Sir Dinshaw Manickjee Petit, Sheriff of Bombay

1887

Engraved from a photograph by Mayall

The Illustrated London News (1869)

The Parsees of Bombay, descendants of an ancient colony of Persian race in that great commercial city of Western India, retaining in all its purity the creed and rites of the venerable Zoroastrian religion, are justly esteemed for their virtues as loyal and well-behaved citizens, and for their intelligence and enterprise in mercantile business, their liberality of sentiment, and the noble acts of munificence and charity performed by some of the richer members of that community. [Continued below]

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We have much pleasure in giving the Portrait of one of these gentlemen, Sir Dinshaw Manockjee Petit, the Sheriff of Bombay, on whom her Majesty the Queen, Empress of India, has conferred the honour of Knighthood, at the request of Lord Reay, Governor of Bombay, upon the occasion of the recent Jubilee celebration.

He was born at Bombay, in 1823, was educated at private schools kept by English teachers, and began life as a clerk in the firm of Messrs. Derom, Richmond, and Co., under his father, the late Mr. Manockjee Nusserwanjee Petit, who, in addition to being the managing clerk of that house, also traded on his own account with England and China. Mr. Richmond afterwards established a separate firm, with Mr. Dinshaw as his consignment and indent clerk. In 1852 Mr. Richmond gave up business, and his agents, Messrs. Rennie and Clover, of Liverpool, opened a house in Bombay, under the name of Messrs. George Rennie and Co., engaging Mr. Dinshaw's father as their broker, while Mr. Dinshaw looked after their general business. About the same time. Mr. Manockjee Petit also became broker to Messrs. Sillar and Co., whose general business Mr. Dinshaw likewise managed. Some time afterwards, Mr. Manockjee Petit and his sons, uniting their efforts, set up for themselves, going into partnership under the style of Messrs. Manockjee Nusserwanjee Sons and Co. This firm continued until 1864, when the two brothers separated by mutual consent, dividing between them the fortune of twenty-four lakhs of rupees, inherited by them from their father, together with the amount which their own subsequent efforts had enabled them to add to it. Several years before this, Mr. Dinshaw had conceived the happy idea of identifying himself with cotton-mill industry, which he has since worked out with conspicuous ability and most successful results. In 1855, he erected, in conjunction with his father, Manockjee Petit, the Oriental Spinning and Weaving Mill, which had the advantage of weaving cloth in addition to spinning yarn. This venture was such a success, that in 1860 Mr. Dinshaw was induced to erect another mill, and named it the Manockjee Petit Spinning and Weaving Mill, in memory of his father, who had died in the previous year. The investment proved to he so profitable that several cottom mills were started by Mr. Dinshaw, in rapid succession, and he is at present the largest shareholder in six cotton mills — viz., the Manockjee Petit Mill, the Dinshaw Petit Mill, the Mazagon Mill, the Victoria Mill, the Framjee Petit Mill, and the Gordon Mills. Besides spinning and weaving, Mr. Dinshaw has directed his attention to the manufacture of thread, hosiery, and fancy goods, and is the proprietor of an establishment at Mahim for dyeing yarns. There are, at the present day, many cotton mills working in Bombay, but they have all sprung up after the success of Sir Dinshaw's first venture, and he may therefore be justly regarded as the initiator and leader of an industry which has done much towards improving the commercial position and prospects of Bombay. We take these particulars from the Bombay Gazette of March 23, which further bears testimony that “during the past few years. there has hardly been a public movement in which Sir Dinshaw's bountiful hand has not made itself felt, and the Jubilee festivities owe much of their splendour to his munificence. His private charities are even more extensive, and many are the individuals and families, laid low by adverse fate, who have found in him a ready and willing supporter. The list of his charities is too long for reproduction; but it shows the magnificent total of fifteen lakhs of rupees, bestowed by the large-hearted generosity of the man whom the Queen has been pleased to honour, and of whom all Bombay justly feels proud.”

Bibliography

“The Parsee Sheriff of Bombay.” Illustrated London News. (16 April 1887): 443-44. Hathi Trust Digital Library web version of a copy in The University of Chicago Library. Web. 9 January 2016.

Last modified 9 January 2016