Dr Gray's surgeon helps find Elgin hospital founder's grave in his Indian home city
A LOCUM medic at Dr Gray's has led an effort to locate the last resting place of the Elgin hospital's benefactor – back in his Indian home city.
Mr Sandip Halder (54) became fascinated by the hospital's beginnings and the story of Dr Alexander Gray when he arrived in Elgin last November as a locum consultant surgeon.
The Elgin-born Dr Gray died in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) on July 26, 1807, after serving as a surgeon for the Bengal Establishment of the East India Company.
The medic had built up a considerable fortune through investments and a legacy from his wealthy physician uncle. In his will, Dr Gray bequeathed £20,000 "for the establishment of an Hospital in the town of Elgin".
Sandip took up his NHS Grampian role last year following stints in Wales, England, Australia and India.
Intrigued by the grandeur of Dr Gray's frontage and dome on his arrival in Elgin, Sandip delved into the history of his place of work for the year ahead.
A former colleague, Dr Sutirtha Roy, informed Sandip that Dr Gray had died more than 200 years ago back in his own Kolkata homeland.
Hooked by this connection, Sandip and his wife, Bubun, a Bengali poet and writer, were determined to find where in their city Dr Gray's grave could be, as up until this point the Friends of Dr Gray's had not known the whereabouts of the grave, or whether a gravestone had ever even been erected.
Sandip contacted his Kolkata-based friend, Soma DasBose, to tell her about Dr Gray. And overhearing the phone call, her 15-year-old son, Abhiraj, took up the quest to find Dr Gray’s grave.
Sandip said: "Abhiraj and his mum started enquiring about it quite systematically, like detectives.
"After a few phone calls and chats with some colonial-era enthusiasts and cemetery experts, Abhiraj located the South Park Street cemetery and, after spending a few hours there, he managed to find the catalogue with Dr Gray’s name in it and locate the grave and monument."
Dr Gray's headstone stands more than three metres tall in the now unused, sprawling graveyard.
Sandip added: "It's a really exciting experience, although I have yet to see the grave myself.
"A touch of sentiment is there as well because he was a surgeon, and I am a surgeon. He went there to serve the people and I am here also with the same purpose. And it all happened 200 years ago when someone went from this very little-known place to Calcutta, which was very well-known at the time.
"And now I discover something here which connects me to my city, so it's quite emotional.
"When I started I thought I won't be able to find the grave as he didn't have any descendants left there. It was a bit of luck, I must say, that we hit the right buttons and found the right place."
The researchers are sure the grave is that of Dr Gray, despite a difference in the surname spelling.
He said: "The dates and years match although the spelling is a little different. The English language was distorted so much in other places as have some of the names of our places been distorted by English, become Anglicised for the ease of pronunciation.
"At that time there was some liberty, and also his family were not there.
"The grave is a little shabby, but it is there.
"Next time I am visiting India, first thing I'll do is go and see it and touch it."
Sandip said the connection with his homeland meant Elgin had come to occupy a "special place in his heart".
Dr Ken Brown, of the Friends of Dr Gray's Committee, said: "Friends of Dr Gray’s are delighted with this discovery, as it had been thought that Dr Gray’s last resting place was unmarked and effectively lost.
"We are very grateful to Mr Halder, and his friends and family back home, for their enthusiasm and efforts in tracking it down."
