Travel to Northern India: Lucknow: La Martiniére and Christ
Church The pictures in this group show just two places, an old
but still prestigious boarding school and the main church of
Lucknow. The two are close to each other and redolent of the
British era. Claude Martin surveys La Martiniére, the school he
endowed with a fortune created largely by lending money to his
employer, Asaf ud-Daula, the Nawab of Lucknow. It stands on the
banks of the Gomti at the east end of Lucknow. A plaque explains
a bit about Martin and the school's establishment in 1840.
Martin despised Asaf-ud-Daula but served him loyally. Having
built a mansion, Martin stipulated in his will that it should
become school. Martin's estate was held up in the courts for
many years, and only in 1839 did the courts uphold his will. The
riverside view of the school. Martin's motto, Labore et
Constantia, or "Toil and Fidelity" can be made out on the first
level of the tower. That tower has only 1 staircase, on the
southwest side. It could be barred