ST. JAMES' CHURCH

In 1778, Lieutenant James Skinner was born to a Scottish father and Indian mother. He attempted to join the Company army, but was refused because of his Anglo-Indian heritage. At the time, Anglo-Indians were frowned upon and were barred from the Company’s civil, military, or marine services in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; from 1791, they were banned from serving in the army. So, at the ripe age of 16, Skinner started leasing himself to the armies of Indian states. He was a prolific commander, and was fondly remembered by his soldiers. In 1803, he joined the Bengal Army of the Company (which now accepted him) and raised an infamous cavalry regiment known as “Skinner’s Horse”, which is still a part of the Indian army today. Like William Fraser (the resident of Delhi and a great friend of his), he was an ‘Indianized’ Englishman, who spoke fluent Persian and abstained from pork and beef.

When he was fighting for a Rajput in 1800 in Rajasthan, some treacherous soldiers left him to die on the battlefield, badly wounded. He laid there without food or water for 48 hours, and prayed for safety, vowing to build a Chapel if he was saved. After a Dalit woman saved him, he built a chapel near the Kashmiri Gate in Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi) at enormous expense, which became consecrated as a Church in 1836; it was named St. James Church and would become Delhi’s oldest remaining Church. When Skinner died in 1841, he was buried there.

The Church was often used in the 1800s by the British, because they had to stay in the Mughal seat of power in order to influence the Mughal emperors. During the Revolt of 1857, rebellious sepoys took control of the Church, using the copper ball on top of the dome for target practice (the one seen today is a replacement). Additionally, buried on the Church’s grounds are some of the Company’s most influential men: the aforementioned William Fraser (who we have an article on), Skinner himself, and Thomas Metcalfe (another Resident of Delhi).

For many years, the Church lay in shambles, in a particularly crowded part of Old Delhi. However, in 2022-23, it was restored, with its original pinkish hue.