Gordon Cochrane Home

Not a lot is known about Major Gordon Home, especially about the time he spent in Cyprus during the 1950s. I did manage to find out that he was born in London on the 25th July in 1878. That would mean that he was in his seventies when he traveled around Cyprus researching for his book. In his younger years Gordon worked for a number of British newspapers as an illustrator and art editor. As an artist, he worked mainly in watercolour and pen and ink and exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy in London. During the First World War, he served as a Major in the Royal Army Service Corps in France and North Africa.

In June 1926, forty-eight-year-old Gordon married Violet Maud Chapman. Sadly, Violet died just a few days after their 18th wedding anniversary in June 1944. Gordon did not marry again. Major Gordon Home died in Midhurst, Sussex on the 13th December 1969 aged ninety-one.

Gordon traveled widely throughout the British Empire and the Commonwealth and was the author of many travel books including the beautifully illustrated ‘Cyprus: Then and Now’. Most of the book deals with the history of Cyprus before the British arrived in 1878. It is clear that Gordon had an academic interest in archaeology as he writes about the island’s monuments, fortifications and artifacts with flair and confidence.

What I found particularly noteworthy in this book was Gordon’s chronology of Cyprus. Here are some dates and events from the British period that may interest you.

1879: Sir Samuel Baker visits the island. Reform of currency. Ottoman public land purchased by H.M. Government.

1881: Population 186,173. Locust destruction law passed.

1882: Municipality of Nicosia formed.

1887: Drought.

1888: Hospital established at Kyrenia.

1891: Population 209,286.

1895: Separate Boards of Education for Moslem and Christian schools established.

1896-7: Help given to Armenian refugees.

1899: Syncrasi Reservoir completed.

1901: Population 237,002.

1904: Famagusta – Nicosia railway begun. The Duke of York (afterwards King George V) visits Cyprus.

1907: Mr. Winston Churchill visits Cyprus. Railway extended to Morphou.

1908: Reforestation begins.

1911: Population 273,964.

1913: Sir Ronald Ross visits Cyprus and reports on malaria. Agricultural collage established at Nicosia.

1914: Cyprus annexed by Great Britain.

1915: Cyprus offered to Greece on condition that Greece enters the Great War on side with Great Britain. Offer is refused by Greece.

1915-18: Enemy aeroplanes pay frequent visits to Cyprus.

1916: Mule depot at Famagusta: 10,000 muleteers trained and sent to Macedonian front.

1917-18: The island sends large quantities of firewood and other commodities to Egypt and Palestine for British troops.

1919: Amiandos asbestos mine confiscated from enemy subject owners.

1920: Prisoner of war camp converted into refugee camp and hospital.

1921: Population 310,710.

1924: Treaty of Lausanne. Turkey recognises annexation by Great Britain.

1924-7: 3,000-4,000 Turkish Cypriots emigrate to Turkey under Treaty of Lausanne.

1925: Cyprus becomes a crown colony.

1927: Medical Society founded. Earthquake at Limassol.

1928: Discovery of bronze statue of Septimius Severus. Leper hospital built and sanatorium enlarged. Hostel for blind opened.

1930: Public telephone and wireless station developments.

1931: Depression in mining industry. Island wide riots in October, agitating for Enosis (i.e. Union with Greece). Political leaders exiled.

1933-8: Economic depression. Relief works started.

1934: Old and narrow streets in towns widened when opportunity arises.

1935: Manufacture of cigarettes thriving. Six tobacco factories on the island. Output sent all over the world.

1937: £4,000 spent on historical monuments in need of repair. New hospital being constructed in Nicosia.

1940: Formation of Cyprus Regiment and Cyprus Volunteer Force.

1941: Sporadic bombing begins and fear of German invasion.

1946: Population 449,490

1947: 31,000 Jews on their way to Palestine intercepted and placed in camps.

1948: Considerable progress in irrigation schemes.

1949: All Jews in camps released.

1950: Church organizes ‘plebiscite’ in favour of Enosis. Archbishop Makarios III succeeds Makarios II.

1951-3: Enosis agitation stepped up.

1953: Earthquake at Paphos. Forty lives lost. Coronation of Queen Elizabeth celebrated in Cyprus.

1954: Greece takes Cyprus problem to the United Nations for the first time. Sixty-seven per cent of all passengers entering or leaving the island travel by air.

1955: Campaign of violence launched. Tripartite (Britain, Greece and Turkey) talks in London fail. Second appeal to the United Nations.

1959: The setting up of a Cypriot Republic agreed to.

Once again, I appeal to anyone for more information about this fascinating man. I would especially love to read about his tour of Cyprus in the 1950s when he spent considerable time creating his illustrations and gathering information for his book. conemmanuelle@talesofcyprus.com