that came at his bidding to welcome the big-wig also passes on, and the associations connected with the house sink into oblivion.
A name well-known in Trichinopoly during the last quarter of the eighteenth century—though it is neither of historical interest nor known to fame is that of Charles Darke. He was the grandfather of Sir Robert Peel's wife. In 1770 he came out to Madras as a cadet. Four years later he gave up his appointment in the Service and took out indentures as a free merchant, tempted by the many roads to rapid wealth which the country offered.
Fortune is proverbially fickle in the distribution of her favours, and she did not at first smile on Charles Darke. He suffered through the broken promises of an Indian prince. Just at that time the Nabob of the Carnatic, unchecked by a paternal Government that now watches over the expenditure of Maharajahs, was filling his impoverished exchequer with loans from the English free merchants and others. The enormous interest promised was a temptation few could resist. Darke was one of the merchants who risked his capital, and he had to wait a long time before he saw any return. He spent part of the time that he was detained in the country at Trichinopoly, where opportunity offered of making a second fortune by taking contracts for Government buildings. His name is connected with a handsome and substantial bridge over the picturesque Wyacondah channel, a tributary of the Cauvery River. The bridge is still known as Darke's bridge. It is unlikely that this was the only building that he undertook, and it is more than possible that he had a considerable hand in the erection of the barracks outside the fort at Worriore.
Darke's wife Rebecca, the faithful companion of his fortunes and misfortunes in the East, was the daughter of William and Sarah Gyles, of Northampton. She lies
