Kamal A. Chunchie of the Coloured Men's Institute: The man and the legend

Immigrants and Minorities

Volumn 18, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 29-48

  Visram, Rozina ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BLACK POPULATION; HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE; RACISM; RELIGION; TWENTIETH CENTURY;

UNITED KINGDOM;

EID: 0032739551     PISSN: 02619288     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/02619288.1999.9974957     Document Type: Article

References (117)

1. The terms 'coloured' in this article is used in the context of the time and refers to the peoples from Africa, the Indian sub-continent and the West Indies, as well as their 'mixed-race' children.
2. Information provided by Mrs Muriel Simpson; see also letter from Alex Godley, General Chairman, War Services Committee, to Air Vice-Marshal, Sir Philip Game at New Scotland Yard, dated 24 July 1940, recommending Chunchie's services, Family Papers; John Slader, 'A Champion of London's Docklands', Contemporary Review, April 1991, p.2. However, enquiries at New Scotland Yard have hitherto thrown no light.
3. Slader, 'A Champion of London's Docklands', p.1; Ron L. Rickwood, The Life and Times of No. 4754532 (London, 1992), p.10, describes Chunchie as a lodger in his parents' home, 32 Somers Road, Walthamstow, as a 'Ceylonese Prince'. Some newspapers, too, suggested his royal ancestry: for example, West Briton, 6 April 1925; Joyful News, 25 Feb. 1926.
4. Slader, 'A Champion of London's Docklands', p.1; Ron L. Rickwood, The Life and Times of No. 4754532 (London, 1992), p.10, describes Chunchie as a lodger in his parents' home, 32 Somers Road, Walthamstow, as a 'Ceylonese Prince'. Some newspapers, too, suggested his royal ancestry: for example, West Briton, 6 April 1925; Joyful News, 25 Feb. 1926.
5. Slader, 'A Champion of London's Docklands', p.1; Ron L. Rickwood, The Life and Times of No. 4754532 (London, 1992), p.10, describes Chunchie as a lodger in his parents' home, 32 Somers Road, Walthamstow, as a 'Ceylonese Prince'. Some newspapers, too, suggested his royal ancestry: for example, West Briton, 6 April 1925; Joyful News, 25 Feb. 1926.
6. Obituary notice in the Ceylon Morning Leader, 27 June 1928. Chunchie's father's position is variously described in Britain: Rev. W.J. Noble of WMMS in Yarns of Ceylon (London, 1930), p.40, refers to him as Tuan Kali (bishop) of the Mosque in Kandy, leader of the Moslems in Ceylon; see also Southport Guardian, 20 Feb. 1924, where Chunchie's father is described as the 'acknowledged head of the Mohammedan [sic] faith', while the West Briton, 6 April 1925 has him as 'head of the Malay community in Ceylon'.
7. Obituary notice in the Ceylon Morning Leader, 27 June 1928. Chunchie's father's position is variously described in Britain: Rev. W.J. Noble of WMMS in Yarns of Ceylon (London, 1930), p.40, refers to him as Tuan Kali (bishop) of the Mosque in Kandy, leader of the Moslems in Ceylon; see also Southport Guardian, 20 Feb. 1924, where Chunchie's father is described as the 'acknowledged head of the Mohammedan [sic] faith', while the West Briton, 6 April 1925 has him as 'head of the Malay community in Ceylon'.
8. Obituary notice in the Ceylon Morning Leader, 27 June 1928. Chunchie's father's position is variously described in Britain: Rev. W.J. Noble of WMMS in Yarns of Ceylon (London, 1930), p.40, refers to him as Tuan Kali (bishop) of the Mosque in Kandy, leader of the Moslems in Ceylon; see also Southport Guardian, 20 Feb. 1924, where Chunchie's father is described as the 'acknowledged head of the Mohammedan [sic] faith', while the West Briton, 6 April 1925 has him as 'head of the Malay community in Ceylon'.
9. For particulars of Chunchie's career in Ceylon, see letter from Alex Godley to Sir Philip Game, 24 July 1940; Chunchie's police card; and his marriage certificate, Family Papers. Some sources have puffed up Chunchie's career. For instance, Noble in Yarns of Ceylon, p.42, suggests that Chunchie gained rapid promotion, reaching the post of 'an inspector', while Rev. Stanley Sowton not only promotes Chunchie to the rank of an inspector but also as having 'Englishmen serving under him', Joyful News, 25 Feb. 1926. However, in a colonial context this is highly unlikely.
10. For particulars of Chunchie's career in Ceylon, see letter from Alex Godley to Sir Philip Game, 24 July 1940; Chunchie's police card; and his marriage certificate, Family Papers. Some sources have puffed up Chunchie's career. For instance, Noble in Yarns of Ceylon, p.42, suggests that Chunchie gained rapid promotion, reaching the post of 'an inspector', while Rev. Stanley Sowton not only promotes Chunchie to the rank of an inspector but also as having 'Englishmen serving under him', Joyful News, 25 Feb. 1926. However, in a colonial context this is highly unlikely.
11. For particulars of Chunchie's career in Ceylon, see letter from Alex Godley to Sir Philip Game, 24 July 1940; Chunchie's police card; and his marriage certificate, Family Papers. Some sources have puffed up Chunchie's career. For instance, Noble in Yarns of Ceylon, p.42, suggests that Chunchie gained rapid promotion, reaching the post of 'an inspector', while Rev. Stanley Sowton not only promotes Chunchie to the rank of an inspector but also as having 'Englishmen serving under him', Joyful News, 25 Feb. 1926. However, in a colonial context this is highly unlikely.
12. Altogether 138,000 Indian soldiers served on the Western Front. See Rozina Visram, Ayahs, Lascars and Prince: Indians in Britain 1700-1947 (London, 1986), pp.113-39.
13. Omar Ralph, Naoroji, The First Asian MP: A Biography of Dadabhai Naoroji: India's Patriot and Britain's MP (London, 1997), p.68.
14. Rozina Visram, A Long Presence (forthcoming).
15. The dates of Chunchie's conversion conflict. Rev. W.J. Noble, suggests Chunchie's conversion date as '1919 in London', Yarns of Ceylon, pp. 45-6. But Chunchie's first sermon is dated Malta, 19 March 1917; see also Coloured Men's Institute, Under the Direction of the East End Mission and the WMMS, Among the Coloured Men in Dockland (n.d., possibly 1926), p.8; Report of the CMI, Twenty Five Years Among Coloured People in London Dockland (1945-46), p.2; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930. Chunchie first signed the Methodist Disciples Roll in January 1922, Family Papers.
16. The dates of Chunchie's conversion conflict. Rev. W.J. Noble, suggests Chunchie's conversion date as '1919 in London', Yarns of Ceylon, pp. 45-6. But Chunchie's first sermon is dated Malta, 19 March 1917; see also Coloured Men's Institute, Under the Direction of the East End Mission and the WMMS, Among the Coloured Men in Dockland (n.d., possibly 1926), p.8; Report of the CMI, Twenty Five Years Among Coloured People in London Dockland (1945-46), p.2; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930. Chunchie first signed the Methodist Disciples Roll in January 1922, Family Papers.
17. The dates of Chunchie's conversion conflict. Rev. W.J. Noble, suggests Chunchie's conversion date as '1919 in London', Yarns of Ceylon, pp. 45-6. But Chunchie's first sermon is dated Malta, 19 March 1917; see also Coloured Men's Institute, Under the Direction of the East End Mission and the WMMS, Among the Coloured Men in Dockland (n.d., possibly 1926), p.8; Report of the CMI, Twenty Five Years Among Coloured People in London Dockland (1945-46), p.2; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930. Chunchie first signed the Methodist Disciples Roll in January 1922, Family Papers.
18. The dates of Chunchie's conversion conflict. Rev. W.J. Noble, suggests Chunchie's conversion date as '1919 in London', Yarns of Ceylon, pp. 45-6. But Chunchie's first sermon is dated Malta, 19 March 1917; see also Coloured Men's Institute, Under the Direction of the East End Mission and the WMMS, Among the Coloured Men in Dockland (n.d., possibly 1926), p.8; Report of the CMI, Twenty Five Years Among Coloured People in London Dockland (1945-46), p.2; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930. Chunchie first signed the Methodist Disciples Roll in January 1922, Family Papers.
19. Diary: 'From Salonika to England', Family Papers.
20. CMI, Under the Direction of the East End Mission and the WMMS, Among Coloured Men, p.8.
21. There is conflict in evidence as to what Chunchie was studying in London. In his daughter, Muriel's birth certificate, his profession is given as 'student of accountancy, ex-army'. Family Papers. Ron L. Rickwood suggests, however, that Chunchie had been 'sent to study religion and to take the cloth'. The Life and Times of No. 4754532, p.10. In fact Chunchie's early life in London is a little hazy, in part compounded by himself.
22. They were married at the Wesleyan Chapel in Leyton. Mabel Tappen, who had been a WAAC in the war, was a fellow lodger in the Rickwood household, Rickwood, The Life and Times of No. 4754532, p.10. See also Mabel Tappen's Army Papers and the birth certificate, Family Papers.
23. Joseph Salter, for instance, had already drawn attention to this as early as the nineteenth century. See Visram, Ayahs (1986 edn); J. Salter, The Asiatic in England: Sketches of Sixteen Years' Work among Orientals (London, 1873); and The East in the West, or Work among the Asiatics and Africans in London (London, 1896).
24. Joseph Salter, for instance, had already drawn attention to this as early as the nineteenth century. See Visram, Ayahs (1986 edn); J. Salter, The Asiatic in England: Sketches of Sixteen Years' Work among Orientals (London, 1873); and The East in the West, or Work among the Asiatics and Africans in London (London, 1896).
25. Joseph Salter, for instance, had already drawn attention to this as early as the nineteenth century. See Visram, Ayahs (1986 edn); J. Salter, The Asiatic in England: Sketches of Sixteen Years' Work among Orientals (London, 1873); and The East in the West, or Work among the Asiatics and Africans in London (London, 1896).
26. Rozina Visram, 'South Asians in London', in Nick Merriman (ed.), The Peopling of London: Fifteen Thousand Years of Settlement from Overseas (London, 1993), p. 171.
27. Peter Fryer, Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain (London, 1984); Laura Tabili, 'We Ask for British Justice': Workers and racial Difference in Late Imperial Britain (Ithaca, NY and London, 1994); Visram, A Long Presence (forthcoming).
28. Peter Fryer, Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain (London, 1984); Laura Tabili, 'We Ask for British Justice': Workers and racial Difference in Late Imperial Britain (Ithaca, NY and London, 1994); Visram, A Long Presence (forthcoming).
29. Peter Fryer, Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain (London, 1984); Laura Tabili, 'We Ask for British Justice': Workers and racial Difference in Late Imperial Britain (Ithaca, NY and London, 1994); Visram, A Long Presence (forthcoming).
30. The Times, 30 May 1919; East London Observer, 16 Aug. 1919.
31. The Times, 30 May 1919; East London Observer, 16 Aug. 1919.
32. Report of the Coloured Men's Institute, Twenty Five Years Among Coloured People in London Dockland (1945-46), p.1.
33. Annual Report of the QVSR, 1922, pp.16-17; Christian Herald and Signs of our Times, 8 May 1924.
34. Annual Report of the QVSR, 1922, pp.16-17; Christian Herald and Signs of our Times, 8 May 1924.
35. A.C. Marshall, 'Chunchie from Ceylon: A Brown-skinned London Missionary who works for the Stranger within our Gates', Sunday Circle, 18 April 1936; Annual Reports of the QVSR, 1923-24.
36. A.C. Marshall, 'Chunchie from Ceylon: A Brown-skinned London Missionary who works for the Stranger within our Gates', Sunday Circle, 18 April 1936; Annual Reports of the QVSR, 1923-24.
37. The Foreign Field, Nov. 1923; Christian Herald and the Signs of Our Times, 8 May 1924.
38. The Foreign Field, Nov. 1923; Christian Herald and the Signs of Our Times, 8 May 1924.
39. The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930.
40. Of the 50 who had gathered at Agar Hall, 32 were Methodists, 5 Baptists, 2 Church of England, 2 Roman Catholics, 5 Hindus, 2 Buddhists and 1 Muslim. See the 1922 Report of the QVSR; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930.
41. Of the 50 who had gathered at Agar Hall, 32 were Methodists, 5 Baptists, 2 Church of England, 2 Roman Catholics, 5 Hindus, 2 Buddhists and 1 Muslim. See the 1922 Report of the QVSR; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930.
42. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No. 908. Chunchie's work among the 'coloured' peoples had already been supported from the same Waddilov Trust. See also, Arthur Page, 'A Chinese Opium-Den Transformed: A Chat with Mr Kamel [sic] A. Chunchie', Methodist Recorder, 28 Jan. 1926.
43. Christian Herald and Signs of Our Times, 11 Feb. 1926; Page, 'A Chat with Kamel [sic] A Chunchie'; Rev. Stanley Sowton, 'Pastor Chunchie Returns to England: the Social Work of the CMI to be Resumed', in ibid., Nov. 1929; Manchester Guardian, 29 Feb. 1928.
44. Christian Herald and Signs of Our Times, 11 Feb. 1926; Page, 'A Chat with Kamel [sic] A Chunchie'; Rev. Stanley Sowton, 'Pastor Chunchie Returns to England: the Social Work of the CMI to be Resumed', in ibid., Nov. 1929; Manchester Guardian, 29 Feb. 1928.
45. Christian Herald and Signs of Our Times, 11 Feb. 1926; Page, 'A Chat with Kamel [sic] A Chunchie'; Rev. Stanley Sowton, 'Pastor Chunchie Returns to England: the Social Work of the CMI to be Resumed', in ibid., Nov. 1929; Manchester Guardian, 29 Feb. 1928.
46. Christian Herald and Signs of Our Times, 11 Feb. 1926; Page, 'A Chat with Kamel [sic] A Chunchie'; Rev. Stanley Sowton, 'Pastor Chunchie Returns to England: the Social Work of the CMI to be Resumed', in ibid., Nov. 1929; Manchester Guardian, 29 Feb. 1928.
47. Marshall, 'Chunchie from Ceylon'.
48. Page, 'A Chinese Opium-Den Transformed'.
49. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.906. Letter from R. Woolham dated 5 July 1932 and from Mrs Hamblem dated 3 July 1932 are typical of many who voiced concern.
50. For King Sobouza's comment: 'I am pleased with your work. The "Cubs" can use my name. God bless my friend Chunchie's work' is printed in the QVSR Report for 1923, p.19. See also 1922-24 Reports of the QVSR; CMI Under the Direction of the East End Mission and the WMMS, Among Coloured Men. See also later reports of the CMI.
51. For King Sobouza's comment: 'I am pleased with your work. The "Cubs" can use my name. God bless my friend Chunchie's work' is printed in the QVSR Report for 1923, p.19. See also 1922-24 Reports of the QVSR; CMI Under the Direction of the East End Mission and the WMMS, Among Coloured Men. See also later reports of the CMI.
52. Petition dated 24 June, addressed to Rev. E.W. Thompson, at the Mission House, from Mrs Williams, 35 Catherine St., Tidal Basin, London E16 and members is in WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.907; Kamal A. Chunchie, Christianity seen Through Eastern Eyes, n.d., but possibly 1933, pp.14-17.
53. Petition dated 24 June, addressed to Rev. E.W. Thompson, at the Mission House, from Mrs Williams, 35 Catherine St., Tidal Basin, London E16 and members is in WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.907; Kamal A. Chunchie, Christianity seen Through Eastern Eyes, n.d., but possibly 1933, pp.14-17.
54. The Negro World, 3 July 1926.
55. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.908, statement dated March 1933 and confidential statement dated 21 April 1933.
56. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, 907, letter from Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson to A.L. Rickard, 9 Sept. 1932; and No.904, letter to J. Archer, dated 12 July 1932.
57. WMMS Home and General: Home correspondence, FBN 18, No.906, letter from Rev G.E. Hickman Johnson to W.S. Faulkner, dated 27 July 1932. The post at Medak was not practical as the family doctor, Dr C. Peacock of Lee Park Lodge, Blackheath, believed Mabel Chunchie 'not in a fit state of heart to reside in a tropical country', see his letter dated 22 April 1932, No.905. Chunchie declined the offer of Bible study at Cliffe as he felt he did not need 'more theological training', see Chunchie to Rev G.E. Hickman Johnson, 26 June 1932, No.905. Chunchie's conviction that he had been 'called' to shoulder the responsibility of building a home for the 'coloured' people of the Docklands is contained in his letter to Rev. G. E. Hickman Johnson, dated 5 May 1933, No.908.
58. QVSR, Report for 1937, pp.25 and 28. Pastor F.E. Robb was appointed to head this 'new venture'. Pleas for his re-instatement came from men like Rev H.W. Slader and W.B. van Lare, President of the Gold Coast Association, see fragment of cutting, n.d. in the Family Papers; WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.906, letter to A.P. Sutcliffe, dated 9 July 1932.
59. John Slader, 'A Champion of London's Dockland', Contemporary Review, April 1991, p.2; John Widdowson, People Who Moved to Newham (The Credon Centre, East London, n.d.) (Cambridge University Library), p.39.
60. John Slader, 'A Champion of London's Dockland', Contemporary Review, April 1991, p.2; John Widdowson, People Who Moved to Newham (The Credon Centre, East London, n.d.) (Cambridge University Library), p.39.
61. Chunchie's Membership Card, Royal Commonwealth Society Archives. 39. Personal information from Chunchie's daughter, Mrs Muriel Simpson. See also photographs in the Family Albums which show Chunchie at elegant garden parties and gatherings.
62. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.908, confidential statement on Chunchie dated 21 April 1933.
63. Sowton, 'Pastor Chunchie Returns to England.'.
64. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No. 907, letter from Miss A.L. Rickard, dated 1 Feb. 1932; letter from Rev. W.C. Hickman, dated 7 July 1932, in No.906; letter from E.A. Shaw to Rev. W.J. Noble, 30 May 1935 in No.910. Rev. H. Tyler Lane described him as having a 'great deal of showman' in him, letter dated 26 Feb. 1932, in No.907; Methodist Recorder, November 1929, noted his 'picturesque personality' which won him host of friends, especially among the young.
65. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.910, the description comes from Rev W.J. Noble in a Methodist Mission leaflet and quoted by E.A. Shaw in his letter to Rev. W.J. Noble, dated 30 May 1935; Rev Stanley Sowton in the Exeter Express and Echo, 10 March 1924.
66. Rev. James Bradburn, Superintendent of the Derby Mission in Methodist Recorder, 16 April 1931, and quoted in Chunchie, Christianity: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.908.
67. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.907, W.S. Faulkner to Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson, 3 Oct. 1932; E.A. Shaw to Rev. W.J. Noble, 8 June 1935, No.910.
68. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No., 907, letter from Rev G.E. Hickman Johnson to Rev. Siberton Baker, 10 Sept. 1931; Rev. W.J. Noble to E.A. Shaw, 24 May 1935, No.910.
69. Noble, Yarns of Ceylon, pp.39-40; see, for instance, the obituary in the Kentish Mercury, 3 July 1953.
70. Noble, Yarns of Ceylon, pp.39-40; see, for instance, the obituary in the Kentish Mercury, 3 July 1953.
71. The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930. See also Noble, Yarns of Ceylon, p.45.
72. The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930. See also Noble, Yarns of Ceylon, p.45.
73. Noble, Yarns of Ceylon, pp.39-57. Many newspapers carried Chunchie's story of conversion and sacrifice, for example, Yorkshire Courier, 16 Nov. 1926; Telegraph, 29 June 1925; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930. see also WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.910, letter from E.A. Shaw to Rev. W.J. Noble, 18 May 1935; Chunchie to Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson, 24 Aug. 1934, No.909. For the story of the reconciliation, see Sowton, 'Pastor Chunchie Returns to England'; Kentish Mercury, 22 Nov. 1940, 'Story of a Lee Pastor's Conversion'; and the address by Desmond Skinner (son of Basil Skinner, treasurer of the CMI from the mid-1930s) to the Hitcham Branch of the Mother's Union, entitled: 'Kamal A Chunchie, a Man of Faith', given on 19 May 1985, in Family Papers.
74. Noble, Yarns of Ceylon, pp.39-57. Many newspapers carried Chunchie's story of conversion and sacrifice, for example, Yorkshire Courier, 16 Nov. 1926; Telegraph, 29 June 1925; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930. see also WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.910, letter from E.A. Shaw to Rev. W.J. Noble, 18 May 1935; Chunchie to Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson, 24 Aug. 1934, No.909. For the story of the reconciliation, see Sowton, 'Pastor Chunchie Returns to England'; Kentish Mercury, 22 Nov. 1940, 'Story of a Lee Pastor's Conversion'; and the address by Desmond Skinner (son of Basil Skinner, treasurer of the CMI from the mid-1930s) to the Hitcham Branch of the Mother's Union, entitled: 'Kamal A Chunchie, a Man of Faith', given on 19 May 1985, in Family Papers.
75. Noble, Yarns of Ceylon, pp.39-57. Many newspapers carried Chunchie's story of conversion and sacrifice, for example, Yorkshire Courier, 16 Nov. 1926; Telegraph, 29 June 1925; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930. see also WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.910, letter from E.A. Shaw to Rev. W.J. Noble, 18 May 1935; Chunchie to Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson, 24 Aug. 1934, No.909. For the story of the reconciliation, see Sowton, 'Pastor Chunchie Returns to England'; Kentish Mercury, 22 Nov. 1940, 'Story of a Lee Pastor's Conversion'; and the address by Desmond Skinner (son of Basil Skinner, treasurer of the CMI from the mid-1930s) to the Hitcham Branch of the Mother's Union, entitled: 'Kamal A Chunchie, a Man of Faith', given on 19 May 1985, in Family Papers.
76. Noble, Yarns of Ceylon, pp.39-57. Many newspapers carried Chunchie's story of conversion and sacrifice, for example, Yorkshire Courier, 16 Nov. 1926; Telegraph, 29 June 1925; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930. see also WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.910, letter from E.A. Shaw to Rev. W.J. Noble, 18 May 1935; Chunchie to Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson, 24 Aug. 1934, No.909. For the story of the reconciliation, see Sowton, 'Pastor Chunchie Returns to England'; Kentish Mercury, 22 Nov. 1940, 'Story of a Lee Pastor's Conversion'; and the address by Desmond Skinner (son of Basil Skinner, treasurer of the CMI from the mid-1930s) to the Hitcham Branch of the Mother's Union, entitled: 'Kamal A Chunchie, a Man of Faith', given on 19 May 1985, in Family Papers.
77. Noble, Yarns of Ceylon, pp.39-57. Many newspapers carried Chunchie's story of conversion and sacrifice, for example, Yorkshire Courier, 16 Nov. 1926; Telegraph, 29 June 1925; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930. see also WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.910, letter from E.A. Shaw to Rev. W.J. Noble, 18 May 1935; Chunchie to Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson, 24 Aug. 1934, No.909. For the story of the reconciliation, see Sowton, 'Pastor Chunchie Returns to England'; Kentish Mercury, 22 Nov. 1940, 'Story of a Lee Pastor's Conversion'; and the address by Desmond Skinner (son of Basil Skinner, treasurer of the CMI from the mid-1930s) to the Hitcham Branch of the Mother's Union, entitled: 'Kamal A Chunchie, a Man of Faith', given on 19 May 1985, in Family Papers.
78. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.904, Rev. W.C. Bird to Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson, 30 June 1932. There are various discrepancies in the story as narrated by Chunchie at meetings: the date of his conversion is one. Then there is the issue of his reconciliation with the family in Ceylon. There is some evidence that suggests that the rift was healed long before 1929, see letter from Rev. W.J. Noble to Chunchie, dated 20 Nov. 1924, in connection with Chunchie's youngest sister's education in England, and letters to Muriel Simpson from 'Aunty Moodah' dated 18 Aug. 1925' and from 'granddad', dated 25 Nov. 1927, in Family Papers. How wealthy was Chunchie's family? This is problematic. Letter to Muriel Simpson from 'granddad', dated 25 Nov. 1927, refers to properties that Chunchie's father wanted Chunchie to take charge by returning to Ceylon. But since Chunchie had taken 'no notice', these had been transferred to others in the family. Then there is the story of Chundra in Methodist Recorder, 26 Oct. 1922. Was this meant to apply to Chunchie? Was Chunchie's father a tea planter, the occupation given in Chunchie's marriage certificate or Tuan Kali, head of Muhamadan [sic] Mosque, as given in his baptism certificate of 1945? Various newspapers hinted at Chunchie's wealth: for example, Rev. Stanley Sowton in Methodist Recorder, 24 Feb. 1927; Yorkshire Courier, 16 Nov. 1926; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930 and Christian Herald, 8 May 1924.
79. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.904, Rev. W.C. Bird to Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson, 30 June 1932. There are various discrepancies in the story as narrated by Chunchie at meetings: the date of his conversion is one. Then there is the issue of his reconciliation with the family in Ceylon. There is some evidence that suggests that the rift was healed long before 1929, see letter from Rev. W.J. Noble to Chunchie, dated 20 Nov. 1924, in connection with Chunchie's youngest sister's education in England, and letters to Muriel Simpson from 'Aunty Moodah' dated 18 Aug. 1925' and from 'granddad', dated 25 Nov. 1927, in Family Papers. How wealthy was Chunchie's family? This is problematic. Letter to Muriel Simpson from 'granddad', dated 25 Nov. 1927, refers to properties that Chunchie's father wanted Chunchie to take charge by returning to Ceylon. But since Chunchie had taken 'no notice', these had been transferred to others in the family. Then there is the story of Chundra in Methodist Recorder, 26 Oct. 1922. Was this meant to apply to Chunchie? Was Chunchie's father a tea planter, the occupation given in Chunchie's marriage certificate or Tuan Kali, head of Muhamadan [sic] Mosque, as given in his baptism certificate of 1945? Various newspapers hinted at Chunchie's wealth: for example, Rev. Stanley Sowton in Methodist Recorder, 24 Feb. 1927; Yorkshire Courier, 16 Nov. 1926; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930 and Christian Herald, 8 May 1924.
80. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.904, Rev. W.C. Bird to Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson, 30 June 1932. There are various discrepancies in the story as narrated by Chunchie at meetings: the date of his conversion is one. Then there is the issue of his reconciliation with the family in Ceylon. There is some evidence that suggests that the rift was healed long before 1929, see letter from Rev. W.J. Noble to Chunchie, dated 20 Nov. 1924, in connection with Chunchie's youngest sister's education in England, and letters to Muriel Simpson from 'Aunty Moodah' dated 18 Aug. 1925' and from 'granddad', dated 25 Nov. 1927, in Family Papers. How wealthy was Chunchie's family? This is problematic. Letter to Muriel Simpson from 'granddad', dated 25 Nov. 1927, refers to properties that Chunchie's father wanted Chunchie to take charge by returning to Ceylon. But since Chunchie had taken 'no notice', these had been transferred to others in the family. Then there is the story of Chundra in Methodist Recorder, 26 Oct. 1922. Was this meant to apply to Chunchie? Was Chunchie's father a tea planter, the occupation given in Chunchie's marriage certificate or Tuan Kali, head of Muhamadan [sic] Mosque, as given in his baptism certificate of 1945? Various newspapers hinted at Chunchie's wealth: for example, Rev. Stanley Sowton in Methodist Recorder, 24 Feb. 1927; Yorkshire Courier, 16 Nov. 1926; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930 and Christian Herald, 8 May 1924.
81. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.904, Rev. W.C. Bird to Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson, 30 June 1932. There are various discrepancies in the story as narrated by Chunchie at meetings: the date of his conversion is one. Then there is the issue of his reconciliation with the family in Ceylon. There is some evidence that suggests that the rift was healed long before 1929, see letter from Rev. W.J. Noble to Chunchie, dated 20 Nov. 1924, in connection with Chunchie's youngest sister's education in England, and letters to Muriel Simpson from 'Aunty Moodah' dated 18 Aug. 1925' and from 'granddad', dated 25 Nov. 1927, in Family Papers. How wealthy was Chunchie's family? This is problematic. Letter to Muriel Simpson from 'granddad', dated 25 Nov. 1927, refers to properties that Chunchie's father wanted Chunchie to take charge by returning to Ceylon. But since Chunchie had taken 'no notice', these had been transferred to others in the family. Then there is the story of Chundra in Methodist Recorder, 26 Oct. 1922. Was this meant to apply to Chunchie? Was Chunchie's father a tea planter, the occupation given in Chunchie's marriage certificate or Tuan Kali, head of Muhamadan [sic] Mosque, as given in his baptism certificate of 1945? Various newspapers hinted at Chunchie's wealth: for example, Rev. Stanley Sowton in Methodist Recorder, 24 Feb. 1927; Yorkshire Courier, 16 Nov. 1926; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930 and Christian Herald, 8 May 1924.
82. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.904, Rev. W.C. Bird to Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson, 30 June 1932. There are various discrepancies in the story as narrated by Chunchie at meetings: the date of his conversion is one. Then there is the issue of his reconciliation with the family in Ceylon. There is some evidence that suggests that the rift was healed long before 1929, see letter from Rev. W.J. Noble to Chunchie, dated 20 Nov. 1924, in connection with Chunchie's youngest sister's education in England, and letters to Muriel Simpson from 'Aunty Moodah' dated 18 Aug. 1925' and from 'granddad', dated 25 Nov. 1927, in Family Papers. How wealthy was Chunchie's family? This is problematic. Letter to Muriel Simpson from 'granddad', dated 25 Nov. 1927, refers to properties that Chunchie's father wanted Chunchie to take charge by returning to Ceylon. But since Chunchie had taken 'no notice', these had been transferred to others in the family. Then there is the story of Chundra in Methodist Recorder, 26 Oct. 1922. Was this meant to apply to Chunchie? Was Chunchie's father a tea planter, the occupation given in Chunchie's marriage certificate or Tuan Kali, head of Muhamadan [sic] Mosque, as given in his baptism certificate of 1945? Various newspapers hinted at Chunchie's wealth: for example, Rev. Stanley Sowton in Methodist Recorder, 24 Feb. 1927; Yorkshire Courier, 16 Nov. 1926; The Christian, 23 Jan. 1930 and Christian Herald, 8 May 1924.
83. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.907, letter for the year 1932, from Rev. G.H. Taylor of Birmingham to Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson.
84. QVSR Report, 1922; and 1937, p.26.
85. Christian Herald, 8 May 1924; CMI Report for 1948-19; Foreign Field, Nov. 1923.
86. Christian Herald, 8 May 1924; CMI Report for 1948-19; Foreign Field, Nov. 1923.
87. Christian Herald, 8 May 1924; CMI Report for 1948-19; Foreign Field, Nov. 1923.
88. Slader, 'A Champion of London's Dockland', p.2.
89. WMMS Home and General; Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.909, record of conversation between Rev. E.W. Thompson and Chunchie, 30 Aug. 1934; Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson to Mrs Hamblem, 11 July 1932, No.906; and copy of E.A. Shaw's letter to Chunchie containing a record of conversation with Mission House, dated 12 July 1935, No.910; and letter from Rev. G.E. Hickman Johnson to Miss A.L. Rickard, 9 Sept. 1932, No.907. See also letter to A.P. Sutcliffe, 9 July 1932, in which Chunchie was said to have 'proved himself unfitted for such work', No.906.
90. Because of his ten years of service, and the fact that as a 'Ceylonese gentleman compelled to live in England, having married an English wife'. Mission House made, what in their view, was a 'generous financial settlement' for Chunchie - he was given a year's stipend and allowances, gift of furniture in his flat and a fully paid up life policy for £350. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.908, statement on Chunchie.
91. For the condition of black and Asian peoples in Britain and the east end in the 1920s and 1930s, see Fryer, Staying Power; Paul B. Rich, Race and Empire in British Politics (Cambridge, 1990 edition), pp.120-68; Visram, A Long Presence (forthcoming).
92. For the condition of black and Asian peoples in Britain and the east end in the 1920s and 1930s, see Fryer, Staying Power; Paul B. Rich, Race and Empire in British Politics (Cambridge, 1990 edition), pp.120-68; Visram, A Long Presence (forthcoming).
93. For the condition of black and Asian peoples in Britain and the east end in the 1920s and 1930s, see Fryer, Staying Power; Paul B. Rich, Race and Empire in British Politics (Cambridge, 1990 edition), pp.120-68; Visram, A Long Presence (forthcoming).
94. A set of notes, Family Papers; Manchester Guardian, 29 Feb. 1928.
95. Reports of the Coloured Men's Institute, 1933-52, Family Papers. Other names variously associated with the Chunchie CMI included Norman H. Radcliffe of the Indian Army, Dr B. Randall Vicker, E.W. Day, Rev. W.A. Cooper, W. Stanley Harrison (as solicitors) Dr A.M. Shah and R.S. Nehra, who was also on the board of the League of Coloured Peoples for 1950/51, see LCP's newsletter, Nov.-Dec. 1950.
96. Among Coloured Men in Dockland, Report for 1933, p.6 (copy in WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.908).
97. Annual Reports of the CMI, 1933-52 and photographs in the Family Albums. See also, typed copy of a letter to the editor of West Africa from a 'visitor', describing the New Year party hosted by the CMI at the Presbyterian Church in Victoria Dock Road on 14 Jan. in 1937.
98. Visram, Ayahs (1986 edn), pp.173-4; Fryer, Staying Power, pp.364-5.
99. Visram, Ayahs (1986 edn), pp.173-4; Fryer, Staying Power, pp.364-5.
100. Captain F.A. Richardson, Social Conditions in Ports and Dockland Areas (a survey for the Joint Council of the British Social Hygiene Council and the British Council for the Welfare of Mercantile Marine, 1934-35); Phyllis Young, Report on Investigation into Conditions of the Coloured Population in a Stepney Area, March 1944 (privately published in London); Nancie Sharpe, Report on the Negro Population of London and Cardiff, n.d. (Report commissioned by the Methodists but never published), East London Advertiser, 20 Oct. 1933; Letter from M.L. Bhargava, secretary of the Indian Social Club, to Poplar Borough Council, 22 Nov. 1938, Tower Hamlets Archives.
101. Captain F.A. Richardson, Social Conditions in Ports and Dockland Areas (a survey for the Joint Council of the British Social Hygiene Council and the British Council for the Welfare of Mercantile Marine, 1934-35); Phyllis Young, Report on Investigation into Conditions of the Coloured Population in a Stepney Area, March 1944 (privately published in London); Nancie Sharpe, Report on the Negro Population of London and Cardiff, n.d. (Report commissioned by the Methodists but never published), East London Advertiser, 20 Oct. 1933; Letter from M.L. Bhargava, secretary of the Indian Social Club, to Poplar Borough Council, 22 Nov. 1938, Tower Hamlets Archives.
102. Captain F.A. Richardson, Social Conditions in Ports and Dockland Areas (a survey for the Joint Council of the British Social Hygiene Council and the British Council for the Welfare of Mercantile Marine, 1934-35); Phyllis Young, Report on Investigation into Conditions of the Coloured Population in a Stepney Area, March 1944 (privately published in London); Nancie Sharpe, Report on the Negro Population of London and Cardiff, n.d. (Report commissioned by the Methodists but never published), East London Advertiser, 20 Oct. 1933; Letter from M.L. Bhargava, secretary of the Indian Social Club, to Poplar Borough Council, 22 Nov. 1938, Tower Hamlets Archives.
103. Captain F.A. Richardson, Social Conditions in Ports and Dockland Areas (a survey for the Joint Council of the British Social Hygiene Council and the British Council for the Welfare of Mercantile Marine, 1934-35); Phyllis Young, Report on Investigation into Conditions of the Coloured Population in a Stepney Area, March 1944 (privately published in London); Nancie Sharpe, Report on the Negro Population of London and Cardiff, n.d. (Report commissioned by the Methodists but never published), East London Advertiser, 20 Oct. 1933; Letter from M.L. Bhargava, secretary of the Indian Social Club, to Poplar Borough Council, 22 Nov. 1938, Tower Hamlets Archives.
104. Captain F.A. Richardson, Social Conditions in Ports and Dockland Areas (a survey for the Joint Council of the British Social Hygiene Council and the British Council for the Welfare of Mercantile Marine, 1934-35); Phyllis Young, Report on Investigation into Conditions of the Coloured Population in a Stepney Area, March 1944 (privately published in London); Nancie Sharpe, Report on the Negro Population of London and Cardiff, n.d. (Report commissioned by the Methodists but never published), East London Advertiser, 20 Oct. 1933; Letter from M.L. Bhargava, secretary of the Indian Social Club, to Poplar Borough Council, 22 Nov. 1938, Tower Hamlets Archives.
105. Annual Reports, 1935, 1948-49, 1949-50; also individual letters in Family Papers, for example, from Florence Jalaluddin, dated 20 Dec. 1939 and from Mrs Garnes of Plaistow, n.d.
106. Fragment of a newspaper cutting (from Methodist Recorder?) in the Family Papers.
107. WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.909, letter dated 8 Jan. 1935 from Rev. W.J. Noble to Rev. C. Gimblett; Rev. W.J. Noble to A.P. Parkinson, dated 8 May 1935, No.910 and E.A. Shaw to Rev. W.J. Noble, dated 18 May 1935 and 30 May 1935, No.910.
108. Auditors' Report, CMI, 1936-37.
109. Auditors' Report, CMI, 1936-37.
110. Auditors' Report, CMI, 1949-50.
111. Letter, n.d. from Muriel Simpson, Chunchie's daughter, to the CMI committee, Family Papers.
112. For Shoran Singha's suggestion, see his message in Kamal A. Chunchie, Christianity, p. 16, in WMMS Home and General: Home Correspondence, FBN 18, No.908. For the case of Jamaican nurses refused admission in hospitals as student nurses, p.8, in the same report.
113. East London Advertiser, 20 Dec. 1941 ; Visram, A Long Presence (forthcoming).
114. East London Advertiser, 20 Dec. 1941 ; Visram, A Long Presence (forthcoming).
115. Chunchie was proposed by J.A. Barbour James and seconded by Rev. P.M. Aldous, Chunchie's Membership Card, Royal Commonwealth Society Archives.
116. NCCL Archives, DCL/99/1, letter from Chunchie, 6 July 1941. For the 1915 John Chilembwe Rising in Nyasaland, see G. Shepperson and T. Price, Independent African (Edinburgh, 1958).
117. Chunchie's speech to the Windsor Rotarians, fragment of a cutting with the headline, 'Coloured Man's Criticism of the Whites' [Methodist Recorder?], n.d., possibly during the three-men Cabinet Mission to India.