The Readymoney Fountain

A stroll in beautiful May sunshine through Regent´s Park in London turned up a link to the early days of the China trade.

The big avenue that runs right through the royal park is known as The Broad Walk and stately trees loom over the path as walkers stroll along.

Towards the London Zoo end of the Broad Walk there is a large fountain, constructed of white stone, known as the Readymoney Fountain. The ornate monument has a steeple rising above its four sides and is richly decorated. On two of the panels there are reliefs showing an Indian bullock and a lion, both with palms behind. There are weathered faces, one with a moustache probably of the donor, another with a tiara presumably of Queen Victoria. The letters “VR” indicate Victoria Regina. No water flows in the fountain today and the four basins are dry. Passing dogs poke their heads hopefully into the little recesses provided for them at the base where once Victorian dogs could find a drink. At the top of the fountain there are leaves and a stone fruit which also appears on four spires lower down. A clock is set into one side though, naturally, it has stopped.

So, who was Readymoney? A plaque explains:

“This fountain erected by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association was the gift of Sir Cowasajee Jehangir Companion of the Star of India a wealthy Parsee gentleman of Bombay as a token of gratitude to the people of England for the protection enjoyed by him and his Parsee fellow countrymen under the British Rule in India. Inaugurated by H.R.H. Princes Mary Duchess of Teck 1869. Restoration supported by The Heritage Lottery Fund 1999-2000.”

The Parsee, or Parsi, community in and around Bombay was already prosperous as the British established their empire in India. With their ancient beliefs in Zoroaster and the conflicts between light and dark, good and evil, the Parsis have always been noted for their tremendous charitable and public service achievements, which continue today.

One of the mysteries of the China trade in the early 19th century, was how relatively poor British men, such as William Jardine, could find the money to indulge in the China trade which, at the time, was a euphemism for the opium trade. Jardine was tough, intelligent and ruthless and he built a mighty firm running opium from India up to Canton and beyond. But, he came from a relatively humble Scots background and opium clippers, stocks of the drug and trade finance required a huge amount of money. A surgeon, he first traveled to India in 1802. By 1816 he had gathered enough cash to set himself up in London as a merchant. He sailed for India again in 1819 and on a visit to Canton met the man who was to become his partner, James Matheson.
By 1820 he was set up in Bombay in partnership with the Parsi merchant, Framjee Cowasjee. In 1822 he moved to Canton where he was an agent for Cowasjee and others, dealing in Indian opium. Jardine was to become the greatest of the opium merchants, known as The Iron Headed Old Rat by the Chinese after he shrugged off a blow to the head during a disturbance.

It can be speculated that Jardine provided the drive and administrative ability to make his firm flourish, while the Cowasjee firm provided the finance. They adopted the nickname “Readymoney” into their family name.

The boy who was to become Sir Cowasjee Jehangir Readymoney came from a wealthy family, but he started humbly enough at the age of 15 as a warehouse clerk in Bombay with Duncan, Gibb and Co. He learned fast and by 1846 was trading on his own account. In 1846 be became a Commissioner of Inland Revenue and revenues and efficiency increased significantly.

He became a leader of the Parsi community, an industrialist and philanthropist. Like so many Parsis, he saw charity as an essential obligation and today there are many buildings in Bombay that were financed by him, including the Sir Cowasjee Jehangir High School, which still flourishes, and the Convocation Hall of the University of Bombay, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. He was made a Companion of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India in 1871 and was created a Knight Bachelor of the United Kingdom in 1872. He had made substantial donations to London´s Indian Institute and many charitable activities in Bombay, worth some 200,000 pounds. He had a particular fondness for drinking water fountains – hence the fountain in Regent´s Park, London.

In 1908, his nephew and adopted son and heir, Jehangir Cowasjee Jehangir Readymoney was created a Baronet. The “Readymoney” was subsequently dropped from the family name. The fourth Baronet, Sir Cowasjee Jehangir, was born in 1953.

The name Cowasjee is also spelled as Cowasji in some reference sources.

***

©Phillip Bruce 2009