T. Namberumal Chetty

Victoria Public Hall is among the Chennai buildings that Chetty erected.^[1]

Diwan Bahadur Thaticonda Namberumal Chetty (c. 1856 – d. 3 December 1925) was an Indian contractor, engineer, builder and businessman who constructed a number of public buildings in the city of Madras in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Career

Namberumal Chetty was born in Madras (now Chennai) in 1856.^[2]He belonged to a Komati Chetty family.^[2] Namberumal Chetty started his business as a builder in 1880.^[3] During his career, Chetty constructed the buildings of the Government Museum, Chennai,^[2] Victoria Technical Institute, Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), Madras Law College, Connemara Library, Bank of Madras and the Victoria Memorial Hall.^[3] The National Bank of India building that he constructed in 1914 was demolished in the late 20th century.^[4] Many of the buildings constructed by Chetty use red brick manufactured in kilns that Chetty owned.^[2]

Apart from building activities, Chetty was also a popular merchant and imported timber from Rangoon and Moulmein.^[3]He served as the Managing Director of the Trichur Timber and Saw Mills Ltd. which exported timber to Bombay, Calcutta, Colombo, London, Liverpool, Germany, New York and South Africa.^[3] He also owned a small tramway line which functioned as a feeder to the Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway.^[3]

Legacy and honours

In November 1901, Namberumal Chetty was awarded the title of "Rao Sahib".^[3] Later he was awarded a "Rao Bahadur" title and in 1923, a "Diwan Bahadur" title was bestowed upon him.^[2] At the opening of the Victoria Students Hostel on 29 January 1900, Sir Arthur Havelock, Governor of Madras said:

Mr. Namberumal Chetty will have his name recorded in Madras with many large and beautiful buildings in stone, brick and mortar. It should be a proud remembrance for him and his descendants that he has so much to do with the beautifying of the city^[3]

Namberumal Chetty is said to have owned 99 private residences in the Chennai city neighbourhood now known as Chetpet. This earned the neighbourhood the sobriquet "Chetty Pettai" (Chetty’s place), which got corrupted into "Chetpet". He was unwilling to purchase a 100th house because of astrological reasons.^[2][5] The Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, whom Chetty regarded as if "his own son", spent the last days of his life in two of Chetty's residences, the Crynant and Gometra.^[5]

Namberumal Chetty was also the first native Indian in Madras city to own an automobile.^[2][5]

Notes

1. ^ Victoria Public Hall restoration to be completed by June, The Hindu, 3 May 2011
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} de Neve, Geert; Donner, Henrike (2006). The meaning of the local: politics of place in urban India. Routledge. pp. 105–106. ISBN 1844721140, ISBN 9781844721146. http://books.google.com/books?id=N4BW5e8reosC&pg=PA105. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Playne, Somerset; J. W. Bond, Arnold Wright (1914). Southern India: Its History, People, Commerce, and Industrial Resources. p. 650. http://books.google.com/books?id=8WNEcgMr11kC&pg=PA650. 
4. ^ S. Muthiah, The splendour of banker's row, The Hindu (Metro Plus Chennai), 18 December 2002
5. ^ ^{a b c} Sriram, V. (16–31 January 2009). "Historic Residences in Chennai-10". Madras Musings 18 (19). http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2018%20No%2019/historic_residences_of_chennai_10.html.