Whylock Pendavis Wreaths for the Dead, Catholic Fête des Morts, Mauritius

Mauritius: Whylock Pendavis (1852–1924)

This painting forms part of a fascinating collection of works by Whylock Pendavis (1852–1924) depicting Mauritius towards the end of the 19th century. The colourful pictures capture not only the island's spectacular physical geography but also the multicultural make-up of its people. Unusually, Mauritius was uninhabited for much of human history; the first settlers were the Dutch in the 17th century. The island's strategic location in the Indian Ocean meant that it played a key role in the development of global trade networks; it was overtaken first by the French, in 1715, then the British, in 1810. The capital was named Port Louis, in honour of King Louis XV of France, and with its naturally deep harbour it flourished as a naval base and commercial centre.

Under British rule, Port Louis became a melting pot of cultures, with an influx of Indians, Africans, Chinese, and Europeans. The sugar industry became the backbone of the Mauritian economy, with a large number of indentured labourers from India brought in to work in the sugar cane fields. As a result, Hinduism became the dominant religion on the island, coexisting alongside significant Christian (largely Roman Catholic) and Muslim populations.

There is limited biographical record of Whylock Pendavis. He was born in Fowey, Cornwall, to Lieutenant Frederick Whylock Davis (1820–1874) and studied at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1879 he is Curate of St James at Collyhurst near Manchester and in 1882 he is in charge of a new district church at nearby Monsall-in-Newton. It appears that from here, in the late 1880s, he was posted to serve with the Christian mission in Mauritius, part of the endeavour to spread Christianity on the island. First serving as chaplain at St John's Church in Moka, in 1899 he is Civil and Military Chaplain at Port Louis, and by 1906 he is promoted to Archdeacon of Mauritius.

For Pendavis the tropical landscape around Moka, the vibrancy of Port Louis and its religious festivities, must have felt a world away from his chaplaincy in the north of England. Together, these paintings are a rare record of the island's cultural and spiritual life and its unique colonial past.