Documents from Sir Abdool Raman Osman's legal studies a century ago are now available

By Shafick Osman

 

Mahomed Osman, the 'founding member' of the Osman family, arrived in Mauritius from India on 16 February 1879, exactly 144 years ago (according to the Gregorian calendar), at the age of three, together with his parents Tejally and Mooleea, and siblings (Rohemun, Sohemun, Nuzeebun). On the Canada-named vessel, number 1294, they arrived from the port of Calcutta.

 

We are happy to share important papers from Sir Abdool Raman Osman, his second son, with the family and the rest of the world in remembrance of this historic day. Sir Abdool Raman became the country's first Muslim lawyer, Magistrate, Supreme Court judge, and—possibly most significantly—the nation's first Mauritian Governor-General. We are extremely thankful to the Archives of The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple in England for not only giving us with these historical documents, but also for enabling us to share them with the public today. These documents date back more than a century.

The Admission Papers

 

According to documents obtained from The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, Sir Abdool Raman was admitted to the Middle Temple for legal studies on 27 March 1922, following his request for admission on 8 February 1922 (in another official document, it is mentioned 3 February 1922). He was 19 years old at the time. He presented Certificates of Character from the Mayor of Port Louis (Mauritius) dated 6 December 1921 and signed by Mayor Edouard Nairac, as well as from the Acting Rector of the Royal College Mauritius. 

We also learn that Sir Abdool Raman took the Cambridge Senior Local Examination in Latin in December 1921 at the Holloway Centre (London). Sir Abdool Raman had a Senior Local Certificate from Mauritius, but he did not meet the required level in Latin for legal studies, according to a memo from the University of Cambridge dated 1 February 1922 from the Assistant Secretary for Examinations, A. H. N. Sewell.

 

Sir Abdool Raman enrolled in the Royal College Mauritius' Junior Cambridge Class in January 1918, according to the Royal College Mauritius' Certificate of Character dated 11 February 1921. "In July 1920, Mr. Osman obtained the Senior Cambridge Local Certificate, passing with Credit in English, Composition, French, Mathematics, and Botany," the Certificate states. "He was promoted to the English Scholarships Class's Second Section."

 

However, in a Petition for Admission to The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple dated 18 August 1921, it is stated that he is "fairly proficient in Latin" and has "a Senior Cambridge certificate in English Composition including Literature, French, Mathematics, [and] Botany." We can conclude that Sir Abdool Raman chose to take Latin in London before joining The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple because he did not meet the required standard in Latin in Mauritius.

His years in London

 

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple's records reveal that Sir Abdool Raman arrived in England on 1 April 1921, and that he lived at three different addresses between that time and the day he was admitted to the bar on 26 January 1925:

• London's Finsbury Park, N4, 12 Portland Road.

• London's Tavistock Square, WC, 3 Endsleigh Street.

• London's Tufnell Park, N19, 117 Brecknock Road.

On 7 January 1925, Sir Abdool Raman submitted an application to the Middle Temple to be admitted to the Bar.

 

Good character

 

Sir Abdool Raman's "good character" is attested to in a number of documents. The General Secretary of the Indian National Council of YMCAs, P. D. Runganadhan, states that he is a man of "studious habits and good character" in a reference letter dated 8 January 1925. In the Certificate of Character dated 11 February 1921, the Acting Rector of the Royal College stated that his conduct was excellent. Edouard Nairac writes that his parents were "honourable" in the Certificate of Character issued by the Mayor of Port Louis on 6 December 1921. In another referral letter dated 8 January 1925, a lawyer from Montpelier Lodge (London) writes that "his time was strictly devoted to study and his conduct irreproachable".This letter also reveals that Sir Abdool Raman visited France during his studies.

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

 

 

 

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

 

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

© The Honourable Society of Middle Temple, 2023

Note: I would like to thank from the very bottom of my heart my cousin Azad Osman who hinted to my father and me the Middle Temple for Sir Abdool Raman's law studies. Thank you very much, Azad!

Raising the living dead: Ramosmania rodriguesii

By Carlos Magdalena*

(Published in The Journal of Botanic Garden Horticulture, No. 8, pp. 63-73, 2010)

 

Sir Abdool Raman Osman, Au bout du monde, Le Réduit, Mauritius.

This article is about Ramosmania rodriguesii, a species endemic to the Island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean which has been named after Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam and Sir Abdool Raman Osman, the first Mauritian Prime Minister and first Mauritian Governor-General respectively. They were also schoolmates at the Royal College of Curepipe (Island of Mauritius) and comrades in England during their university studies a century ago. Sir Abdool Raman was a passionate amateur horticulturist.

Abstract

‘Living dead’ is a term biologists have begun to use to describe those species that are not expected to escape extinction without significant human intervention (janzen, 2001), such as captive breeding or cultivation. While the number of taxa that fall into this category continues to increase, this paper reports on a species that may beat the odds and escape its fate, after decades of cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. an account of the historical facts that led to the recovery of the species in question, Ramosmania rodriguesii, and the latest update regarding its current situation are provided along with cultivation notes.

 

To read the article (PDF): S i b b a l d i a : 63 The Journal of Botanic Garden Horticulture, No. 8

*Carlos Magdalena is a botanical horticulturist in the living collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK. Email: c.magdalena@kew.org.

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Abdool Raman Osman is the son of Mahomed Osman.

My first attempt to propagate the Magnolia Flowering Tree

 By Amin Osman

 

Bees foraging on a magnolia flower on the family's former property in Balfour, Beau Bassin.
Photo (c): Shafick Osman, 29 December 2007.

I had worked at the Barkly Experiment Station of the Ministry of Agriculture in Beau Bassin for a few years, and I never heard of the Magnolia Flowering Tree. My elder brother Sir Raman Osman, a keen amateur horticulturist who had moved from Quatre Bornes to Baie du Tombeau where he had had a bungalow built to spend his retirement as a Senior Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court, challenged me to provide him with a young Magnolia tree in 1970 or so.

He told me that there were two beautiful Magnolia grandiflora trees in the grounds of the Vacoas Headquarters where the former Colonial Secretaries were residing. I visited the gardens and as they were covered with large showy flowers, I decided to have a go. 

 

My elder brother Sir Raman Osman, a keen amateur horticulturist who had moved from Quatre Bornes to Baie du Tombeau where he had had a bungalow built to spend his retirement as a Senior Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court, challenged me to provide him with a young Magnolia tree in 1970 or so.

I consulted the textbooks and after some research in locally published magazines, I read the article written by Sydney Moutia, a qualified Horticulturist, in the then Revue Agricole. There was a girls’ secondary school of the Catholic Diocese at Curepipe Road. It was in an old wooden house and the main alley was planted with Magnolia trees which did not resist a very severe cyclone and all the trees were blown down. Sydney Moutia who was working at Barkly well before me in the 60s was contacted and he succeeded to propagate a dozen saplings using stems of the blown down trees which he placed in the Mist Propagator where they rooted after some weeks and he produced saplings which he gave to the Manager of the school and these were eventually planted to replace the blown down trees.

In the meantime, I collected seeds and air layered (provin) some mature stems just as we were doing for the propagation of litchis. At the same time, I cut a dozen stems and placed in our Mist Propagator at Barkly. Both methods of propagation gave good results and we then started to sell saplings. I bought some saplings and gave Mot (Raman Osman’s nickname in the family) a few. He planted one in his big garden at Baie du Tombeau and donated the others, I remember he gave one to Haroun Fakim, husband of our niece Gori and they planted it in front of their newly built house at Abdoollatiff Osman Avenue, Quatre Bornes.

I planted one in my garden at Volcy de la Faye Street, Beau Bassin, next to the Plaines Wilhems Irrigation Canal, which crossed our property. It is still there and have been flowering regularly since. Everybody coming for the first time was admiring the large white flowers during the flowering season. I am proud of this achievement which reminded both of Mot and the period which I spent at Barkly as a Senior Technical Officer in charge of Plant Propagation.

 

Coromandel (Mauritius),
12 November 2021

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Amin Osman is the son of Mahomed Osman.

 

The renowned children and grand-children of Mahomed Osman

Mahomed Osman, arrived in Mauritius in February 1879, at the age of three only, is the 'founder' of the Osman family in Mauritius. He went to school, worked as timekeeper at the Bon Air Sugar Estate (next to Plaine des Papayes and Morcellement St André) in the north of the island, and got married successively four times after the death of the previous wives. A few of Mahomed's children and grand-children have shaped the history of Mauritius: Abdoollatif Mahomed Osman, Sir Abdool Raman Osman, Hossen Mahomed Osman and Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra. 

 

Mahomed Osman pictured at the age of 19.
No. 387456 was his Immigrant Number.
Source: MGI Archives (Mauritius).

 

Abdoollatif Mahomed Osman

Abdoollatif Mahomed Osman is first Minister of Agriculture of Mauritius. He was appointed Minister while the country was still a British colony. Abdoollatif, the eldest son of Mahomed, was also a a large landowner and he was known for his sugar estate at Belle Isle, Bambous. He was the one who helped to build the first mosque at Morcellement St André. A popular road in the town of Quatre-Bornes bears his name.

Sir Abdool Raman Osman

Sir Abdool Raman Osman is very well-known. He was a comrade of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Mauritius' first Premier and first Prime Minister. They went to the Royal College of Curepipe and travelled together to England by ship for their further studies. While Seewoosagur read medicine, Abdool Raman opted for law.

Abdool Raman is first Muslim lawyer and barrister in Mauritius, the first Muslim Supreme Court Judge and the first Mauritian Governor-General appointed three years after the Independence of the country. Sir Abdool Raman was passionate about botany and horticulture, and he settled in rural Le Goulet, Baie du Tombeau, where his iconic house stood at the intersection of a river and the sea. A State College in Phoenix has been named after him.

 Hossen Mahomed Osman

Hossen Mahomed Osman, the eldest son of Mahomed of his fourth marriage, is one of the very first Muslim attorneys in Mauritius. At the end of his life, he was the most senior attorney-in-law in the country. Hossen, also known as Dayas, is the first Town Clerk of the Municipality of Vacoas-Phoenix. A street in Vacoas, next to his house, bears his name.

 Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra

Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra, grand-daughter of Mahomed Osman, is the first female Muslim lawyer and barrister in Mauritius, the first female Muslim Member of the Legislative Assembly (now called MP), the first female Muslim Minister and Attorney-General, the first female Muslim Ambassador and also the first Ombudsperson for Children of the country.

"The Vigilant", la revue d'Abdool Raman Osman

Beaucoup ne savent pas qu'Abdool Raman Osman, premier gouverneur général mauricien et premier avocat musulman mauricien, avait fondé une revue en 1929 dont le premier numéro fut publié en juin 1929! Intitutlée, The Vigilant, la revue publiait des papiers d'opinion, de réflexion et d'analyse essentiellement, en anglais. Éditée et imprimée par Raoul Coquet de la Nouvelle Imprimerie Co-opérative de la rue Sir William Newton, à Port Louis, la publication se décrivait comme "une revue mensuelle consacrée à la littérature sociologique" (traduction).

 

Le premier numéro de la revue "The Vigilant", paru en juin 1929.

 

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Abdool Raman Osman is the son of Mahomed Osman.