Ceramic container manufactured by D.Waldie & Company Ltd (presently Waldies Compound Ltd) Konnagar

IndianRoadie Avijit Dhar Chowdhury, founder of Green Step Tourism stumbled upon this lovely ceramic container in Ghatshila Raj Bari. All the way from a factory on a 17 acre plot on the banks of Hooghly in Konnagar. The factory is owned by D.Waldie & Company Ltd (presently Waldies Compound Ltd) Konnagar. The embossing clearly shows this.

Waldie & Company Ltd are the highest quality lead oxide manufacturers and are the first lead oxide manufacturers in India. They are also the only supplier of a critical component used for making glass panels in nuclear reactors. 

History books do not mention anything about Waldie. David Waldie, was a Scotsman who was researching on chloroform. It is widely believed that Sir James Simpson, the physician who first used chloroform as an anaesthetia, took his cue from David Waldie. Simpson did not acknowledge Waldie's contribution in this field. Disillusioned, Waldie took a ship to India and landed in Calcutta in 1853 to start things fresh.

Five years later he set up a factory on the banks of Hooghly river, at Konnagar, to manufacture oxides of lead and sulphuric acid. It was named D. Waldies & Co. Ltd.

After Waldies passed away in 1888, ownership changed to dozen business families down the years. It was the British business families initially. Then the ownership was passed in 1930, onto the rich patrons of the Calcutta Rowing Club. The name changed to Waldies Compound Ltd. somewhere down the years. Presently it is owned by four Marwari business families. 

Lead is used in ceramic glazes. Probably this container was made in the factory in Konnagar, Hooghly district, West Bengal. We were told that this container is in Ghatshila Rajbari for about sixty to seventy years. How it reached Rajbari is something interesting which is yet to be found out! 

Photo and text courtesy: Avijit Dhar Chowdhury. 

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