John de Monte

John De Monte ( – 6 May 1821), also written John D'Monte, was a merchant, landowner and philanthropist in Madras, British India. Court records describe him as a Roman Catholic of Portuguese descent who began his career as a dubash to merchant Christopher Bilderbeck, whose sister Mary he later married.

De Monte became a partner in the prominent Madras agency house Arbuthnot, De Monte & Co., accumulated substantial landed property and supported a number of religious and charitable institutions. His will became the basis of the John De Monte Trust, whose properties subsequently included Benz Garden and D'Monte Colony in Chennai. The Chennai locality of D'Monte Colony bears his name and later acquired an association with local ghost stories that inspired the Tamil horror film Demonte Colony (2015).

Early life and family

De Monte's precise date and place of birth are uncertain. A Government Museum compilation records that he was 56 when he died in 1821, placing his birth around 1765. Madras High Court records describe him as a descendant of Portuguese settlers in India. He entered the employment of Christopher Bilderbeck as a dubash and subsequently married Bilderbeck's sister, Mary Bilderbeck.

The couple had a son, Christopher Bilderbeck De Monte. Christopher was sent to England for his education in 1810 and later travelled in continental Europe. He died at Rastatt, in present-day Germany, on 5 February 1816 while travelling from Vienna towards London.

An unusual surviving connection to Christopher is a highly decorated guitar associated with composer Mauro Giuliani. A study published in Soundboard traced a guitar built in 1812, previously associated with Marie Louise of Austria and Giuliani, to Christopher De Monte, to whom Giuliani gave it in 1815. Christopher's belongings remained in the archives of Coutts in London for more than a century.

Mercantile career

Company-era Madras

Records preserved in the India Office Records show De Monte participating in the commercial economy surrounding the East India Company administration at Madras. The firm Lys, Satur and De Monte appears in records of the Madras Finance Committee concerning a joint proposal with Latour and Company for an enlarged lottery connected with the Male Orphan Asylum and road funding.

These records place De Monte among the private merchants and agency houses dealing with the company's presidency administration rather than among its civil servants.

Arbuthnot, De Monte & Co.

Francis Lautour & Co. was one of the important European mercantile houses in Madras. George Arbuthnot joined the business in the early nineteenth century, and De Monte joined it around 1808. When Francis Lautour retired in 1810, De Monte acquired his interest and the firm became Arbuthnot, De Monte & Co.

Following De Monte's death in 1821, the firm continued as Arbuthnot & Co., which developed into one of the best-known agency houses in southern India during the nineteenth century.

Properties and estates

Moubray's Gardens

One of De Monte's most important acquisitions was Moubray's Gardens, a large estate on the banks of the Adyar River. The estate had originally been developed by George Moubray and covered about . De Monte acquired it around 1810 when his firm took over the interests of Francis Lautour & Co.

The principal residence, known as Moubray's Cupola, later became associated with the Adyar Club and subsequently the Madras Club.

Benz Garden and D'Monte Colony

Court proceedings concerning the John De Monte Trust identify Benz Garden and D'Monte Colony in Alwarpet among the major properties derived from his estate. Local historical studies identify D'Monte Colony as having taken its name from De Monte, while De Monte Street in San Thomé has also been linked to him.

Philanthropy and religious patronage

De Monte devoted a substantial part of his wealth to religious and charitable purposes. Madras High Court records attribute to him a hospital and charity house at Luz, a church, orphanage, seminary and school at Covelong, a junior seminary at San Thomé, and a church at Poonamallee.

Covelong

De Monte had a particularly strong association with Covelong, where he supported the Roman Catholic community. Court records identify the church at Covelong among the institutions founded or supported by him. The present Our Lady of Mount Carmel shrine at Covelong is officially dated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chingleput to 1808.

Later devotional and local traditions connected the completion of the church with the illness of Mary De Monte following the death of the couple's son. These accounts form part of the religious and popular tradition surrounding the family and should be distinguished from the documentary evidence concerning De Monte's patronage.

Will and John De Monte Trust

De Monte executed his last will and testament on 19 July 1820 and a codicil on 25 April 1821. The will was subsequently probated by the Supreme Court of Judicature at Madras in 1827.

The will placed much of his fortune at the disposal of charitable institutions under the supervision of the bishop or vicar general of St Thomé and provided for an annually appointed committee of six syndics to participate in the administration.

Among those appointed as executors and trustees were George Arbuthnot, James Morgan Strachan, John Binny, William Scott, Emmanuel Bilderbeck and Joseph Bilderbeck, together with the bishop or vicar general of St Thomé and his successors.

After De Monte's death, his estate became the basis of the John De Monte Trust. Its administration and the leasing or disposition of its properties have subsequently been the subject of several proceedings before the Madras High Court.

Death and burial

A Government Museum compilation of historical inscriptions records that De Monte died on 6 May 1821, aged 56. Madras High Court records state that, in accordance with his wishes, his body was taken to the Mount Carmel Chapel at Covelong and interred there.

The same historical record identifies him as a member of the firm Arbuthnot, De Monte & Co. and notes his association with the residence that later became part of the Adyar Club.

Legacy

De Monte's name survives in Chennai through D'Monte Colony and other local place names. His association with Covelong also continues through the Mount Carmel institutions; the Diocese of Chingleput lists a John D Monde R.C. Primary School at Covelong.

D'Monte Colony folklore

Over time, the former De Monte property at Alwarpet acquired a reputation in Chennai folklore as a supposedly haunted locality. Newspaper accounts have recorded stories concerning the abandoned buildings and the De Monte family, while also noting scepticism among local residents. Interest in the site increased markedly after the release of the 2015 film Demonte Colony.

The popular legends often associate the supposed haunting with the death of De Monte's son and the mental illness attributed to his wife. These stories developed considerably after De Monte's lifetime and are not established by the surviving legal and mercantile records.

In popular culture

The Tamil-language supernatural horror film Demonte Colony, written and directed by R. Ajay Gnanamuthu and released in 2015, took its title and setting from the Chennai locality.

The film uses a heavily fictionalised version of De Monte's story, portraying a Portuguese businessman whose household becomes connected with murder, a cursed object and supernatural events. These plot elements belong to the film's fictional mythology and are not supported by the historical records concerning John De Monte.

The film subsequently developed into a franchise, including Demonte Colony 2, released in 2024.

See also

• Arbuthnot & Co.
• Covelong
• Demonte Colony
• History of Chennai