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Other names
John Carr
Place of birth
Date of arrival to Britain
Date of time spent in Britain
1841–65
About
Jhulee Khan arrived in Britain as a lascar in 1841. He jumped ship on arrival and subsequently made his living as a musician in tap-rooms, where he played fiddle and performed English songs.
He made his way across England and Scotland, performing all over the country. In 1857, after instruction from a woman in north London’s Tottenham, he converted to Christianity and went by the name of John Carr.
Forsaking his previous career as a hornpipe-player and singer, as well as giving up visits to tap-rooms, he instead went on to sing hymns and preach in the streets, which attracted large audiences.
In 1865, by then married with five children, he expressed a desire to do missionary work in India. He returned to Calcutta in 1866 as an agent of the Foreign Evangelist Society to work alongside a European missionary in the north-west of India.
Fisher, Michael, Counterflows to Colonialism: Indian Travellers and Settler in Britain, 1600–1857 (Delhi: Permanent Black, 2004)
Salter, Joseph, The Asiatic in England: Sketches of Sixteen Years’ Work among the Orientals (London: Seeley, Jackson & Haliday, 1873)
Visram, Rozina, Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History (London: Pluto Press, 2002)
Banner image credit
Thurston Hopkins/Picture Post/Hulton Archives via Getty Images
Image credit
© Remaking Britain: South Asian Connections and Networks, 1930s – present
