Susannah's grandad ran Bengal when famine killed millions

"I consciousness tremendous shame astir what happened," Susannah Herbert tells me.

Her gramps was the politician of Bengal, successful British India, during the run-up and tallness of the 1943 famine which killed astatine slightest 3 cardinal people.

She is lone conscionable learning astir his important relation successful the catastrophe, and confronting a analyzable household legacy.

When I archetypal conscionable her, she is clutching a photograph from 1940. It's Christmas Day astatine the governor's residence successful Bengal. It's formal, with radical sitting successful rows, successful their finery, staring consecutive into camera.

In the beforehand are the dignitaries - Viceroy Linlithgow, 1 of the astir important assemblage figures successful India, and her gramps Sir John Herbert, Bengal's governor.

At their feet is simply a small boy, successful a achromatic garment and shorts, knee-high socks and shiny shoes. It's Susannah's father.

He had told her immoderate stories of increasing up successful India, similar the time Father Christmas came successful connected an elephant, but not overmuch more.

But small was spoken of her grandfather, who died successful precocious 1943.

The causes of the famine are galore and complex. While John Herbert was the astir important assemblage fig successful Bengal, helium was portion of a wider assemblage structure. He reported to his bosses successful Delhi, who reported to theirs successful London.

Dr Janam Mukherjee, historiographer and the writer of Hungry Bengal, tells maine Herbert "was the assemblage authoritative astir straight linked to the famine due to the fact that helium was the main enforcement of the state of Bengal astatine that time".

One of the policies helium executed during World War Two was known arsenic "denial", wherever boats and atom – the staple nutrient – were confiscated oregon destroyed successful thousands of villages. It was done due to the fact that of the fearfulness of a Japanese penetration and the purpose was to contradict the force section resources to substance their beforehand into India.

However, the assemblage argumentation was catastrophic for the already fragile section economy. Fishermen couldn't spell to sea, farmers weren't capable to spell upstream to their plots, and artisans were incapable to get their goods to market. Critically, atom could not beryllium moved around.

Inflation was already high, arsenic the assemblage authorities successful Delhi was printing wealth to wage for the immense warfare effort connected the Asian front. The hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers successful Kolkata - past Calcutta - were straining nutrient resources.

Rice imports to Bengal from Burma had halted aft it fell to the Japanese. Rice was hoarded, often for profit. And a deadly cyclone hit, wiping retired overmuch of Bengal's atom crop.

Repeated demands - successful the mediate of the warfare - to the warfare furniture and Prime Minister Winston Churchill for nutrient imports were denied oregon partially heeded astatine the time.

The numbers who died are overwhelming. I wondered wherefore Susannah, the granddaughter of Bengal’s governor, felt shame truthful galore decades later.

She tries to explain. "When I was young determination was thing astir glamorous astir having a transportation with the British Empire."

She says she utilized to get a batch of her grandfather's aged clothes. "There were silk scarves, with a nametape saying 'Made successful British India'.

"And present erstwhile I spot them astatine the backmost of a cupboard, I benignant of shudder and say, wherefore would I adjacent privation to deterioration these things? Because the words 'British India' connected the statement look inappropriate to deterioration now."

Susannah is determined to cognize much astir her grandfather's beingness successful British India, and to marque consciousness of things.

She is speechmaking everything she tin connected the Bengal famine, going done stacks of her grandparents' papers astatine the Herbert archive successful the household location successful Wales. They're kept successful a climate-controlled room, and an archivist visits erstwhile a month.

She starts to realise much astir her grandfather. "There's perfectly nary uncertainty that the policies helium implemented and initiated contributed enormously to the standard and interaction of the famine.

"He had skills, helium had honour. And helium should not person been appointed to the station of moving the lives of 60 cardinal radical successful a faraway country of the British Empire. He conscionable should not person been appointed."

In the household archive she recovered a missive from Lady Mary, her grandmother, written to her hubby successful 1939, connected proceeding helium had been offered the occupation of governor. It's a missive of pros and cons. She intelligibly had nary tendency for them to go, though she writes she would judge immoderate determination helium took.

"You work them [the letters] with hindsight, you work them knowing what the writer and scholar did not know. If you could scope retired to the past, you'd say: don't bash it. Don't go, don't spell to India. You volition not bash a bully job."

Over the months I person been pursuing Susannah Herbert’s travel into the past, she has had galore elaborate questions astir her grandfather.

She has been keen to conscionable Janam Mukherjee, the historian, to inquire him directly. They conscionable successful June.

Janam admits helium ne'er imagined helium would ever beryllium sitting other the granddaughter of John Herbert.

Susannah wants to cognize wherefore her grandfather, a provincial MP and authorities whip, was appointed successful the archetypal place, erstwhile helium had virtually nary acquisition of Indian politics, beyond a little spell successful Delhi arsenic a young officer.

"It's portion and parcel of colonialism and stems from an thought of supremacy," Janam explains.

"Some MP who has nary assemblage experience, who has nary linguistic capacities, who has not worked successful a governmental strategy extracurricular of Britain, tin simply spell and inhabit the governor's location successful Kolkata, and marque decisions astir an full colonisation of radical that helium knows thing about."

While Herbert was not fashionable among elected Indian politicians successful Bengal, adjacent his seniors successful Delhi look to person doubted his competence, including Viceroy Linlithgow.

"Linlithgow called him the weakest of the governors successful India. They, successful fact, were funny successful removing him, but they were disquieted astir however that mightiness beryllium received," says Janam.

"That is hard listening," Susannah replies.

I americium struck that for some determination is simply a idiosyncratic connection. Janam and Susannah had fathers successful Kolkata who were small boys astatine the aforesaid clip but were surviving wholly antithetic lives. They've some died now. Susannah astatine slightest has photographs.

For Janam, determination were nary pictures of his begetter arsenic a child. "So what I knew was from his nightmares and from the fewer stories helium told maine of his acquisition successful childhood, successful a colonized warfare zone.

"I travel from a consciousness of trying to deliberation astir my father's precise damaged beingness and recognize however that impacts maine arsenic his descendant."

And past helium says thing I wasn't expecting.

"My gramps besides worked for the assemblage constabulary force. So my gramps himself was complicit with the assemblage strategy successful galore ways. So determination are these absorbing similarities successful our motivations of understanding."

At slightest 3 cardinal radical died successful the Bengal famine and determination is nary memorial - oregon adjacent a plaque - to them anyplace successful the world.

Susannah tin astatine slightest constituent to a memorial to her grandfather.

"The religion wherever we worship has a plaque honouring him." She explains it's successful the lack of a grave. She's not definite wherever his remains are, possibly successful Kolkata.

Honour is simply a connection that Susannah utilized to picture her grandfather, adjacent though she acknowledges his failures.

"While I find it comparatively casual to judge that past is overmuch much analyzable than what we were primitively told, I inactive find it hard to envisage John Herbert […] acting successful immoderate way, dishonourably."

Janam takes a antithetic view. "These questions of volition person ne'er funny maine successful galore ways. I'm overmuch much funny successful the humanities people of events due to the fact that I deliberation intentions tin ever disguise what happens."

Eighty years connected this is inactive complicated, and raw. I wonderment if months into her research, Susannah inactive feels "shame" is the close emotion to picture however she feels?

She tells maine she has changed her view. "I deliberation the connection shame centres it excessively overmuch connected my feelings. It's not conscionable astir maine and what I think.

"It's portion of a greater project, I suppose, of knowing and transmitting knowing of however we got to wherever we are. We? I mean Britain, I mean, this country."

Janam agrees that "as a descendant of a assemblage official, I don't deliberation determination is immoderate peculiar shame that accrues intergenerationally. I deliberation it's Britain's shame.

"I mean radical died of starvation successful Bengal. So I deliberation there's origin for humanities reflection connected the idiosyncratic level arsenic good arsenic the corporate level."

Susannah is reflecting connected her legacy. She wants to stock her findings with her wider family, and she's not definite however they'll person it.

She is hoping her children mightiness assistance her enactment her mode done the mountains of papers successful the household archive successful Wales.

They excessively are contending with a analyzable idiosyncratic legacy, arsenic Britain tries to fig retired what to bash with this hard portion of its warfare communicative and assemblage past.