London: a building in London where hundreds’rectangles‘ – Indian women who served as nannies for the British during the British Raj, seeking refuge after being abandoned by the British families who brought them to the UK, are to be commemorated with a blue plaque.
English Heritage has announced that 26 King Edwards Road, the former site of Ayah’s home for stranded South and East Asian nannies in Hackney, will receive a blue plaque this year. Blue plaques are placed on London buildings where there is a link between important figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, hundreds of ayahs and amahs (Chinese nannies) were employed by British administrators and businessmen from across the British Empire on their long sea voyages back to Britain – either seasonally, to care for their children. Trips back to escape the summer – or when they retired.
Upon arrival in Britain, they were often dismissed without pay and no formal contract, leaving without arrangements to go home. Some people ended up in useless housing and were forced to beg to travel home.
The House of Ayah in Hackney, East London, was established during the 19th century by a committee of women who wanted to help stranded Ayahs. It is estimated that 100 to 140 traveling ayahs visited Britain each year. The house helped him move back to India along with other British families.
“Ayah was driven home on a return ticket, given the home by a family that had emigrated from India,” an article on the website ‘Our Migration Story’ by Dr. Florian Stadler And says Dr. Rozina Visram.
“It was then sold to a family who needed Aya’s services to travel to India. The cost of a servant in England is one to eight times as much as in India. As a result, the employees of the East India Company could afford very large teams of domestic workers. Because of their sophistication, the Madras Ayahs, the so-called ‘Madrasi Ayahs’, were the most prized,” the article states.
Historian Andrew Whitehead The current building is visited which is now a private London townhouse. He told TOI: “It is a big four-storey space. I’m glad it’s getting a blue plaque because that building shows a lot of sadness and needs to be remembered.”
“Some were treated well but some were treated badly,” he said. “They were often stranded high and dry in a foreign country and left to their own devices. Many of them thought they were going to Britain for a new life and after many years they were sacked and were not in a strong negotiating position and probably did not speak good English. It is good that the institution, which was run by Christian missionary And ayah, get some public recognition. Some managed to go back to India to be engaged by a family and others were too old and too weak to return,” Whitehead said.
According to the Open University’s ‘Making Britain’ research project, Ayah Home was founded in 1825 by a Mrs. Rogers in Aldgate. “In 1900, supported by Christian missionaries, the London City Mission took over the organization of the house as it moved from its premises in Aldgate to Hackney,” it says. “The house was not merely a hostel, but a place for missionaries to attempt to convert Ayas to Christianity. During the First World War, women were not allowed to travel by sea and so were not allowed to travel by sea in those years. Many more ayahs were trapped during this time.
English Heritage has announced that 26 King Edwards Road, the former site of Ayah’s home for stranded South and East Asian nannies in Hackney, will receive a blue plaque this year. Blue plaques are placed on London buildings where there is a link between important figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, hundreds of ayahs and amahs (Chinese nannies) were employed by British administrators and businessmen from across the British Empire on their long sea voyages back to Britain – either seasonally, to care for their children. Trips back to escape the summer – or when they retired.
Upon arrival in Britain, they were often dismissed without pay and no formal contract, leaving without arrangements to go home. Some people ended up in useless housing and were forced to beg to travel home.
The House of Ayah in Hackney, East London, was established during the 19th century by a committee of women who wanted to help stranded Ayahs. It is estimated that 100 to 140 traveling ayahs visited Britain each year. The house helped him move back to India along with other British families.
“Ayah was driven home on a return ticket, given the home by a family that had emigrated from India,” an article on the website ‘Our Migration Story’ by Dr. Florian Stadler And says Dr. Rozina Visram.
“It was then sold to a family who needed Aya’s services to travel to India. The cost of a servant in England is one to eight times as much as in India. As a result, the employees of the East India Company could afford very large teams of domestic workers. Because of their sophistication, the Madras Ayahs, the so-called ‘Madrasi Ayahs’, were the most prized,” the article states.
Historian Andrew Whitehead The current building is visited which is now a private London townhouse. He told TOI: “It is a big four-storey space. I’m glad it’s getting a blue plaque because that building shows a lot of sadness and needs to be remembered.”
“Some were treated well but some were treated badly,” he said. “They were often stranded high and dry in a foreign country and left to their own devices. Many of them thought they were going to Britain for a new life and after many years they were sacked and were not in a strong negotiating position and probably did not speak good English. It is good that the institution, which was run by Christian missionary And ayah, get some public recognition. Some managed to go back to India to be engaged by a family and others were too old and too weak to return,” Whitehead said.
According to the Open University’s ‘Making Britain’ research project, Ayah Home was founded in 1825 by a Mrs. Rogers in Aldgate. “In 1900, supported by Christian missionaries, the London City Mission took over the organization of the house as it moved from its premises in Aldgate to Hackney,” it says. “The house was not merely a hostel, but a place for missionaries to attempt to convert Ayas to Christianity. During the First World War, women were not allowed to travel by sea and so were not allowed to travel by sea in those years. Many more ayahs were trapped during this time.
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