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It was only in May 2015 that Cyrus Cowasjee of Karachi and Eleanor Weber-Ballard of London realized that they shared a common ancestor, "The Merchant Prince of Karachi,” Hormusjee Jamshedji Rustomjee, popularly known as "HJ.” Although Weber-Ballard, a postgraduate student from London, had a photograph of her great-great-grandfather who she believed was known as Ratanjee the only knowledge she had of him was that he was a Parsi merchant trader who had featured in Who’s Who.
In her quest for further information she had sent a letter to Parsiana (see "Information on Ratanjee,” Readers’ Forum, May 7, 2015) wherein she stated, "While in London, Ratanjee had children with a British woman and one of his grand-daughters, Eva Helen Ballard, was my paternal grandmother. My grandmother has now passed away, but in the past I had often asked her about her grandfather whose photo she kept at the bottom of a tin box. She didn’t seem to recall much, but one of the memories she shared was that when she met him she was required to wear her smartest clothes and ensure that she was well behaved!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Within a fortnight of the Parsiana issue being dispatched, Weber-Ballard received an email from Cowasjee who was able to identify the person in the photograph as his maternal great-grandfather Rustomjee who traded between Karachi and England in the latter half of the 19th century. He further mentioned that the photo of HJ "adorns the walls of several of his descendants in Karachi… His large bust stands amongst those of other ancestors on my brother’s (the late Ardeshir) patio.”
Citing his family tree, as researched by his wife Toxy, Cowasjee wrote that Rustomjee was born on February 11, 1846 in a Parsi settlement on the west coast of India. Being an orphan he was brought up in Karachi by his uncle Jamshedji Rustomjee Ghadially who was a watchmaker by profession. He was married to Dossibai (née Pochkhanawalla) with whom he had six sons Rustomjee (Cyrus Cowasjee’s grandfather), Behramjee, Cowasjee, Pestonjee, Dhunjishaw and Sohrabjee and one daughter Soonamai. "He was reputed to be a naughty man… He is known to have visited England for short periods at a time in the last decade of the 19th century; once to attend the Levy or Grand Durbar of Queen Victoria. The suit in the photograph is for that occasion,” mentioned Cyrus, expecting "the few remaining descendants of HJ will be quite thrilled to have a British connection!” The merchant prince died at the age of 53 in Karachi on February 13, 1899.
"Thrilled to… have been able to make this connection,” Weber-Ballard acknowledged in her response to Cyrus, "The details and dates that you included in your email seem to align with what little my family knows about my great-great-grandfather, including the trips to Britain and I dare say his naughtiness! The only uncertainty I have is the name – my grandma always said that his was Ratanjee, but this may well have been inaccurate. Unfortunately my grandmother died in 2010, aged 99, so I’m unable to ask her more questions.” She further referred to her lineage: father Bob Ballard, paternal grandmother Eva Helen Ballard who was the daughter of Mona, Rustomjee’s daughter born in England.
From a subsequent update we learnt that Cyrus and Weber-Ballard met over dinner in London in May and "exchanged interesting information.” They are planning a get-together next month when "her parents will hopefully be able to come together with the few HJ progeny from the Karachi side now living in London,” wrote Cyrus.