If someone is truly interested in knowing more about the colonial past of Calcutta then one must take a trip around the Dalhousie Square (B.B.D. Bag). I have been writing about several buildings around this locality for over a decade and my fascination never fails to keep exploring more and more. While exploring this locality recently for a heritage walk, I somehow felt that the history of one particular building is often underplayed and what people only talk about is the exterior architecture of this building. Standard Life Assurance Building Kolkata is dipped in history. While researching I found many interesting facts that I am going to discuss in this blog which I had never heard anyone discuss during any heritage walks of this locality.
Short History Of Standard Life Assurance
The company saw its origin in Edinburgh back in 1825 (23rd of March) when it was called the Life Insurance Company of Scotland. Later in the year 1832 (23rd of April) it was renamed as Standard Life Assurance Company. The word “Standard Life” was in effect denoting a typical healthy lifestyle back in the days of the United Kingdom with an occupation with considerably less risk.
The year 1839 (8th of June) saw the company moving to the large premises of No. 3 George Street, Edinburgh. This was very significant since a lot of design and architectural-related references were first brought here and later used across the globe, especially in India. This building was the first to feature the parable of the ten virgins from the Bible which was in the form of a sculpture and was originally drawn by John Steele. Post this period their offices started expanding and by 1942 it had offices in London.
It was not only the affluent of the society that was looking to have some kind of personal insurance but the steady expansion of travel across the globe that saw many leave the shores and work elsewhere, especially in colonial territories.
It was not until 1845 that the board of directors at Standard Life Assurance decided to expand their business presence to colonial provinces. In June of that year, the board contemplated a move to India. The business in India however would be handled by a new company under their umbrella called the Colonial Standard Life.
However, in 1866 Colonial Standard Life merged back to Standard Life Assurance.
Standard Life Assurance in India
The business in India expanded with the appointment of agency houses in Calcutta and Bombay in June 1847 as part of Colonial Standard Life. While in Calcutta it was the Macvicar Smith & Co. in Bombay it was their associate Macvicar Burn & Co. Things did not turn as planned and soon (1849) the agencies were scrapped and in Calcutta house started getting represented by Smith Farie & Co.
Henry Jones Williams was sent to India in the year 1851 (December) to establish a strong foothold in India. The success story in India however belonged to George Lucas Kemp who was appointed the secretary in 1869 to the board of Calcutta. Under his guidance, several new agents were recruited across new territories in India. It is to be noted that by now still no natives (Indians) were insured by the company.
In 1871 he was appointed as the permanent Secretary. To assist him a gentleman by the name of Thomas Lang was sent to Calcutta from Edinburgh as his assistant. This combination was what turned the history and fortunes of the company in India.
By 1873 the Calcutta branch was performing well and soon surpassed all other overseas branches in terms of collection.
In 1877 the Calcutta branch was relocated from 15 Hare Street at the corner of Bankshall Street to the premises of Delhi and London Bank which was located at 4 Council House Street.
Between 1893 and 1894 Thomas Lang devoted subsequent time to the new upcoming Calcutta office. By now he was heading the operations in India surpassing that of George Lucas Kemp (who by now had left the company to join Alliance Bank of Simla). Thomas Lang died soon after in 1896 in England leaving the reigns of India in the hands of George Stewart.
The 1898 the Boer War turned the stance of the company. The company heavily depended on European expats especially soldiers who were settled in India but the start of the Boer War resulted in the transferring of many regiments from India to South Africa. This resulted in decreased subscriptions to their insurance services. The only option left then was to open their services to native Indians. By then there were already other companies which already had been dealing with the local population.
This change was perhaps too little and too late, by 1903 there was a steady decline of business across Calcutta and Bombay.
Walker E. Hill took over the Calcutta office after the death of George Stewart but he was not that efficient in finding the pulse of the market which by then was flooded with rival competitors.
In 1915 Frederick Loch Trevor succeeded Hill (retired in 1927) and started operating from Calcutta and managing the business of the whole of India.
In 1931 the first Indian was appointed to the board just to please the masses which by then were high on the achievement of freedom from their colonial masters.
The business rapidly fell in 1937 when it was under George A. S. Norman. It was during his tenure that the Bombay branch was closed in 1939.
In 1946 the business that remained in India was transferred to Gresham Life.
Standard Life Assurance Building In Calcutta
Standard Life Assurance had its office at 15 Hare Street at the corner of Bankshall Street. The address is very much present still now and the only photograph of the original office building that is available now clearly shows its location. One interesting thing to note in this photograph is that the top section of Dalhousie Institute is visible in this old photograph.
The building that is there currently at this location is very old and there are clear indications that the old building has been modified to add extra rooms. However, it’s not visually possible to say that the building that is now in this location is the very same building as seen in the old photograph.
After this as mentioned previously in 1877, the Calcutta branch was relocated to the premises of Delhi and London Bank which was located at 4 Council House Street. Unfortunately, there are no photographs of the original building, currently this property is occupied by a car dealer having their showroom and office on the same premises.
The new building that was constructed to house the offices of Standard Life Assurance was during its peak when the businesses in Calcutta were surpassing all other foreign branches. It was even outperforming Bombay its Indian counterpart. Land at Dalhousie Square was purchased in the year 1890 which was back then a very prestigious location.
The construction of the new building was taken when Thomas Lang was heading the operations in India. The architect of this building was Frederick William Stevens. One of the more famous designs done by him was the Victoria Terminus (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) in Bombay (Mumbai).
The construction of the building started in February 1894 and ended in May 1896. Some of the key elements in the design influenced the head offices of the Standard Life Assurance building in Edinburgh.
The building consists of two separate blocks with one being larger than the other. The two blocks are three-storied high and are connected through two bridges one each on the first floor and the second floor. The bridges act as the central section of the building forming the main arched gateway. This is the section where you get to see some of the best stone sculptures that this building adores.
There is a small lane under the bridge on the ground floor which is known as Vansittart Row which is named after Henry Vansittart the Governor of Bengal from 1759 to 1764.
This building in Calcutta also featured a refined version of the parable of ten virgins from the Bible on top of the main arched gateway on the main pediment. As per the parable, ten girls are waiting for the bridegroom to come and select the one he thinks best. For this, the ten girls were waiting with oil lamps as it was expected that by the time the bridegroom would arrive it would be dark. This depicts five wise virgins who had extra oil for their lamp at the center and on the left, we see two, and on the right, we see three foolish virgins who did not plan ahead and did not save oil for their lamps. These five foolish virgins can be seen begging the wise virgins for some oil for their lamps.
Below is the passage from the Bible:- (Matthew 25: 1 – 13)
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them.
The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.
The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
“Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
“But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
What this tells is how one needs to be prepared for the eventualities in their life. No one can predict their life, especially in the matters of death but one can prepare for it while there is time. In a way, it is encouraging the person to have a backup plan like life insurance so that in the matter of any untimely death there is always something left for the ones left behind.
On the lowermost arch which is on the ground floor, we find two sculptures on each side. The one on the right depicts the Grim Reaper which represents death. This concept comes somewhere from 14th-century Europe during the time of the Black Death. Grim Reaper is seen wearing a robe with only a dark grim face visible carrying a skull in one hand and a scythe in the other hand.
On the other side of the arch (left side), you will find a sculpture of a maiden carrying a torch. It’s as if symbolizing the light on one side and darkness on the other.
The keystone on the arches in this section has three different distinct faces. The first two from the bottom are visibly clear to be that of two different men and the one on top is that of a woman. Three completely different faces can also be seen on the keystone on the backside of the bridge as seen from Vansittart Row.
The one key feature that is missing and was once very much a symbol of Standard Life Assurance was that of a statue of Hercules holding the world. This symbol was used for all of their offices and in Calcutta also if we see old photographs then we can see this located on top of the main pediment.
On the left side pediment we find a logo which consists of two parts, on the left is the unicorn which is the national animal of Scotland and features in their original coat of arms (later on it was changed). On the right is the English lion. Due to years of decay, the rest of the details are not visible anymore especially the center shield of the coat of arms.
The original coat of arms has these words which is the motto of the company Prospice Aspice Respice on the ribbon and the text Haud Immemor Futuri in the center circle which means Look forward, look round, look back, and not unmindful of the future.
Just below this inside a tympanum on the eastern side, we can see celestial beings playing musical instruments. On this side, there is only one set of these whereas on the northern side, there are two variations that are repeated. The most unique thing about these sets of sculptures is that they are playing all Indian musical instruments whereas their appearance is that of Europeans.
On the northeast section of the terrace, we find a grand cupola (dome). On top of the dome, we can see the remains of what used to be a weather vane. The cupola itself is a two-storied structure surrounded by four smaller cupolas on each corner and urns. Urns are also visible across strategic locations on the rooftop.
The large tympanums below the cupola on the eastern and northern sides feature what appear to be sculptures depicting a man and a woman which we can correlate to that of Adam and Eve. This design is also repeated once on the northern side.
On the back side of Vansittart Row, we can see verandas supported by beautiful ironworks. From here you can see that one section of the building is larger than the other.
Standard Life Assurance Building In Kolkata Now
I am sure the people working in this building hardly realize the historic past of this building, and how this building is woven into the colonial past of the Dalhousie Square (B.B.D. Bag). A decade back this building was in pretty bad shape with the outer appearance of a ghost house. It got a fresh lease of life when the Public Work Department went on to restore and paint the outer walls and took extensive repairs to the interiors in 2014.
This building currently houses the Office of the Lokayukta – West Bengal, the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Reserve Forces of Kolkata Police), West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission.
Limelight Restaurant & Bar another important modern landmark is located on the ground floor of the building on the northern side.
The only marble plaque telling the visitors history of this building can be seen on the staircase on the northern side. In this plaque, we find some interesting names. The obvious being that of F. W. Stevens who was the designer of this building. W. G. L. Cotton MICE certified (Institute of Civil Engineers) resident civil engineer in charge. J. McMinn the builder and sub-engineer whose initial in most probability is present on the keystones. Another interesting name is that of David Yule who was a very famous Scottish businessman perhaps his Scottish connection is the common factor here. David Yule is more known for his role at Andrew Yule & Co. Ltd. which was a very large business house based out of Calcutta. Thomas Lang who was then the General Secretary of the company during the initial stages of construction and after his untimely death Douglas Stewart was the then secretary of the company.
I had the privilege of going inside the building and was awestruck when I reached the first floor and saw the layout of the large room remains exactly as it was photographed nearly a century ago. The iron winding staircases and the mosaic floors are truly works of art in themselves.
Another interesting thing to notice out here is the original stone plaque on the outer wall still bearing the name “The Standard Life Assurance Company” along with the text “The liability of the members of the company is limited”. Just below this is the small stone plaque with the building number 32.
Standard Life Assurance Company continued its operations in Europe, especially in the UK. It was only in 2006 that the company was renamed Standard Life. Currently, it’s part of Phoenix Group.
Location Of Standard Life Assurance Building On Map
Other Blogs On Dalhousie Square (B.B.D. Bag)
General Post Office – GPO Kolkata
Night Heritage Walk Of Kolkata
European Dalhousie Heritage Walk
Ghost Walk Kolkata
References
Times Of India
The Telegraph
Calcutta Gazette (1901)
The University of Edinburgh
Standard Life, 1825 – 2000 by Michael S Moss
The Bengal Directory (1878)
The Standard Life Assurance Company by Sir William Schooling
McCord Stewart Museum