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who hauled down the Union Jack and hoistedthe Tricolour for the first time at Car Nicobar.Although his family had been in India formany generations, John Boomgardt was ofEuropean descent and it was the wish of the newGovernment to appoint an Indian to the post ofAssistant Commissioner.The Boomgardt family moved to Mysore, whereJohn built and managed a bobbin factory forthe jute industry in Calcutta. Violet stayed atBlessington, looked after by a dear friend Mrs.Mary, whom she called ‘Mary-girl’.Tragedy struck when Coralie died in England in1949, sadly, never having been able to return tovisit her mother and homeland. Six months later,Maj. John Boomgardt died of a massive stroke, hewas aged 42 years.Molly decided to return to England (aftertwenty years in India) with daughter, Eileen andPenny, aged 14 and 5 years. She invited Violetto accompany them, but there were too manymemories for Violet to want to leave the onlyplace she had called home. Eventually, old ageand illness forced her to leave Blessington andgo to Calcutta in 1951. The terrible sadness of theold lady can only be imagined. She died a fewmonths later and was buried in Calcutta, but herheart and spirit are somewhere near her belovedBlessington at Port Blair.With the departure of Violet, Blessingtonbecame the property of Government of India.It was neglected for a long time, but the sturdytimber Allan Boomgardt chose to build thehouse, withstood the ravages of the tropicalclimate. Thanks to the efforts of a dynamicyoung officer, ‘Blessington’ is now with theIntelligence Bureau, and it has been restoredto its former glory. It now radiates the samewarmth its former occupants must have felt inbygone times.The descendants of those who built the houselive in far-off England, the area from where theWhitbys and the Delaneys started their epicjourney in the early 1800’s. This coincidencehas only been discovered in recent years. EileenArnell and Penny Buck, grand daughters ofAllan and Violet Boomgardt visited the Islandsin 1998. They hope and plan to visit again.Blessington has cast a spell over them. Eileenis the custodian of the family photographs andmaintains the family tree. It is her desire thatthe story of Blessington be told as a memorialto their ancestors, especially Violet, and for thechildren and grandchildren who they hope willvisit in future. Paul Arnell, the great grandson ofViolet and Allan Boomgardt, has already doneso and fallen under its spell.There are more such old houses still standing inPort Blair which have a story to tell.94The Indian Police Journal, October - December, 2012, Special Issue