The Bruntons of BC Press in Chennai’s Royapuram

BC Press Road is a short stretch going east west in Royapuram. In a city that abbreviates everything, it is no surprise that nobody in that area seems to recall what those initials stood for. It was with some considerable difficulty that it could be found that the road was named after the Brunton Cotton Press – a short-lived entity.

But, behind it is the story of an entire family, that of the Bruntons. It however begins with a dreamer – Josiah Marshall Heath, who having joined the East India Company in 1806 as a Writer, rose to become Deputy Commercial Resident at Salem by 1812. Having come to know of the presence of iron ore in the vicinity, he resigned his position, went back to England, studied metallurgy and returned in 1830 to set up the Porto Novo Steel and Iron Company at that eponymous port, now known as Parangipettai. The venture was a failure but spluttered through various avatars before winding up in the 1870s.