Hancock Project
Frank Hancock, who has been working in India for the last fifteen years, has embarked on a journey to find out about the many Hancocks who lived and worked in India before him over the last two hundred years. Through the services of a professional researcher, Smriti Bhargava, he has discovered that his great great grandfather's 21 year old brother, Lieutenant Charles Hancock, died in Kotah on April 14th 1858 from wounds sustained while trying to dismantle a gun during the recapture of the city from rebel forces.
Frank was very moved to be re-united in spirit with his long lost ancestor and had offered to help with the development and maintenance of the cemetery. Frank kept his word, and work in the cemetery in accordance with his wishes has been carried out. Also a handsome commemorative stone bench gifted by Frank on behalf of the Hancock family to honour Lt. Charles Hancock and all those who died in the 1857-58 upheavals has been installed in the cemetery.
This project, due to be finished in July 2012, was finally completed in January 2014.
Here specialist workers from Jaipur are giving a grave a final clean before applying a waterproof sealant.
After the graves were painted the four boundary walls were painted in the next phase of the Frank Hancock Project. As the labourers were afraid of snakes, the undergrowth had to be cleared to give access, so we waited until April 2016 when it had died down. Here Narendra and his assistant are starting on the top coat. They did a thorough job filling in the cracks with Birla putty, two coats of primer and then two coats of anti-fungal exterior paint.
Members can monitor the progress of this project by logging in and re-visiting this page.
