Faith, Hope and Charity
Colonel J(ohn) T(heopholis) Boileau (architect)
1892
Stained Glass
Christ Church, Simla, India
Other Views
Christ Church, with its neo-Gothic elements, was the first church to be built in Simla and the second in the whole of northern India. Its architect, Colonel J. T. Boileau, went out to India with the Bengal Engineers in December 1822. He worked for the PWD and never fought, attaining the rank of Colonel in 1855, and retiring as Hon. Major-General in 1857 ("Notes"). An astronomer and gifted architect, he had already designed St George's, the cantonment church in Agra, as well as several other important buildings there, and made repairs to historic structures in the area — including the Taj Mahal. Boileaugunj, a township of Shimla, is named after him and his brother, a fellow-engineer in the North-West Provinces (Kanwar 27).
Photograph, caption, and commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee