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March 12, 1837 |
Born in Calcutta, India, as Mary Jane Prussia. |
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1843 |
She journeys unescorted to Ferozpur (Punjab region) with her mother, where she is reared. |
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1851 |
Marries Dr. Charles Doyle in Ferozpur. They move to Agra. |
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1852 - 1856 |
Gives birth to four children; one dies from smallpox; surviving children are Charles, George, and Eugene Mary. |
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1857 - 1859 |
Great Mutiny occurs; Charles killed by rebels; Mary and children flee to safety. Mary meets Christopher Corbett and falls in love. |
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1859 |
Mary and Christopher wed at Mussoorie. Christopher brings three children to the union from a previous marriage to the former Ann Murrow, who died prematurely during the early 1850s. |
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1862 |
Corbett family travels to Naini Tal, where Christopher becomes Postmaster. |
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1860 - 1879 |
Mary gives birth to nine more children: Tom, Harriet, Christopher, John, Edith, Maurice, Margaret (Maggie), Edward James (Jim), and Archibald. Mary and Christopher send their older children to England to live. Mary agrees to rear Christopher's older sister’s four children when their parents die unexpectedly. Christopher builds houses in Naini Tal and Kaladhungi, where the Corbetts spend the winter months. |
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1880 |
Great landslide occurs in Naini Tal, killing 151 people. Corbetts sell their property for a pittance, and build another house on safer ground. |
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1881 |
Christopher dies of heart failure. |
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1882 |
Mary builds a small cottage next to her house and rents it out. She becomes a rental agent for other owners in Naini Tal to make ends meet. |
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1899 |
Mary's youngest child, Archibald, dies at age 20. Mary becomes despondent. |
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1900 - 1905 |
Corbett family continues to struggle financially. Mary strives for social acceptance from British elite. |
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1906 |
Mary's son, Jim, inherits F.E.G. Matthews & Co., which improves the family's financial situation. |
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1907 |
Jim destroys the famed Champawat man-eating tiger, responsible for killing 436 humans. Jim elected to town council, and Corbetts finally achieve some notability and respect. |
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1910 |
Jim destroys the Muktesar tiger after it had killed 24 humans, and later destroys the Panar leopard, responsible for killing over 400 people. |
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1917 - 1918 |
Jim receives wartime commission and recruits Indian laborers to help British forces fighting in France. |
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1919 |
Mary finally achieves the social acceptance she had longed for, due primarily to Jim's patriotism and success. |
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May 26, 1924 |
Mary dies in Naini Tal. |
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