April 24 is commemorated as the official anniversary of the Armenian genocide, which began in April 1915 with the round-up of Armenian intellectuals, followed by massacres and forced exile of hundreds of thousands of Armenian people from Turkey.
Quakers at the time had long been concerned with the plight of the Armenian people, in part due to the work of individual Friends, and groups of Friends, in the area in preceding years.
The Library’s collections include records of Friends who, in official or unofficial capacities, observed the effects of persecution and massacres of Armenians in the decades leading up to the 1915 genocide or were involved in relief work with refugees, orphans and the dispossessed.
Besides the papers of the official Armenia Committee appointed by Meeting for Sufferings in 1924 (Library reference: YM/MFS/ARC), some of the most enlightening accounts appear in other printed and manuscript collections.
In 1881 Gabriel S. Dobrashian, an Armenian doctor who had married a British Quaker, Gertrude G. Gillett, established a medical mission for Armenians in Constantinople, with the help of a group of British Quakers. Armenians were already suffering persecution at the hands of the authorities, and the mission brought much needed relief. The papers of the Friends Armenian Mission (Library reference: TEMP MSS 997) are not yet fully catalogued, but are accessible to readers and offer a fascinating insight into the situation for Armenians in this period.
The work of the Mission was taken over by Ann Mary Burgess when Dr Dobrashian was forced to flee to England with his family in the 1890s. She steered it over the years into a flourishing philanthropic, educational and industrial mission. By 1922, its position in Constantinople had become untenable and it moved to relative safety in Corfu. The Friends Armenian Mission’s records include some vivid photographs of work there (Library reference: TEMP MSS 997 Photographs), showing refugees working at looms and making traditional Middle Eastern textiles, as in the photograph below.
Refugee man making Persian blanket, Corfu, after 1922. Friends Armenian Mission papers (Library reference TEMP MSS 997 Photographs)
Other photographs shed light on the suffering of the refugees – for example, the note on the back of the picture of the girl below:
“My little orphan whose mother was murdered while this child was sheltering herself in her mothers arms & she in it suffered the loss of one arm, she is a dear girl & does fine needle work. I must send you a piece to see. I thought she had a sister now I hear all her people were killed.”
Armenian refugee girl, Corfu, after 1922. Friends Armenian Mission papers (Library reference TEMP MSS 997 Photographs)
MS inscription on back of photograph of unidentified Armenian refugee girl. Friends Armenian Mission records (Library reference TEMP MSS 997 Photographs)
In 1896, Helen Balkwill Harris (1841-1914), Quaker minister, and her husband, the Cambridge lecturer on palaeography and future director of studies at Woodbrooke J. Rendel Harris, travelled in Asia Minor, researching Syriac and other manuscripts, and at the same time working on behalf of the Friends Armenian Relief Committee set up by Meeting for Sufferings in January that year in response to the massacres of 1894-6.
The Harrises were forbidden to take photographs and were followed and intimidated, but managed to report back in a series of circulars (these and other accounts are among the Friends Armenian Relief Committee records, Library reference MS BOX T2), letters to newspapers and a book. The book, Letters from the scenes of the recent massacre in Armenia by Rendel Harris and Helen B. Harris (1897) (Library reference: 079.190 HAR), gives a detailed account of their work, with photographic illustrations and a map.
Map showing the route of J. Rendel and Helen Harris 1896 . In Letters from Armenia (1897)
![Suffering Armenia [public meeting 1897]](https://librarysocietyfriendsblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/box_449-33-e1429794617110.jpg)
Suffering Armenia: public meeting to promote Armenian relief in St Martin’s Town Hall, Charing Cross, on Wednesday evening, May 19th, 1897 [etc.] (Library reference Box 449/33)
This post only touches on some of the material in the Library for researching this topic, but demonstrates the decades’ long interest and involvement of Friends in the plight of the Armenians stretching either side of the anniversary remembered today.
Quaker Strongrooms 
Thanks for this! As an Armenian who is also a Quaker this sheds light on an important issue for me. I have been very interested in whether there have been any connections or linkages between Friends and Armenians.
Gabriel S and Gertrude Dobrashian were my great grandparents. My grandmother, Grace, was a very young age when they had to leave Constantinople. Thank you for remembering and mentioning what happened one hundred years ago.
Hello
Gabriel and Gertrude Dobrashian were also my great grandparents. Their son Rowland was my grandfather and Grace would have been his sister. My father was Peter Dobrashian and his elder brother Mario. Mario and family were close to Auntie Grace. I went to the wedding of Alex, your uncle? I have photos…. Marc, my son, sent me this link and I believe he has replied to you.
Look forward to chatting more. Diane Waters (nee Dobrashian)
Hello Diane, How nice to hear from you. I am sure I do remember you from Alec’s wedding. I was one of the bridesmaids. I never knew your Father but I did meet Mario and Peggy and family on many occasions. I don’t think I have heard from Marc but it would be lovely to hear from him. It would be lovely to keep in touch. Christine
Hi Christine
Just reading your reply to my Mum. Sorry I didn’t reply sooner! I found a lovely article about Gabriel Dobrashian (with a great photo) in the Friends House in Euston. If you have an email address I will try and send it to you.
My email address is marcw@gclaw.co.uk
Best wishes
Marc
Hello, when the Mission moved to Corfu it was based in a house called Villa Gollcher. I would love to know the history for this as my husband was born in the same house in 1958. Any information relating to the missions time on Corfu would be gratefully received. Linda
Hi Linda, thanks for your comment!. Could you re-send your enquiry to library@quaker.org.uk?
I am researching the rug making factory and the weavers, could anyone working at the factory or any relatives of such persons, please contact me — arto keshishian
Hello Arto. My great grandfather Dr Gabriel Dobrashian was the medical doctor at the Friends Medicsl Mission in Constantinople. He was assisted by a nurse Ann Mary Burgess. She carried on working at the Mission when Dr Dobrashian and his family had flee. I have no family papers. There is a article by Michelle Tuscan dated Summer 2009 ‘The Business of Relief Work: A VictorianQuaker in Constantinople and her Circle’ which you might find of interest. Victorian Studies/Volume 51, No 4. University of Nevada Las Vegas. Good luck with your search.
Thanks Christine for the info, I have gone through the Quaker Library archives and have found the following —In the annual reports there is mention of the following Armenian friends who were helpers (these are for the rug weaving department)
Arosiag Garabedian—oversees girls and work women in rug factory/looms. (1st mention 1921).
Vahan Duzian—-general manager in rug factory.
Michael Heritonedes—rug artist.
Michael Daghdoghlou—designer of the rug factory (later years).
If there are any relatives of these people could they contact me as somewhere, someone must have some memories of the previous generations, weavers in the rug workshops of both in Corfu and later in Nea Kokkinia, near Piraeus.
Ann Mary Burgess was my great great aunt. She went to Dr Dobrashian’s hospital some time between 1881 ( when she was a 19 year old servant in the Peckover household in Wisbech) and 1888. You will know that the Peckovers were a prominent Quaker family and I noticed that, in 1871, they had been two women with Armenian names in their household.
Ann Mary died in India, in 1930, I think, but I have often wondered for how long she was associated with the Armenian cause and whether it was she who took the group to Corfu. Any information about her life would be of great interest to me. My Great Grandmother (Ann Mary’s older sister) adopted an Armenian boy ( named Victor) some time before 1901. We have always assumed that Victor had been “found” by Ann Mary.
Hi Peter, how interesting and what an inspiring ancestor to have! We will respond by email with some more information for you.
Hi Peter,
I have a copy of FRIENDS’ ARMENIAN MISSION IN CONSTANTINOPLE.
Report 4 Month 1916, to 4 Month 1917 This includes a letter from Ann Mary Burgess.
It is my understanding (from memory) that she went to Corfu. The details can be found in an article by Michelle Tuscan dated Summer 2009 ‘The Business of Relief Work: A Victorian Quaker in Constantinople and her Circle’ which you might find of interest. Victorian Studies/Volume 51, No 4. University of Nevada Las Vegas. Unfortunately I do not have a copy of this on my lap top. If you are able to find a copy then I think you will find out more information. I do have a typescript copy of the above but at this moment in time I’m not sure where it is. I moved a couple of years ago and had to put most of the family papers into storage. They are still there and I haven’t got access at the moment. If you are able to find a copy then I think you will find out more information.
I presume that Victor would have been an orphan due to the programs by the Turks. I can remember my great aunt Dr Gertrude Dobrashian telling me she could remember seeing the dead bodies of the Armenians being piled up on the carts outside. She would have been about 7 years of age at the time.
It is good to hear from you and its lovely to know that a descent from Dr. Dobrashian and Ann Mary Burgess have been in contact.
Please feel free to contact me again.
Christine Campbell
A great grand daughter of Dr Gabriel Dobrashian
Christine,
Thank you for your message. I will try to get a copy of Michelle Tuscan’s article. Lisa McQuillan has pointed me to more material in the Friends Archive and I hope to be able to follow up on it. I am particularly keen on getting a copy of “Fifty years among the Armenians” and to find a copy of a painting purported to depict Mary Ann Burgess during the 1894 earthquake.
Best wishes
Peter
Hi, I just came across this site and what got my attention was the post of Arto Keshishian who mentioned the name of Vahan Duzian. He is the grandfather of my husband Stuart. Grandpa Vahan”s wife and two sons Noryar & Herayr (Stuart’s dad) were smuggled out of Armenia, came to the US on board the ship White Star, Adriatic which departed from Cherboug, france. and arrived in Ellis Island on May 21, 1920. We still have an old Prayer rug which the Turks had slashed and an area rug which was woven in the rug factory where Grandpa worked. Unfortunately Grandpa Vahan never made it to the US and the family was never reunited. He was smuggled out of Armenia by the French and he ended up in Athens Greece where he lived until about 100 years old. When Stuart’s dad turned 18 and became a citizen they dropped the i in their last name, It was due to racial bias during that time.
Nanette,
thanks for the info, you say you have an area rug from the factory where your husbands grandfather worked, does that mean when he was in Corfu or Greece factory? if possible can i get some pics of this rug?
Pity that the grandparents were never reunited. It is time to reinstate the “i” !
Arto