Manockjee Cursetjee (also Manekji Khurshedji Shroff) (1808–1887) was a

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

businessman and judge from

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, remembered as a reformer and proponent of

female education Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

Life

Cursetjee was the son of Cursetjee Manockjee Shroff, and had an English education, under a Mr. Mackay at Joliffe's school, near St. Thomas's Church. In the 1830s, he knew John Wilson, whom he met socially in 1829.James Douglas, ''Bombay and Western India, a series of stray papers'' vol. 2 (1893) p. 131–2
archive.org.
/ref> He obtained a government post in the Bombay Presidency, and became a member of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society, was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encourag ...

. In 1843 he became a Fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

Cursetjee was a noted

Anglophile An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents. In some cases, Anglophilia refers to an individual's appreciation of English history and traditional English cultural ico ...

, and came into conflict with the local Parsi '' Panchayat''. He began to criticise them, in the ''

Bombay Times ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest selling English-language daily i ...

'', in 1844–5. He visited the United Kingdom three times. On one visit to London, he met

Arthur Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington Lieutenant-General Arthur Richard Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington, (3 February 1807 – 13 August 1884), styled Lord Douro between 1812 and 1814 and Marquess of Douro between 1814 and 1852, was a British soldier and politician. The eldest so ...

, whose father Arthur Wellesley had been entertained by his own father in Bombay at a garden party. In 1859 Cursetjee started the first English school for Indian girls. Initially it was in his house, "Villa Byculla", with an English governess and his daughters as staff. The initiative gained the support of Kharshedji Nasarwanji Cama and

John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune (1801–1851) was an English educator, mathematician and polyglot known for promoting women's education in India. He was the founder of Calcutta Female School (now known as Bethune College) in Calcutta, which is ...

. In 1863, with a land grant and a donation from Cursetjee, the Alexandra Native Girls' English Institution set up in its own premises. Social Science Congress 1865 Maneckji Cursetji

Social Science Congress 1865 Maneckji Cursetji

In 1863, also, Cursetjee joined the Faculty of Law of

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

. In 1866 he addressed the Social Science Congress in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England, on education in India.

Legacy

The school Cursetjee founded, the Alexandra Girls' English Institution named after

Alexandra of Denmark Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, queen-consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 Januar ...

(originally the Alexandra Native Girls' Institution), still exists. Cursetjee set up a public monument, now known as the "Khada Parsi", to commemorate his father. Its location is now between two flyovers in Byculla.

Family

His second son Cursetjee Manockjee studied at Oxford University and

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

. He was the first Indian to be admitted as an Oxford undergraduate in 1864. Another son, Jehangir Manockjee Cursetjee, matriculated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

in 1867.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cursetjee, Manockjee 1808 births 1887 deaths Parsi people from Mumbai Businesspeople from Mumbai 19th-century Indian businesspeople 19th-century Indian judges Indian women's rights activists Indian social reformers Activists from Maharashtra 19th-century Indian educational theorists Founders of Indian schools and colleges