Writers Building, Howrah
About Writers Building
History
Timeline
1776: The site of the demolished St Anne's church and the adjoining plot were granted to Thomas Lyon, after whom Lyons Range is named, to construct buildings to accommodate the junior servants of the East India Company called "writers". Lyon was acting on behalf of Richard Barwell, member of the council, when Warren Hastings was governor. Writers' Building was the first three-storey building in Calcutta. 1800: Fort William College, opened to train writers in Oriental languages, later moved to this building. Over the next 20 years, structural changes were made: a hostel for 32 students and an exam hall, which still exist, a lecture hall, four libraries and rooms to teach Hindi and Persian. 1821: A 128 ft-long verandah with Ionic columns, each 32 ft high, were added on the first and second floors. 1830: The college moved out of Writers' and the building fell into the hands of private individuals who turned it into living quarters, shops and godowns. The Government College of Engineering functioned from here for some time. 1871–74: George Campbell, lieutenant governor-general, felt the need for a secretariat for "quick disposal of work". But the East Indian Railway Company occupied a large space at Writers' and was unable to find alternative accommodation. 1877–82: Ashley Eden, lieutenant-governor of Bengal, was told to relocate the principal offices, housed on Sudder Street and Chowringhee, to Writers'. Because of the space crunch, initially three blocks were constructed. 1879–1906: Two new blocks were added, approached by iron staircases that are still in use. Writers' acquired its Greco-Roman look, complete with the portico in the central bay and the red surface of exposed brick. The parapet was put in place and statues sculpted by William Fredric Woodington in 1883 were installed lining the terrace. The statue of Minerva stands above the central portico. Since 1947: At the time of independence in 1947, Writers' had a large courtyard with seven blocks. By 1970, all 13 blocks were constructed. But only the main block, including the rotunda and five main blocks, are heritage structures.
Assassination of Colonel N.S. Simpson
On 8 December 1930 Benoy Basu, Badal Gupta and Dinesh Gupta, members of the underground revolutionary group Bengal Volunteers, headed for the Writers' Building. Dressed in European attire, they carried loaded revolvers. Upon entering the building, they shot dead the notorious Inspector General of Police, Colonel N.S. Simpson, infamous for his brutal oppression of political prisoners, most of whom were Indian freedom fighters.After killing him, they occupied the building, and soon a gun battle followed in the corridors. Unable to stand up to the numerous forces of the Calcutta police, the trio soon found themselves overpowered and cornered. Unwilling to give themselves up, Badal took potassium cyanide and died instantly, while his comrades shot themselves. Benoy died five days later in hospital but Dinesh survived only to be hanged on 7 July 1931. Today Dalhousie Square is named after the trio and is called B.B.D. Bagh. A statue of Benoy, Badal and Dinesh stands in front of the Writers' Building, showing Benoy, the group leader, leading his comrades in their final battle.
Architecture
The giant pediment at the centre is crowned with the statue of Minerva. The terrace also contains several other statues and notable among them are four clusters of statues, christened 'Justice', 'Commerce', 'Science' and 'Agriculture', with the respective Greek gods and goddesses of these four disciplines (Zeus, Hermes, Athena and Demeter respectively) flanked by a European and an Indian practitioner of these vocations.