Valuables missing from chest at La Martiniere College; probe on

LUCKNOW Valuables, said to be over180 years old, which were transferred from principals to their successors over the years at La Martiniere College have reportedly gone missing from the wooden chest at the principal’s residence. This matter was reported by current principal, Gary Dominic Everett, to the trustees of Lucknow Martin Charities – UP chief secretary and principal secretary (judicial), soon after he assumed office in March 2024.

“When I assumed the office, I did not receive the treasure listed as part of the Estate category. I had informed the trustees about the missing treasure,” said Everett.

College authorities, however, did not reveal details of the valuables.

One of the college trustees, Vinod Singh Rawat, principal secretary (judicial), legal remembrancer to government of UP, wrote to Everett on December 17, 2024, to get the matter probed by constituting a committee of five senior teachers of the college. The committee comprised Vinay Mishra, Desh Bandhu Tripathi, Mohammad Aslam, Neeraj Srivastava and Jatin Kapoor. They were selected by the principal on the basis of their seniority and asked to investigate the matter and submit a report by February 17.

As per the documents available with the college, the valuables were transferred from Desmond EW Shaw to Terrence W Phillips in August-September 1986. Phillips transferred them to Elton deSouza in August 1990. deSouza, who passed away during Covid pandemic, had transferred the valuables to previous principal Carlyle A McFarland. However, as per the document related to the handing over of the charge (HT has a copy of it), the treasure was not received by Everett.

When contacted, McFarland, refused to comment on the matter.

Index proceedings of Lucknow Martiniere Committee (1896-1919) and files related to former principal James WH Stobart, were also not available at the time of transfer.