A 63-year-old retired English teacher from Yorkshire in United Kingdom recently visited places in Salem and Namakkal districts where her grandfather lived for 40 years contributing for the development of education.
T.C. Whitney, a missionary, arrived in Erode in 1913 and later married Myfanwy, an Irish woman. Their son Allen did his schooling in Erode and Salem and later went to England for higher studies and settled there. His daughter, Penny Riley Smith, visited Salem to recall the contributions of her grandfather Whitney.
Whitney was the manager of London Mission Schools and the British government honoured him with the award ‘Kaiser-I-Hind Bronze medal’ for public service in India in 1946. In 1948, Whitney left for Tuticorin to serve as principal for Theological Seminary.
Ms. Penny Riley Smith visited Mangalam village in Tiruchengode block in Namakkal district where Whitney constructed a small church in 1926.
She visited the London Mission School in Salem city that was located on the present day C.S.I Boys Higher Secondary School premises and the C.S.I. Lechler Church where her grandfather served at Presbyter between 1934 and 1937.
She visited Asambur tribal hamlet in Yercaud hills where the British soldiers imprisoned German soldiers during the First World War.
German soldiers had raised a bell tower in the village that was renovated recently. She also visited the L.M.S. Church in Yercaud.
J. Barnabas, general secretary of Salem Historical Society, who assisted her during the trip, said that foreigners were visiting the city regularly to see the graves of their ancestors and also the monuments.
“Historical places should be restored and protected by the district administration so that more tourists from foreign countries will visit the places,” he added.
