This fascinating collection of works by Whylock Pendavis (1852–1924) depict 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, diverse in faith and culture.
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 off the eastern coast of Africa meant that it played a key role in the development of global trade networks; it was subsequently 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 contributing to the diverse population. The sugar industry became the backbone of the Mauritian economy, and the port played a pivotal role in exporting sugar and other agricultural products. The planters brought a large number of indentured labourers from India 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 1852 in Fowey, Cornwall, to Lieutenant Frederick Whylock Davis (1820–1874) and studied at Trinity College, Dublin. His brother, William Frederick Pen Davis (b.1843), was a doctor who became resident medical officer at Salford Union Workhouse. Whylock Pendavis's route to Mauritius is unclear, but in 1879 he is listed as 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, first taking the role of chaplain at St John's Church in Moka. Pendavis was part of the endeavour to spread Christianity on the island, particularly amongst the large numbers of indentured Indian workers. By 1899 we see him working as Civil and Military Chaplain at Port Louis, and by 1906 he is promoted to the role of Archdeacon of Mauritius.
Many of Pendavis's paintings capture the tropical landscape around Moka, one of the largest and least populated regions of the island, situated in the lush central plateau to the south east of Port Louis, bordered by the Moka mountain range. For Pendavis, this landscape must have felt a world away from his chaplaincy in the north of England. He paints the distinctive Pieter Both mountain visible from St John's Church, as well as views at Pamplemousses and Nouvelle Decouverte, and Réduit garden, the official residence of the Governor of Mauritius. Some of the pictures refer to the region's tropical storms—cyclones and hurricanes—which must have been a novel experience for the English clergyman.
Pendavis also paints the vibrant melting pot of the town of Port Louis—its Chinese quarter, marketplaces, railway station and harbour. Most colourfully of all, he depicts its religious festivities, the island's diverse cultural and spiritual life played out on the streets: Hindus at the Madrassi temple, Muslim Ghoons at the Yamsé festival and the Roman Catholic Fête des Morts, or Day of the Dead. Together, these paintings are a rare record of a unique island and its colonial past.
