After her first husband's death in 1833 harriet fades from official records for
a number of years her life as a young widow in India left little trace to try
to pick up her story again olivia has come to st. John's Church in
the center of Calcutta she's meeting professor rashanna
Chakraborty amazing thanks yes this was the first public building of the English
East India Company oh really I think your ancestors must have known this
space yes great so the last thing I knew about Harriet is that she was widowed
just over a year after she got married mid twenties and so it's not happens
next this is a letter written by Charles
young pheasant her second husband my great-great-great grandfather yes I'm
Cheltenham August the 14th 1838 so my dear Richard that it was writing to his
brother okay the letter reveals that Charles Bassett
first met Harriet in India and fell in love with her there but Harriet had
turned him down four years later they met again I see I am to give some
account of my meeting with my beloved H in this country so that's Harriet so she
goes back yes she goes back to England Charles meets her once again when he
visits that brother Harriet's first husband okay when I
arrived at his house he had only just received a letter from Harriet in answer
to one inviting her to come and pass a month with him there she came I felt
awkward enough in meeting her but did not discern the least awkwardness in her
which I hoped I might have seen I saw no prospect of being anything but
a friend - mrs. G that's mr. G mrs. Garret Harriet yes when one Friday
evening I nearly half by chance took her hand as it was like hahaha it was lying
on the couch and pressed it it was almost immediately withdrawn no
but not instantaneously a minute afterwards she slightly changed her
position and after this I love it that he's telling his brother everything I
took her hand again and allowed mine to remain touching it for some time and I
did fancy that once or twice there was a little motion which might have said I am
NOT indifferent to you straight from an Austin doll really isn't it we were
summoned to tea and I did not find any opportunity of talking any more with my
fingers till Saturday evening when having determined to be more decisive I
pressed her hand and she returned the pressure and a stroke by hand in turn we
were again called a team much to my annoyance something was brought to H
Harriet to ask her opinion and getting behind her chair and put my head down as
opposed to hers as I dared you could just feel it coming and felt the warmth
of her person on my face well thus her head moved slowly towards me and she
rested on me I felt half mad the Sunday following for half an hour we were alone
together and then she said she loved me
lovely for him it's how she loved me we should just stop the program now don't
do anything bad about Harriet so what happened next
we got married and would you'd like to see a photograph you kidding oh my
crackers Oh after all this time then yes oh my word at the time of marriage they
were both 31 family love that's Harriet she's lovely isn't she
and I think you can really see that she's mixed parentage yes it is
undeniable that she was but linear you see easier yes cut of the hair and the
eyes yes oh my god I can't believe it's a photograph of her
so they got married Oh what happens to the neck
you come with me and help you with that okay week away more surprises coming
tomorrow
following their marriage in September 1838 Harriet and Charles returned to
India where Charles continued his career in the army
on their arrival in Calcutta they embarked on a journey upriver
Charles once again wrote to his brother September the 21st 1839 so this is a
abouthim year a year or so after you married okay yes my dear Richard after
long very long that will help you brilliant a friend and schoolfellow of
Harriet's who is married to the surgeon at the civil station has asked her to be
confined there so she's having a baby yes oh how lovely and now if you come to
the end of the letter yes you will notice a change in the handwriting I
must add a few lines to my dear Charles's letter to say what he has
omitted that we are by the mercy of our God both quite well so is Harriet
writing this now yes Wow sweet but they're reading over each other's
shoulders yes I feel most thankful we have left Calcutta as well as we were
there preparing for our river trip my dear husband underwent a great deal of
exposure which made me rather anxious so she was really worried that she was
going to lose we were because the experience he's had through all of the
awful things that have happened to her is everyone has just lost everyone so
was the baby all right yes you will say friend south richard present son of
Charles young visit and Harriet his wife was baptized at Christian alert
and these are the successive children that they had Oh Mary pizzette baptized
1845 turn now which is in Punjab Charles pizzettes was gone poor endear
again and funny but that turns of August 18-49 and mahou one two three four
oh how lovely so they stayed in India yes
had all of their children there they were enjoying a big family because he
didn't have much time on her own all this time
yes now she's found someone she loves who loves her back yes big family lots
of children it's all working out very well yes I remember that in the house of
parliament I saw the census 1871 that had Harriet and Charles living in
reading but now to find out that they've done all of this what an amazing life
Harriet's ended up having I keep thinking about her grandmother it wasn't
for her grandmother so she was named after what would have happened
do you know anything about her I don't know much but Harriet's grandmother was
Harry elizabeth / yes I know that she had made a will and it contains a long
list of requests but I think you'll be interested in the closing lionsgate to
Charlotte's lesser I bequeath 50 pounds to India Harriet I leave fifty so they
called her India Harriet so that's her nicknames so she always knew India was
where she was from that she's different from the rest
India Harriet's she's extra-special yes that's lovely
so Olivia I have a very interesting book about padded Elisabeth / and / your
family this book is based on original documents and these documents are owned
by descendant of this letter who are right now in Scotland the highlands of
Scotland and I think you should go to see these letters to find out more about
your ancestors Wow okay the highlands is gone
before this hadn't got a clue that India played any part in my family Harriet's
overall story is just incredible I was very surprised at how much I ended up
caring about her someone had never heard of before then
to find out that her mum was local Fish and Game's woman first exciting bit
when I realize it's tangible that her grandson is my mom's granddad which
means we've all touched each other's hands throughout time going back at the
time can almost and that that really brings it home that she was real what I
knew about my family was at door English maybe there was a French woman somewhere
in the past now I definitely feel more exotic
I've loved being here and don't really want to go really I've loved it so much
but now to Scotland in search of Harriet's grandmother
you