The name Parry’s corner has always pulled out the curious George in me as a child because I strongly believed it was related to the only other Paris I knew in France. Even though they are totally unrelated the name “Parry’s” has always lent a classy outlook to the earliest neighbourhood of Madras- “The first line beach”. The name owes itself to one Thomas Parry who arrived in Madras in 1788 as a free merchant and established the Parry’s and Co in 1839 with his partner William Dare. Parry& Co went on to become one of the biggest business houses in south and even the country. And it all began in this corner where currently NSC Bose Road meets Rajaji Salai that the first Parry and Lane offices were started. It was here that the French commander Comte De Lally sited his artillery when he besieged Fort St George from 1758-1759. Later a garden house was constructed on the site and it was sold to Nawab Muhammad Ali which passed on to his successors Latour & Co before finally ending up with Mr. Thomas Parry. He re-built the house in the Palladian style , with godowns on the ground floor and offices on the third floor. As business grew, more godowns were added and, in 1864, a third storey was added. In 1938, all the buildings were pulled down to construct the mammoth 4 storied structure at an estimated cost of 1.2 mn Rupees. The building was constructed in the Art Deco style that combines traditional craft motifs with machinery age materials and shapes. When the building opened in 1940, the top storeys were leased to the American Consulate, the Madras Chamber of Commerce and the European Association. Even though the place is widely known as Parry’s Corner and the company as Parry & Co even today, the building was named as Dare House after his business partner William Dare because it would be unfair to the other enterprises which also occupied the building.
Source: The man form Madras S.Muthiah | The Hindu
Madein Madras 