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Archiver > INDIA > 1997-09 > 0874105071


From: Michael Quin-Conroy< >
Subject: Crawford, Lieutenant Colonel - Tasmania
Date: Fri, 12 Sep 1997 22:57:51 GMT


Shazza you wrote;-

>Yes it is, Andrew crawford is my Gr-Gr-Grandfather, he attracted quite
>a lot of interest in India about the scheme, and a gentelman from the
>Tassie Library , Geoffrey Stilwell has done some research on the scheme
>in the 60's. I have quite a lot of info on it. Do you have any that you
>could add to my story or do you want any info. I have the names of the
>Indiamen that purchased into the scheme.

>shazza
>

It was rather ironic that while my ancestor Peter Jarbo and his young
family were leaving Tasmania around 1848/9 and would shortly be
transferring to India after a brief stay in England Crawfords scheme
was encouraging the British in India to settle in Tasmania.
Peter was sent from London as a schoolmaster to convicts for a period
of five years and later became an Anglican Priest in India.
The following is an excerpt from “History of Tasmania” by James
Fenton. First published Hobart 1884.

“Lieutenant-Colonel Crawford was promoting what was known as the
Indian scheme. With much toil and perseverance he inspected various
localities, and finally selected Castra as a place where, in his
judgment, civil and military officers might retire upon their
pensions, and enjoy the comfort of a quiet retreat during the autumn
of their lives in a country unrivaled for the salubrity of its
climate, the purity of its innumerable and never-failing streams, and
the productiveness of its soil. In theory nothing could be more
promising than the plan marked out by Colonel Crawford. The retired
officers of the Indian service needed repose after a life of activity
in an enervating climate like that of Southern Asia. The unrest of
fashionable life in European cities rarely accords with the taste of
the veteran. Such a spot as Castra, with its beautiful park-like
plains and shadowy forests, seemed capable of supplying a desideratum,
if only a sufficient number, each holding a small freehold estate,
could be found to unite together and form a settlement strong enough
to overcome the social desolation of the wilderness. The idea,
however, was not successful in practice. Colonel Crawford’s pamphlet
drew many Indian officers to Tasmania, but very few to Castra.”

Regards
Michael Quin-Conroy
Stoneville
Western Australia 6081
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