We must not act alone. The time has come to recognize each other, and to stand—calmly, clearly, and firmly—for a world where dignity, not power, defines what is right.

Dr. Mohammad Mataro Hingorjo | Ireland

In the city of Limerick, Ireland, during regular protests in support of the people of Palestine for past 2 years, I and my Father Prof Muhammad Hingorjo, who is a Sindhi writer, poet and social activist, quietly attend the protests organized by Ireland – Palestinian Solidarity Network. We wear the traditional Sindhi ajrak and the Palestinian keffiyeh, and carry the flags of Ireland and Palestine. We do this not to be noticed, but to send a silent message: that Sindh, too, stands with Palestine, and that oppressed people across the world share a common struggle.

We are not part of any group, nor do we represent any organization. Our participation is personal. As Sindhis, we carry our history and our pain with us, even in silence. The ajrak on our shoulders represents Sindh, a land often forgotten in international conversations. By placing it next to the keffiyeh, we are reminding the world that the story of Sindh is not so different from the story of Palestine. We, too, know what it means to be denied our rights, our water, our language, our land.

The Palestinian keffiyeh is no longer just a piece of cloth. It has become a global symbol of resistance. It stands for the bravery of Palestinians resisting occupation, but it also speaks for other people around the world who face injustice—First Nations in the Americas and Australia, the Kurds, Kashmiris, Sindhis, Baloch, Saraikis, Pashtuns, and so many others. These are people who live without freedom, whose histories are being erased, and whose futures are under threat.

The keffiyeh also speaks for those who live in the middle of war zones—Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Ukraine, and Lebanon—where global powers, whether from the West, East, or their own regions, continue to treat human lives as tools for control and profit. These wars may seem separate, but they are connected. They are all part of a larger system that thrives on division, silence, and violence.

This is why we believe the ajrak also belongs among the symbols of resistance. Like the keffiyeh, it carries deep cultural meaning. But today, it can also stand for dignity, identity, and defiance. The ajrak is not just a fabric—it is a voice, and that voice must be heard.

We carry the Irish flag in these protests as well, because Ireland’s role is unique. Irish people, more than most, understand the pain of occupation and the value of solidarity. While powerful countries speak of human rights but continue to support wars and oppression, Ireland has often stood on the side of justice—speaking clearly for Palestine, and refusing to follow the crowd when it comes to conflicts like Ukraine. In this way, Ireland has shown that you do not need to be powerful to stand for what is right. You just need to act with courage and conscience. You just need to be Irish at heart.

Sindh, like Palestine, continues to suffer. Our water is being stolen, our land taken under projects like the Green Pakistan Initiative, and our people pushed to the edge. These are not just environmental issues—they are political, and they are serious. For us, wearing the ajrak and keffiyeh together, standing under the flags of Ireland and Palestine, is a way to say: we see the truth, we stand with others who suffer, and we believe that justice is not limited by geography.

All oppressed people are equal. Their pain is equal. Their voices matter equally. Now is the time to stand together—across religions, races, and languages—and face the systems that divide and exploit us. If we do not support one another, we risk being silenced one by one.

From the quiet streets of Limerick to the loud cries of Gaza, from Sindh’s dry riverbeds to the bombed buildings of Rafah, we are not alone. And we must not act alone. The time has come to recognize each other, and to stand—calmly, clearly, and firmly—for a world where dignity, not power, defines what is right.

Read – Opinion: A Call for Justice

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Dr. Muhammad Mataro Hingorjo is a Family Physician originally from village Dhandhi Hingorja, Tharpakar, Sindh, currently residing in Limerick Ireland.

The post Heritage in Fabric: Symbols of Unity first appeared on Sindh Courier.

By Nazarul Islam

What is the future of our so-called traditional marriages in contemporary society? A battle seems to be raging on between old and the New Ireland, the Ireland of the Catholic Church, and the secular. Ireland of the 21st Century is the best example— a country which embraced the strictest anti-abortion legislation and enshrined it in its 1937 Constitution versus the Ireland that abolished the Eighth Amendment in 2018.

Will marriages in Ireland continue to feature prominently a sacramental ritual, what has been known as the seventh sacrament of matrimony?

Or will secular unions, including not only a man and a woman, but also same-sex partners, transgendered partners, or others become the norm?

And, will the same fate await all other countries, in the near future?

The question is urgent and relevant throughout the West. But it is perhaps especially notable in the Ireland of 2021 because of the dramatic and sudden changes that have occurred in Irish society within the past two decades, arguably a greater transformation of social values than anywhere else in Europe or throughout the West.

Consider the Irish weddings: Do the math!

This is revealed in the recent statistics that cover church weddings versus secular marriages in 2021.

For the first time in Irish history, secular (or civil) marriages have outnumbered the Church weddings. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in Dublin, religious ceremonies accounted for just half of last year’s marriages, and year-over-year they have been in decline.

The number of marriages celebrated in 2020 was less than half of 2019’s figure, with 9,523 marriages taking place last year.  Some 9,209 of these were opposite-sex marriages, while 170 male same-sex couples and 144 female same-sex couples also wed. The overall number is a reduction of 53.1% when compared with 2019, when 20,313 marriages took place.

The CSO said this reflected the impact of Covid-19 restrictions on wedding plans.

The figures also show that Catholic marriages were less popular than civil marriages for the first time last year. Some 42.1% of marriages were in civil ceremonies in 2020, compared to 34.6% in Catholic services.  In 2019, 43.6% of marriages were Catholic, in 2018 47.6%, and in 2017 50.9%. In 1980, 95.4% of all marriages were Catholic.  Almost half of couples last year (49.8%) opted for a non-religious marriage — be it civil or humanist in nature.

In 1980, just 1.53% of couples opted for a non-religious marriage ceremony, according to CSO data from the time.  The majority of gay couples chose a civil marriage ceremony, which accounted for 228 marriages.

Education Equality, a campaign advocating for equal provision of education for children regardless of their religion, said the figures indicated a growing need for changes in school patronage.  Referring to the dominant role that the Catholic Church has particularly at primary level, the group’s communications officer David Graham said: “Religious practice is a choice, not an obligation. Our taxpayer-funded school system is forcing religion on young families against their will, in breach of their human rights.”

Atheist Ireland has echoed this sentiment, saying the CSO figures “show yet again that Ireland is no longer a Catholic country.”

Both groups also derided the significant ongoing role that the Irish Church plays in Irish public school education. Sex as a “gift from God,” that belongs in committed relationships and marriage as a sacrament of commitment are two of the themes included in new sex education resources for Catholic primary schools, published by the Irish bishops.

They also say that while children should not be made to feel ostracized, the Catholic Church’s teaching in relation to “marriage between a man and a woman cannot be omitted” from the school curriculum. These statements are included in “Flourish,’” the Relationship and Sexual Education (RSE) program for all Catholic primary schools on the island of Ireland, developed by the Irish Bishops Conference.

The standoff: The President vs. the Pope

As an indication of where the most respected public voices stand on these matters, it is notable that the former President Mary McAleese issued a scathing criticism of Pope Francis after the Pope approved a Vatican document that ruled that the Catholic Church doesn’t have the power to bless same-sex marriages.

Pope Francis approved a Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) judgment that stated “the Church does not have, and cannot have, the power to bless unions of persons of the same sex,” drawing criticism from McAleese, who declared that Pope Francis’ “chummy words to the press often quite reasonably raise hopes of church reform which are subsequently almost invariably dashed by firm restatement of unchanged church teaching.”

Instead, she said, Pope Francis revealed himself to be “the pope who toes the old hardline.”  She said the recently approved CDF document features “unbearably vicious language which can only have brought more heartache to our gay children and to us, their families.” She said that the Catholic Church had fired a “missile” of heartache and hurt.

Matrimony and the family policy

So what does all this mean?  It represents further testimony to the declining influence of the Irish Catholic Church, whose credibility and force in Irish society have irreparably and irreversibly been weakened by the waves of priest scandals involving pedophilia and other illicit or illegal sexual transgressions with youth and female parishioners.

As dark as the prospects seem for the long-lasting prominent influence of the Irish Catholic Church on Irish public life, some voices insist that the Irish Church in general, and the sacramental practices governing matrimony in particular, can adapt to changing 21st-century norms and values.

They point out that it is important to see that marriage has undergone much evolution in the history of Catholicism. In that light, matrimony may well be able to adapt and accommodate new forms of marriage, and yet still present itself as authentic Christian marriage, not just state-sanctioned marriage.

As a student of social life, I am keenly interested in these possibilities. And so it may be worthwhile to outline the enormous changes that have occurred in Christian marriages over the centuries.  As it turns out, what we consider today, traditional marriage is very different from what Christian marriage had been in earlier times.

Matrimony’s brief history

What is “traditional marriage?”  And what does it mean to “defend” it? These questions are casually voiced as if Christian marriage has always been a standard ceremony since antiquity with no cultural or historical variations.

Even within the long tradition of the Catholicism, as the liturgical scholar Lawrence E. Mick has noted, this is not at all the case. For instance, throughout the entire first millennium of the Church’s existence, “sacramental matrimony” did not even exist—i.e., marriage was not a sacrament.

Not until protracted and heated debates among theologians and bishops of the 11th and 12th centuries did “matrimony” became the seventh and last sacrament of the Church.

Essentially, the history of Christian marriage, and specifically Catholic marriage, have gone through four distinct historical phases, making clear that the “tradition” is an evolving one and has witnessed sea changes in the Church’s conception of marriage.

During the first four centuries of Christianity, the bishops continued the Old Testament tradition of seeing marriage as reflecting the love of God for Israel. Marriage was also meant to link the love of Christ for the Church as part of the great mystery of human and divine love.  St. Augustine was quite influential in the development of a theology of marriage, speaking of it as both a sacred sign and as an unbreakable bond.

As Christ was always faithful, wrote Augustine, so too Christian marriage was meant to be an unbreakable commitment, like the commitment of Christ to his “bride,” the church.

Nonetheless, marriage ceremonies were not in any sense codified. Rather, they varied from place to place in the ancient church, seldom taking place in a church and instead handled by the parents of the bride and the groom. Only during late antiquity did weddings begin to occur in the context of the Eucharist.

A second stage of Christian marriage emerged in the 9th century, when legal control of marriage started to pass from the state to the church.  Marriage began to be celebrated in the context of a church liturgy. During this period, culminating in the 11th and 12th centuries as I indicated earlier, theologians discussed the suitability of “matrimony” as a sacrament in the context of their efforts to develop a comprehensive theology of sacraments.

Yet not until the late Middle-Ages did marriage attain full sacramental status.  The delay owed to two reasons.  First, medieval theologians had difficulty seeing marriage as a source of grace. This was partly because of a negative view of sexuality — which also now specified celibacy as a condition for priesthood.  (Until this time, the majority of priests were family men.)

Secondly, the practice or institution of marriage — both In Jewish life and in pagan or state-administered contexts preceded the coming of Christ, whereas all the other sacraments were viewed as having emerged from Christ’s coming.  It was also during this period that the possibility of remarriage and divorce became possible; throughout the first millennium, the prevailing view was that marriage was indissoluble because the bond between Christ and the Church was unbreakable and eternal.

However, once the consummation of marriage sexually became understood as part of the “consent” of the parties to marry, unconsummated marriages became possible to dissolve or “annul” — whereby remarriage could then occur.

A third historical phase of Christian marriage may be dated to the Council of Trent in the 16th century.

The Council was the watershed event at which “matrimony” was enshrined officially as a sacrament.  In an attempt to prevent secret marriages, the Council also required Catholics to be married before a priest and two witnesses.

The 20th century witnessed a fourth historical stage in which the sacramental development of matrimony further evolved into the rite that most Catholics recognize today.  In the course of a half-century, the Church’s conception of matrimony passed from a chiefly legal matter to a sacred bond between husband and wife, that is, from a contract to a covenant.

Whereas the Code of Canon Law in 1917 conceived marriage primarily in terms of a contract between two parties, the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) emphasized marriage as a covenant between the spouses modeled on the covenant between the Creator and His creatures. A Trinitarian theology of love emerged, with the Father as both the Passionate “Lover” of the “Beloved,” His son Jesus, and the sacred love felt between them transmitted in the form of the Holy Spirit.

While the status of marriage as a contract or legal entity with certain rights and responsibilities was not invalidated, it was now transformed, enriched and transcended.  Theologians stressed that matrimonial grace — the power of the sacrament itself — forged an intensely personal bond of love between husband and wife.  Marriage was far more than a list of rights and responsibilities; its essence involved a personal commitment to the welfare of the other.

Whereas the earlier tradition of contractual marriage viewed marriage as chiefly existing for the procreation of children, “covenant” marriage portrayed the sacred relationship between the spouses as the “core” of marriage, with the marital act and procreation as the fullest expression of sanctified love.  Marriage is a religious vocation and a divine gift: one is “called” to it as a way to holiness and as a means of obtaining grace.

Towards a Conclusion

In the analysis, so-called traditional marriage has involved revising, expanding, and even rejecting much of previous tradition. Nonetheless, Christian marriage has continued and prevailed as a distinct form of same-sex permanent union. Those two features of marriage are already changing in light of the decline in church weddings and the rise of secular unions.

Where all this is headed in the Roman Catholic Church is uncertain, but what does seem likely is that Ireland is going to be near the forefront of altering developments as the 21st century unfolds.

Contemporary social analysts in America and Europe would do well to keep their eye on the trends that occur in Ireland, because just as it once reflected the firmest orthodoxies of the Roman Catholic Church, so too does it seem primed now to point toward the most extreme or innovative developments in global secular life and family affairs in the foreseeable future.

Nazarul Islam

The Bengal-born writer Nazarul Islam is a senior educationist based in USA. He writes for Sindh Courier and the newspapers of Bangladesh, India and America. He is author of a recently published book ‘Chasing Hope’ – a compilation of his 119 articles.

The post Bye, Bye traditional weddings! first appeared on Sindh Courier.

By Stanley Hogan

Hi, my name is Stanley Garrett Hogan. This is the start of my story, and narrative of my Hogan family ancestors, and their lives in India, and more importantly their lives in the Punjab. I have also shared some Hogan family Memorabilia dating back to 1898. Their life in the Punjab of course goes back much earlier. This memorabilia comes from the extremely successful Pharmacy and Tonga businesses that they established and run. The copies of pictures are not that clear as I had to take photographs of the records.

Ancestors

I will try as best I can, to start the Hogan family history, back at its beginning in Ireland. And explain as best I can with what little information, I have been able to find and uncover from various sources.

It starts in Ireland in the very late 1700’s; it is claimed that Garrett Hogan, our first forbear to live in India, was born and bred in County Wicklow, in May 1799 or there about. It’s claimed Garrett Hogan was born on the 4th, 9th or 31st of May 1799 – his place of birth or where he and his family lived in Ireland has never been able to be confirmed or fully established or substantiated. The story goes – as a very young man Garrett Hogan went to the local markets one day, to sell some pigs; he had sold his pigs and was returning home when he was “press-ganged”, “kidnapped”, caught hold of, grabbed by a gang of men and put on a ship, and somehow finished up in India, and then, the East India Company Army.

This is where the story becomes even sketchier. He rose through the ranks in the Army and at some time married the widow of the Sargent Major from his regiment. Her married surname was Filby. We are not sure how many children she had, from her previous relationship/marriage with the Sargent Major Filby (we think 2 children – a boy and a girl, and we think this girl went on to marry a chap by the name of Brown). Elizabeth Hogan (nee Filby) went on to have 8 children with my Great-Great Grandfather Garrett Hogan – 4 boys, and 4 girls. The 4 boys, one of which was my Great grandfather, all went on to become Pharmacists and also Doctors. My great grandfather Dr. James Alexander Hogan was the youngest of these 8 children.

There is little knowledge of Garrett Hogan’s rank and/or his actual time and life in the Army. They claim his Regiment was the 1st Company, 1st Battalion of the East India Company. There is also some confusion regarding the date of his marriage, around 1825 or 1826. It is claimed he married Mrs. Filby not long after the death of her husband, Sergeant Major Filby – this could be checked and confirmed through some of the old Army records, one would presume. It is further claimed that Garrett Hogan retired from the Army in 1840 and was given some sort of appointment as a high-ranking officer in the Punjab somewhere near Gujrater Surbaee, if there is such a place? It is stated that Garrett Hogan received some private information of some Army advance, and he informed Lord Gough, who it appears, was the Commander-in-chief of the British Army. The British Army was resting after a long march and they were not ready for action. But Garrett Hogan rode the leading horse in the gun team, and brought three guns into action one after the other and supposedly saved the British Army. (None of this has been confirmed or substantiated – it could well be, just “hear say” and/or fabricated family legend – it seems he did this, dressed in civilian clothing). The story continues and it is further claimed that Garrett Hogan’s son, James’s Hogan was born during this battle and was delivered by the Doctor of the regiment who was also attending to the wounded and the dead, and that the dead officers were laid out on Garrett Hogan’s dining room table; it was said they were from an infantry regiment.

Garrett Hogan returned to Calcutta and died of Cholera in Fort William 1841. He was very high in the Free Masons movement and his body was carried by the Free Masons with full Masonic Honors to the Dum Dum cemetery where he was buried on 15th September 1841. The other oral family information, which we have been given concerning Garrett Hogan and his family, is that his father’s name in Ireland was Michael Hogan; this has never been able to be confirmed or substantiated – Sadly most of the early Irish Birth, Death, and Marriage records were destroyed by the British, during their occupation of Ireland.

It is further claimed that Garrett’s father had thought Garrett Hogan had run away from home and had gone to Australia in 1818-1819.  Why would anyone want to go to Australia at that time – it was basically an English Penal Colony at that time, full of convicts – perhaps there were some members of his family or his extended family who had been deported to Australia as convicts?

Business Empire Built and Lost

My father and his family came from around the North West Frontier of India – the Punjab. He and his siblings were all born in and around Peshawar, Murree, Rawalpindi, which is now part of Pakistan. Their father William Alexander Hogan was an Apothecary, a Pharmacist/Chemist, the same profession as his father Dr. James. A. Hogan. James. A. Hogan was also a Doctor as were his 3 brothers. William. A Hogan (my Grandfather) married Nora Muriel O’Brien (the family originally from County Clare in Ireland) and they had 5 boys, William A Hogan (the same name as his father), Hubert. S. Hogan (my father), Melville Hogan, Cecil Hogan, and Norman St James Hogan (Norman never reached adulthood). Their father, my Grandfather inherited a very prosperous Manufacturing Pharmacy Business, which included a number of Shop-front outlets, and a Transport Business (A “Tonga business” I think is the Indian expression used to describe this Transport Business). This was all inherited from his father Dr. James Alexander Hogan, who was also an Apothecary. They had Pharmacy shops and outlets in Rawalpindi, Murree, and Peshawar. It was a Manufacturing Pharmacy, a Retail Pharmacy, and a Distributing Pharmacy (See some of the pictures and label details from some of their products, etc.) A number of different relatives relayed and confirmed many interesting stories, concerning the Hogan family and their lives in India/Pakistan – the Punjab. Some of these stories include some of the sad family history and also some of their extravagant lives and lifestyles in India/Pakistan. Some of these stories regarding the Hogan family history in India, relates tales of a number of sad and even tragic events and occurrences; it also shows that they built up and established extremely prosperous family business and a significant amount of wealth, and how it was somehow lost and/or squandered. There are many stories of money being delivered to the family home in carriages, and of it being transferred into the family home, by the bucket loads, and of a new car being left beside the road with a flat tyre, to be stripped bare, because they had broken down and/or they could not be bothered having it fixed or repaired. There was one classic well-known story, of my Grandfather and his sons attending a wedding, and the new car they were driving got a flat tyre along the way. They proceeded to the wedding with the flat tyre, and after the wedding, they found other means of transport home, they just left their new car at the side of the road, never to be seen again – to rot and to be stripped and vandalized. They could not be bothered organizing for the puncture to be repaired, or for the tyre to be changed. Needless to say at this rate the family fortune and wealth did not last long. My Grandfather became sick not long after his wife died and passed on the running and control of the Business Empire to a long-serving, trusted employee. This employee cooked the books, built up huge debts and gambled all the money and assets away – he found he had some sort of terminal illness, and finished his days enjoying the good life at the expense of the Hogan family’s fortune.

Moving to Calcutta

So once the Pharmacy and Tonga Businesses were lost the family, picked up what few belongings they had left, and left the Punjab, and moved to Calcutta – the father(my Grandfather) and the four boys (one of these boys was my Dad). Their mother had previously died, and the boys had all finally reached the point in their lives where they all had to find some form of work and/or find some kind of full-time employment? My Grandfather by this time was semi-retired, but carried on with some form of part-time work, working from home manufacturing a number of his Pharmacy products, but on a very much smaller subsistence scale. All the boys found some sort of full-time employment. I have a copy of a letter, which was written not that long after the whole Business collapsed. This letter is about 100 years old (it, unfortunately, has a few pages missing) but it was written to my Grandfather by one of his brothers, who were living in Calcutta at the time. He admonishes my Grandfather and all the other family members, for their carefree existence and their extravagant lifestyles etc. He goes on to explain how he was the only family member who was strong or brave enough to move away from the family fortune and business, and make something of himself and his life, purely by his own means and on his own merits, and not of the shirttails or free handouts from inherited family business and wealth etc., – like the rest of the family members. The business by now was just about all lost and gone – and what now of the “Hogan family, their name and their reputations in the Punjab” etc.? It seems after the family business failed and the money dried up, there was some decent and disagreement amongst some of the family members (the brothers), regarding the ownership of some of the shops and some of the shelf stock left in the Pharmacies and the warehouses etc. – this seemed to include all the stock items in the shops and more importantly the secret recipes and formula’s etc., for all the, medications, concoctions, tonics and remedies etc. all of which still had very good names, and still had a large following and substantial sales potential and markets in the length and breadth of India/Pakistan. There was talk in the letter of being careful, and of protecting these “secret recipes and formulas etc.” for all these medical concoctions and treatments, and not to dispose of these if possible, and if they had to be sold, do not to sell them “too cheaply”, as they would be worth a lot of money in the right hands. This particular Uncle was also trying to negotiate the sale of one or more of these formulas/recipes for himself – of course at the right price. I got the impression from the tone of this letter, it was in answer to a very sad and despondent earlier letter from my Grandfather complaining about, the loss of the business, and what was the whole family was going through and what were they going to do now. This uncle more or less said that they had all brought it upon themselves, through their excesses and their extravagant, carefree lifestyles. He only seemed to be concerned and/or worried about one of the brothers, Wedgebury Earnest Hogan – which makes me think he may have been sick, or he may have had some sort of serious medical problem, illness and/or physical or mental impairment.

My birth

I was born in Calcutta, India in 1946. I was the third child born to my mother and father. The eldest child a girl, Gloria died in early infancy at the tender age of 6 months, in an air raid shelter during the bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese during the 2nd World War. Then there was my older brother Geoffrey James Hogan who was born in Calcutta, in 1945. We were the fourth generation of Hogan’s to be born in India/Pakistan. I had a third brother Kenneth William Hogan, who was born in Australia. My father was Hubert “Sinclair” Hogan (it should have been “St Clare” but the priest got it wrong on his Baptismal Certificate). Anyway he married my mother Margaret Helen (Mary) Mott. “Mary” was her selected Baptismal name, my mother adopted it and then used it as her middle name, when she converted to Catholicism and married my father – they were married in Calcutta in 1938. My father was one of five boys. However, only 4 went on to reach adulthood. My father was a Marine Engineer who worked for the Port Commissioners, in the Port of Calcutta. We lived in rented accommodation in a flat, 1/6 Remount Road. Alipore, Calcutta. Dad’s youngest brother Cecil Hogan joined the department of Customs and went on to become the Chief Inspector of Customs for the Port of Calcutta and retained this position right up to the time he retired. He never married; he stayed on and died on the 25th August 1974, and was buried in St John’s Cemetery, Sealdah Calcutta, India.

More about Hogan family  

Dr. Garrett Hogan made his home in Allahabad. He was well known, and well-respected business identity in Allahabad as well as being a Dr. He was a Director of the Allahabad Bank and also a Director of the “Railway Store” (not sure what this enterprise is or was?)

Anyway finally getting to my point and my question, I don’t believe there would be documents around to verify any of these claims – I would be interested if there are? But my main interest is where Dr. Garrett Hogan lived. It is claimed that his address at the time he lived in Allahabad with his family, was 19 Cawnpore Rd, Allahabad. Is there anyone out there who knows whether this address existed and/or if the house still exists today? When he passed away he left this house and a large amount of money to one of his married sisters. His eldest brother Dr. John Hogan had by this moved to Simla and was a bit down on his luck and was annoyed at his brother and his sister for not helping some of the other family members, who were not that well off financially – it seems like he had a lot of money. He refused to leave any of his wealth and/or his money to his children, as he was of the opinion that they were all well off financially. Is there anyone out there that has any knowledge of 19 Cawnpore Road, Allahabad?

There is no word or evidence that I can find regarding the Birth and/or Baptism of Dr. James Alexander Hogan. But I have discovered information about “Garrett Hogan’s” 3 other sons. There is however documented evidence of James Hogan’s service record, of him becoming an apprentice Apothecary and his progress up through the ranks to a full-fledge Grade 1 Apothecary, he and his 3 brothers all then went on to study and become Doctors.

James Alexander Hogan my grandfather married Charlotte Maria Jacobi at Fort William on 13th July 1863. Charlotte was said to have been born in Jhansi on the 19th of February 1846. She was the daughter of Fredrick Ernest Jacobi and Sophia Matilda Jacobi. Fredrick was a Coach Builder and had a Coach Building Business and was one of the well-known and respected Merchant of Cawnpore. He had a Brother Henry Jacobi who was a Watch Maker and Jeweler, also a respected Merchant of Cawnpore. James Hogan’s wife Charlotte Maria Jacobi was an orphan, she lost her entire family when she was about 11 or 12 years old, her mother and father, her brothers, and sisters, and all her relatives in Cawnpore, died in the Cawnpore uprising and massacre of 1857. All her immediate family and all her relatives living there perished. They all died and/or were murdered, during this uprising, a number were savagely knifed, butchered, and murdered, and then thrown down a well. These innocent people were not soldiers; these were just town folk, civilian, merchants, innocent men, women, and defenseless children. They were murdered because of nothing else, but the color of their skin – and from all reports, it might not have necessarily been entirely “that white”?

There is well-documented evidence and narrative in Andrew Ward’s book – “Our Bones Are Scattered”, on the Cawnpore Massacre and Indian Mutiny of 1857. This book vividly depicts how each one of Charlotte’s parents and siblings died and also how her Uncle, Aunty, and cousins all died, many were shot others were hacked and butchered to death during this Massacre and Mutiny. The book also has a photograph of my great-grandmother Charlotte Hogan (nee Charlotte Jacobi) as a young girl – about 11 or 12 years old. Her life was spared as she had been sent to Calcutta, Fort William, with her Ayer for medical treatment, as she was very sick. There is some family talk that Charlotte was then brought up by the Wesley family in India, who were related to the Duke of Wellington. Another source suggests it was the famous Wedgwood or Wedgebury family, the pottery family- none of this information regarding and concerning Charlotte’s life growing up as an orphan has been able to be substantiated and/or confirmed.

Last Post

This is my 7th and last post on my family and their lives in India and Pakistan – 4 Generation. I hope I have not bored too many readers regarding our family’s lives in the Punjab and subsequently in India. But we inherited a rich culture and an ongoing interest in India and Pakistan and as I have stated before, my Ethnic Origin according to my DNA test results, indicates that I’m 30% Indian and about 55% Irish, and a low % of English and other Ethnicities. I hope I have not hurt anyone’s thoughts or feelings. I clearly understand the fact we were colonial interlopers. But I feel many of our family members gave back to the communities that they lived in and/or practiced in as Doctors and Pharmacists.

Charlotte and Dr. James A Hogan went on and produced a large family some 13 children in all – I think 10 survived to adulthood. They also established an extremely successful Pharmacy and Transport Business, which was then left and taken over by their children, which would have specifically included my Grandfather William Alexander Hogan, who like his father Dr. James Hogan was also an Apothecary i.e. A Chemist, a Pharmacist, he was also the eldest son.

The following tries to cover the children of James and Charlotte Hogan. This is a difficult task as families move away from each other, plus the girls marry and then change their names. But I have tried my best to be, as comprehensive as possible with what sources and details I have been able to gain from different family members to date. But I would love to hear from others if there are things that are wrong and things they can add to. This is hopefully a work in progress, an ongoing story, and a family narrative.

This is a list of what is thought to have been the names of the children of James A Hogan and Charlotte Maria Hogan (nee Jacobi), following their marriage on the 13th July 1863. This list has been compiled by word of mouth from the relatives of different families who were descendants of some of these children listed below. There is no known order to their births, or that this list of names is completely true or accurate.

I hope all this makes sense. I hope this story and narrative does not upset and/or offend any of those people out there. It is only a family story as I know it, from family documents, family memorabilia, and family members.

Now for the record, I had a very isolated, difficult and unhappy family life as a child growing up here in Australia. Our father became terminally ill, then died, leaving my mother to bring up her 3 young sons solely on her own. We had no help or family support. All our family and extended family members and relatives at the time lived overseas. We were left poor and destitute, we grew up with no grandparents, uncles, aunts, or cousins, our lives were tough and difficult. But we survived and despite the poverty and hardships, we experienced as children growing up, we 3 brothers all went on to have very successful lives and careers. So, I am not complaining, just stating the facts. I will be 75 in June; I’m retired, happily married with a wife and 4 grown-up children, and 7 grandchildren. I have had a wonderful life and have been fortunate enough to have traveled and toured the world. I consider myself a very lucky man. But I strongly believe, “the harder you work the luckier you get”.

I will attach two photos to this posting- the first is a picture is my Grandfather William A Hogan, and my Grandmother Norah Muriel Hogan (nee O’Brien). The next picture is of my wife and me – we managed to get ourselves on the front page of one of the daily newspapers in India, on one of our many visits. We got caught up in a public demonstration. (You can only see the backs of our heads)

The names of the children of Dr. James A Hogan – Charlotte Maria Hogan (nee Jacobi)

(1) Mary Hogan

(2) Alexandria Hogan (possibly the eldest child)

(3) William A. Hogan (possibly second eldest child) and my Grandfather

(4) Charles Hogan

(5) James (Barney) Hogan (the family historian)

(6) Michael Hogan

(7) Ida Hogan

(8) Aileen Hogan

(9) Wedgebury Hogan

(10) Helen, Nelly Hogan (possibly the youngest)

(11) & (12) two children died as infants?

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Stanley Hogan is based in Australia. He shared his memories through some Facebook posts a few months back. Sindh Courier had contacted Mr. Hogan and acquired rights to publish his memories.   

The post Story of an Irish family who lived and thrived in Punjab first appeared on Sindh Courier.