covert. His hand is only noticeable by its absence; he is a ghost who releases the shutter.’
Both Sinclair and Saunders have acquired all their equipment for the show from retail outlets in Anglia Square and the proximity of Stew gallery to the Square creates a tension between memory, recording and the imagined as Saunders explains: ‘the locus of sound plays back and forth, amplifying itself with the real-time noise of the outside surroundings, creating a conversation between the place and its recorded doppelganger. The fact that the recording is played through loudspeakers from the Square – old radios, hifis, and car speakers bought mainly from the many charity shops – ties the sound and the way it is physically presented back to the square.’
The show also features new photographic work from Sarojini Lewis, who explores the genetic as well as geographic definition of the show’s title Locus: ‘the essential idea I communicate with my work is an emotion consisting of two sides. On one side it is the human desire of being a part of a natural environment, on the other side it is the feeling of being out of context in the same environment.’
Lewis, who has recently been spending her time between Israel, Scotland and Holland, has also been exploring ideas of family lineage: ‘I started my research in Scotland. Motivated by family research and feelings that appear while studying old documents, I travelled through the Scottish natural parks and woods. Another rural perspective is created in Israel and the countries that are close to this country and have a border in between them. Again I was inspired by the fact that my grandfather once was a spy in Palestine during the period of occupation by the British army with the operation called the Palestine Mandate. I travelled through the different dry looking environments that characterise the landscape of Israel, Egypt and Jordan.’
The show will run until 3rd March and admission is free.
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Landscapes in Scotland/Israel/Egypt/Jordan/Cyprus
The essential idea I communicate with my work is an emotion consisting of two sides. On one side it is the human desire of being a part of a natural environment, on the other side it is the feeling of being out of context in the same environment.
These feelings develop while being in certain environments. I have made a body of images that witness natural landscapes and the perplexing questions raised on the emotional attachment to these environments. It is the transition between the personal gaze of a landscape and the documentation of landscape that interests me. I ask myself questions about this environment such as:
Is this a natural environment or is it constructed environment? When is a place a natural environment? What is nature?
I do not intend to give a certain answer to questions about what could be natural and what could be constructed in this space. These questions lye unanswered. Instead of a clear topologic documentation of these environments I represent the rural spaces as places the viewer could imagine him/her-self stepping into. Place inspired by my own personal gaze.
At first I would like to look at my subject through a personal view in order to make it relevant for a wider public. Traces that lead me to photograph these rural environments often have a relation to my family history and the variation of places that my family originated from. Inspired by a family tree with the family name Macbean I started my research in Scotland. Motivated by family research and feelings that appear while studying old documents, I travelled through the Scottish natural parks and woods.
Another rural perspective is created in Israel and the countries that are close to this country and have a border in between them. Again I was inspired by the fact that my grandfather once was a spy in Palestine during the period of occupation by the British army with the operation called the Palestine Mandate. I travelled through the different dry looking environments that characterise the landscape of Israel, Egypt and Jordan.
During the documentation I had in mind the fact that my grandfather could have been active in this area about 50 years ago.
I aim to show different narratives within the photographic documentation of landscape and the natural aspects within the landscape. Altogether they make an unclear narrative. Suggesting a form of human presence.
The essential idea I communicate with my work is an emotion consisting of two sides. On one side it is the human desire of being a part of a natural environment, on the other side it is the feeling of being out of context in the same environment.
These feelings develop while being in certain environments. I have made a body of images that witness natural landscapes and the perplexing questions raised on the emotional attachment to these environments. It is the transition between the personal gaze of a landscape and the documentation of landscape that interests me. I ask myself questions about this environment such as:
Is this a natural environment or is it constructed environment? When is a place a natural environment? What is nature?
I do not intend to give a certain answer to questions about what could be natural and what could be constructed in this space. These questions lye unanswered. Instead of a clear topologic documentation of these environments I represent the rural spaces as places the viewer could imagine him/her-self stepping into. Place inspired by my own personal gaze.
At first I would like to look at my subject through a personal view in order to make it relevant for a wider public. Traces that lead me to photograph these rural environments often have a relation to my family history and the variation of places that my family originated from. Inspired by a family tree with the family name Macbean I started my research in Scotland. Motivated by family research and feelings that appear while studying old documents, I travelled through the Scottish natural parks and woods.
Another rural perspective is created in Israel and the countries that are close to this country and have a border in between them. Again I was inspired by the fact that my grandfather once was a spy in Palestine during the period of occupation by the British army with the operation called the Palestine Mandate. I travelled through the different dry looking environments that characterise the landscape of Israel, Egypt and Jordan.
During the documentation I had in mind the fact that my grandfather could have been active in this area about 50 years ago.
I aim to show different narratives within the photographic documentation of landscape and the natural aspects within the landscape. Altogether they make an unclear narrative. Suggesting a form of human presence.
I have a very old wooden chest that has "Macbean Calcutta" on the side. I googled the words and found your page..... Not sure what else to tell you. I can send pics soon
Hi Larry
First of all sorry for sending you lots of messages. The fact that you
have this chest just really brings up a lot off emotions. In this
message I would like to explain you more about my research.
3 years ago I started a trip to India with my father. He lived in
India for 6 years and in this time of his life ( in his twenties) he
tried to discover more of his roots. My grandfather is from India, his
mom and dad are from India to. My grandfathers mother was called
Prescilla Macbean and was married to Charlie Lewis. That is why my
family name is Lewis.
While making the trip to India I met Joyce Lewis who is the sister of
my grandfather she gave me the Macbean family tree and that is why I
moved to Scotland. In Scotland I started a research about the name
Macbean. Basically I found a couple of historical documents and the
last one was from Samuel Macbean. He might be the person who emigrated
from Scotland to India and married a Indian women with a western name:
Alice Biggle. ( see family tree)
The chest could have been his chest, he might have send that from
Scotland to Calcutta with his belongings during his emigration.
I'm at the point where I'm stuck and decided a while ago that I would
stop the research.
Now that you have send me this picture I start to think that it is a
sign for me to go on.
Again I'm really curious where you found this chest. Would it be
possible to write me as detailed as possible where you found the
chest, what you are using it for and if anything was still in it.
At the moment I'm studying and doing an Master in Fine Art Photography
the Macbean research is one of the main subjects I focus on.
Please understand that it is really important info and for all your
effort in emailing me and stuff I could send you a print of my
photography!
Hope you can respond,
Best Wishes
Sarojini Lewis
Re: hi
We bought the chest at a container shipment auction in Sulphur Springs Texas around 1998. It was empty except for the ten gold bars in the hidden compartment ( just kidding). Other than that I do not know much more. I will send more, and better pics when I have time. We are busy getting things purchased and ready for our BBQ restaurant to open next spring. I was always curious as to a Scottish name on a wooden chest labeled Calcutta (asuming India). You are more than welcome to use the pics
We used the chest for a coffee table in the living room until 2007 or so. At the present time it is being used as a storage for photograpghs and memory books and things (ironic we have photos in it and your study is photograpghy). I put a few layers of paint on it and removed some to add character to the piece. I have sine removed 90% of the paint. There are two key holes on the front but the locking mechanisms are gone.
Hi Larry
First of all sorry for sending you lots of messages. The fact that you
have this chest just really brings up a lot off emotions. In this
message I would like to explain you more about my research.
3 years ago I started a trip to India with my father. He lived in
India for 6 years and in this time of his life ( in his twenties) he
tried to discover more of his roots. My grandfather is from India, his
mom and dad are from India to. My grandfathers mother was called
Prescilla Macbean and was married to Charlie Lewis. That is why my
family name is Lewis.
While making the trip to India I met Joyce Lewis who is the sister of
my grandfather she gave me the Macbean family tree and that is why I
moved to Scotland. In Scotland I started a research about the name
Macbean. Basically I found a couple of historical documents and the
last one was from Samuel Macbean. He might be the person who emigrated
from Scotland to India and married a Indian women with a western name:
Alice Biggle. ( see family tree)
The chest could have been his chest, he might have send that from
Scotland to Calcutta with his belongings during his emigration.
I'm at the point where I'm stuck and decided a while ago that I would
stop the research.
Now that you have send me this picture I start to think that it is a
sign for me to go on.
Again I'm really curious where you found this chest. Would it be
possible to write me as detailed as possible where you found the
chest, what you are using it for and if anything was still in it.
At the moment I'm studying and doing an Master in Fine Art Photography
the Macbean research is one of the main subjects I focus on.
Please understand that it is really important info and for all your
effort in emailing me and stuff I could send you a print of my
photography!
Hope you can respond,
Best Wishes
Sarojini Lewis
Re: hi
We bought the chest at a container shipment auction in Sulphur Springs Texas around 1998. It was empty except for the ten gold bars in the hidden compartment ( just kidding). Other than that I do not know much more. I will send more, and better pics when I have time. We are busy getting things purchased and ready for our BBQ restaurant to open next spring. I was always curious as to a Scottish name on a wooden chest labeled Calcutta (asuming India). You are more than welcome to use the pics
We used the chest for a coffee table in the living room until 2007 or so. At the present time it is being used as a storage for photograpghs and memory books and things (ironic we have photos in it and your study is photograpghy). I put a few layers of paint on it and removed some to add character to the piece. I have sine removed 90% of the paint. There are two key holes on the front but the locking mechanisms are gone.
Lieve Sarojini,
Heb inmiddels nagedacht over de foto's en de documenten. Ik kom niet op een goed idee of een context waarbinnen die twee een coherent geheel kunnen vormen. Nu ben ik de laatste paar weken wel heel erg moe en zit mijn hoofd nogal vol. Ben echt ernstig toe aan een korte vakantie.
Wat ik je wel kan melden is het feit dat mijn vader, George Samuel Lewis, gedurende zijn diensttijd in het Britse leger ook een periode in Israel, wat toen nog niet bestond en werd aangeduid onder de naam Palestine, gestationeerd is geweest. Hij heeft mij daar ooit eens iets over verteld.
Hij zat in een schots regiment en was waarschijnlijk de enige 'bruine'. Het moet vlak na het beëindigen van de tweede wereldoorlog zijn geweest. Hij moest zich onder de bevolking mengen en verhalen rapporteren wat onder de bevolking gezegd werd. Een soort spionagewerk.
Nu je in Israel bent is het misschien geen verspilde tijd wanneer je jezelf daar een klein beetje in verdiept. De Britten zaten in Palestina onder een verdrag "The Palestine Mandate" geheten of iets in die trant. Ik heb ergens thuis nog een soort oorkonde van mijn vader. Daar staat de naam van zijn regiment op en ook zijn registratienummer. In het verleden heb ik contact opgenomen met de Britse ambassade in Den Haag met de vraag of ik verdere informatie over of inzicht kon krijgen in zijn dossier. Dit met het doel meer te weten te komen wat er precies met hem gebeurt is tijdens zijn dienst.
Via via had ik namelijk wel vernomen dat hij tijdens een veldslag in Noord Afrika shell-shock heeft opgelopen. Dat hij toen een tijdje naar huis in Shillong is gestuurd en dat hij zich vrij snel weer moest melden bij zijn regiment. Hij hoefde daarna niet meer onder de wapens, maar kreeg administratieve klusjes en waarschijnlijk dan dat spionage achtig werk in Palestina. Vervolgens is zijn regiment naar Java gestuurd en kreeg hij ook daar weer een administratief baantje. Het zou ook erg goed zijn dat wanneer je weer terug in Nederland bent je Oma eens wat meer laat vertellen over hem en hoe ze elkaar ontmoet hebben.
Wat ik je vertel is min of meer een reconstructie die ik maak op basis van verhalen die ik gehoord heb. Nadat ik terug was van mijn acht jaren India heb ik mijn vader maar twee keer ontmoet. Omdat ik Shillong vrij goed kende en ik daar ook mensen had ontmoet die hem gekend hebben stelde ik hem daar vragen over. Zoiets van: "Je moet de groeten hebben van die en die". Dan keek hij me aan met een blik van absolute twijffel en een soort radeloosheid. Hij kon ook totaal niets vertellen over Shillong of mensen die hij toen gekend moet hebben. Ik vond dat toen nogal vreemd. Te meer omdat hij bij verder navragen steeds ongedurig werd en te kennen gaf dat hij daar liever niet over wilde praten.
Omdat ik toen al had gehoord dat hij tijdens de oorlog Shellshock had opgelopen heb ik toen de conclusie getrokken dat hij als gevolg daarvan zijn geheugen grotendeels moet zijn kwijtgeraakt. Dit is een wat geromantiseerde visie, maar ik probeerde mijn leven en de band, of liever gezegd het gebrek aan een band, met hem een soort van inhoud te geven, te verklaren of betekenis te geven; mijn vader heb ik nauwelijks gekend, over het verleden kan hij mij niets vertellen als gevolg van geheugenverlies en zonder dat ik me daarvan bewust was heb ik acht jaar in India geleefd om te ontdekken wie hij mogelijkerwijs geweest is. Dichter bij hem te komen door in het land waar hij vandaan kwam te leven.
Ik zal wel een keer alles wat ik van hem weet en wat ik me van hem herinner opschrijven.
Maar goed nu is er dus de Palestina connectie. Wellicht is dat een kruispunt vanwaaruit je jouw gegraaf in het familieverleden kunt benaderen.
Zodra ik een heldere ingeving krijg over je werk en het archief zal ik je wel contacten. Dit is het voor nu. Vertel wat over je leven daar. De sfeer, de mensen, het land.
Veel liefs, Pa
Heb inmiddels nagedacht over de foto's en de documenten. Ik kom niet op een goed idee of een context waarbinnen die twee een coherent geheel kunnen vormen. Nu ben ik de laatste paar weken wel heel erg moe en zit mijn hoofd nogal vol. Ben echt ernstig toe aan een korte vakantie.
Wat ik je wel kan melden is het feit dat mijn vader, George Samuel Lewis, gedurende zijn diensttijd in het Britse leger ook een periode in Israel, wat toen nog niet bestond en werd aangeduid onder de naam Palestine, gestationeerd is geweest. Hij heeft mij daar ooit eens iets over verteld.
Hij zat in een schots regiment en was waarschijnlijk de enige 'bruine'. Het moet vlak na het beëindigen van de tweede wereldoorlog zijn geweest. Hij moest zich onder de bevolking mengen en verhalen rapporteren wat onder de bevolking gezegd werd. Een soort spionagewerk.
Nu je in Israel bent is het misschien geen verspilde tijd wanneer je jezelf daar een klein beetje in verdiept. De Britten zaten in Palestina onder een verdrag "The Palestine Mandate" geheten of iets in die trant. Ik heb ergens thuis nog een soort oorkonde van mijn vader. Daar staat de naam van zijn regiment op en ook zijn registratienummer. In het verleden heb ik contact opgenomen met de Britse ambassade in Den Haag met de vraag of ik verdere informatie over of inzicht kon krijgen in zijn dossier. Dit met het doel meer te weten te komen wat er precies met hem gebeurt is tijdens zijn dienst.
Via via had ik namelijk wel vernomen dat hij tijdens een veldslag in Noord Afrika shell-shock heeft opgelopen. Dat hij toen een tijdje naar huis in Shillong is gestuurd en dat hij zich vrij snel weer moest melden bij zijn regiment. Hij hoefde daarna niet meer onder de wapens, maar kreeg administratieve klusjes en waarschijnlijk dan dat spionage achtig werk in Palestina. Vervolgens is zijn regiment naar Java gestuurd en kreeg hij ook daar weer een administratief baantje. Het zou ook erg goed zijn dat wanneer je weer terug in Nederland bent je Oma eens wat meer laat vertellen over hem en hoe ze elkaar ontmoet hebben.
Wat ik je vertel is min of meer een reconstructie die ik maak op basis van verhalen die ik gehoord heb. Nadat ik terug was van mijn acht jaren India heb ik mijn vader maar twee keer ontmoet. Omdat ik Shillong vrij goed kende en ik daar ook mensen had ontmoet die hem gekend hebben stelde ik hem daar vragen over. Zoiets van: "Je moet de groeten hebben van die en die". Dan keek hij me aan met een blik van absolute twijffel en een soort radeloosheid. Hij kon ook totaal niets vertellen over Shillong of mensen die hij toen gekend moet hebben. Ik vond dat toen nogal vreemd. Te meer omdat hij bij verder navragen steeds ongedurig werd en te kennen gaf dat hij daar liever niet over wilde praten.
Omdat ik toen al had gehoord dat hij tijdens de oorlog Shellshock had opgelopen heb ik toen de conclusie getrokken dat hij als gevolg daarvan zijn geheugen grotendeels moet zijn kwijtgeraakt. Dit is een wat geromantiseerde visie, maar ik probeerde mijn leven en de band, of liever gezegd het gebrek aan een band, met hem een soort van inhoud te geven, te verklaren of betekenis te geven; mijn vader heb ik nauwelijks gekend, over het verleden kan hij mij niets vertellen als gevolg van geheugenverlies en zonder dat ik me daarvan bewust was heb ik acht jaar in India geleefd om te ontdekken wie hij mogelijkerwijs geweest is. Dichter bij hem te komen door in het land waar hij vandaan kwam te leven.
Ik zal wel een keer alles wat ik van hem weet en wat ik me van hem herinner opschrijven.
Maar goed nu is er dus de Palestina connectie. Wellicht is dat een kruispunt vanwaaruit je jouw gegraaf in het familieverleden kunt benaderen.
Zodra ik een heldere ingeving krijg over je werk en het archief zal ik je wel contacten. Dit is het voor nu. Vertel wat over je leven daar. De sfeer, de mensen, het land.
Veel liefs, Pa
produced together with Gali Gurevich
Israel 20 min. by car from Jerusalem
The different landscapes seem physical less accessible than around Edinburgh. The light is overwhelming and aggressive. There is something more difficult, something strange.
During traveling through Israel in between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem I tried to observe the view. How can I find what I have in mind. What exactly do I have in mind?
How do I feel in this layered system of complex visual details.....
The air condition of the bus is to cold slowly I fall a sleep each time I try to observe.
I forgot what I saw
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