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| public library, Allahabad, plaque. traveltalk.co.in/ |
Above image: The plaque in the building carries this information: “This building which has received the name of the Thornhill-Mayne Memorial is erected in memory of Cudbert Bensley Thornhill, CSA & Francis Otway Mayne, C.B. both of Bengal Civil Service...... the former died on 11th July 1868 at sea off Aden, & the later on 30th August 1872 at Allahabad.
The name preserves the memory of the close and uninterrupted friendship Which during their lives united them. The memorial itself bears lasting testimony to the affectionate regard in which they were built By those who caused it to be erected.”
Thornhill Mayne Memorial, located in Alfred Park garden is also popularly known as Public Library. This monument has historical significance because it served as the house of legislative assembly during the British era. Allahabad was then the capital of United Provinces (later renamed Uttar Pradesh).
Established in 1864, it is the biggest library in the state of Uttar Pradesh and the building was designed by Richard Roskell Bayne, a British engineer.. It is a good example of Scottish Baronial architecture with sharp pillars and turrets of granite and sandstone; such designs need skill and imagination. In 1879, the Public library was shifted to the present premises at Alfred Park.
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| Allahabad public library, India. ranasafvi.com |
The library is a nice place for book
worms, it has a huge collection on books, etc covering various subjects. The collection includes roughly 125,000 books, 40 types of magazines and
different newspapers in Hindi, English, Urdu, etc besides a
collection of old government publications, parliamentary papers, and
blue books of the 19th century, old manuscripts and journals.
The
building known as Thornhill Mayne Memorial represents structural
polychrome with lofty towers and arcaded cloisters. The cost of the
building in 1870 was
Rs.94,222. 00. The Commissioner of Allahabad, Mr. Mayne provided the funds
and it was opened as a memorial to the friendship of Lord Thornhill,
the Commissioner of Allahabad and Mr. Mayne, the Collector who subsequently converted into a library.
Tit-Bits:
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| 'Thornhill-Mayne Memorial, Allahabad, indianheritag |
Tit-Bits:
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| Richard Roskell Bayne (1837–1901) jstor.org |
Richard Roskell Bayne (1837–1901), an English architect who practised in Calcutta and other Indian cities between 1866–90 was an employee of the East Indian Railway. As a railway engineer, he built bridges, train stations, and bungalows, but he also had the opportunity to design monumental buildings such as the East India Railway Office and the New Market in Kolkata, the Hussainabad Clock Tower in Lucknow, the Oak Grove School in Mussoorie, and the palace of the Maharaja of Durbunga. When he retired, he left India and established himself as an architect in Victoria, B.C....
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, a fine colonial building, Allahabad){kind=link}