Shimla’s Colonial archives continue to draw ancestral seekers from Britain
Old Image of Shimla cemetery used for indicative purpose only. Source Internet
Shimla, Nov 8,
Shimla, once the glittering summer capital of British India, continues to guard fragments of its colonial past — not just through its Gothic architecture or narrow cobbled lanes, but also in its meticulous civic records. More than a century later, the city’s Municipal Corporation still holds detailed registers of births and deaths dating back to the 19th century — a legacy few hill towns can claim.
Recently, two visitors from Hertfordshire County in England — George Luke and George Matthew Ingram Luke — arrived at the Municipal Corporation (MC) office in Shimla, not for sightseeing, but to reconnect with the past. Their mission was to trace the birth records of their acquaintances, Ian Colin Stuart Normand and Mary Evelyn, who were born in Shimla in 1928 and 1920 respectively, during the height of British rule.
The Municipal Corporation’s health branch verified the entries from its century-old archives and issued the birth certificates — fragile links between two worlds separated by time but bound by history.
Municipal Health Officer Dr. Chetan Chauhan said the records were retrieved from carefully preserved archival volumes maintained since the colonial era. “It’s fascinating to see people travelling from across the world to access these old registers. These records connect families with their ancestral stories that began here, in the hills of Shimla,” he noted.
Municipal Commissioner Bhupinder Singh Atri shared that the Corporation has digitised all birth and death records from 1870 to 2015, making them accessible online for a nominal fee of Rs 50. “We have about 3.5 lakh birth entries and nearly three lakh death records stored in our database. Visitors from abroad often contact us for copies of certificates issued during the British era,” Atri said.
The British visitors, however, had to appear in person since online payment from UK-based cards could not be processed in Indian currency.
Such visits, officials say, are not uncommon. Over the years, descendants of British officers, clerks, and civilians who once lived in Shimla have been tracing their family roots through these archival records. For many, it’s a nostalgic journey to rediscover their lineage in the town that once served as the administrative heart of an empire.
Even as Shimla’s skyline transforms with modern construction, the preservation of these records reflects the city’s enduring connection to its layered history — where handwritten registers continue to narrate stories from the Raj era, one certificate at a time.
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