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Reader C. Venkatachalam of the Ega Theatre rounds off these negatives, telling me that the picture I published in Miscellany, December 10 was not of Llanstephan. It was a house in front of it, closer to the road, and was the property of the Pappu Chetty Raghaviah Chetty Charities and in more recent years had been occupied by Fruitnik, the fruit juice bottlers. Llanstephan, he says, was pulled down some time ago.

Based on that information and an old map of Madras, I would then surmise that the building that still stands was called Runnymede.

Llanstephan was, in its heyday, apparently occupied by reader Venkatachalam’s father-in-law, Chenni Yelamanda Sanjeevi Chetty, the younger brother of Anjaneyulu Chetty. The house had been owned by their father Chenni Yelamanda. Sanjeevi Chetty was well known for his generosity. Known as ‘Koozh Ootara Chetty’ (the man who gives gruel to the public), he fed nearly 500 people every day at Llanstephan. He also had milk distributed to the war evacuees from Rangoon when some of them were quartered on Poonamallee High Road.

The area was called Chetty Pettai (Chetput) because many of the houses were owned by Chettys. Reader Venkatachalam’s family, the Cundagaddala family, which was into condiments, owned Manohar, now behind the Ega Theatre. This is one of the last stately homes still left on this stretch, where permission to build houses was only given to those who wanted to raise them in grounds more than three acres in extent.

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