Conservative Party

Jainti Saggar

About: 

Jainti Saggar originally came to Britain to study medicine at University College, St Andrews. He settled in Dundee – becoming, quite possibly, the town’s first South Asian resident – and remained in Scotland for the rest of his life. After completing his medical degree, he went on to gain diplomas in ophthalmic medicine, public health, surgery. He had a keen interest in education as well as in health, serving as chairman of the Public Libraries Committee and as a member of the committee of the local branch of the Nursery Schools Association of Great Britain. His concern for social welfare also led him into the sphere of politics. He joined the Labour Party and was elected town councillor in 1936, becoming the first black or Asian local authority councillor in Scotland – and in a district where there was not a single ‘black vote’. Saggar went on to serve as a Labour councillor for eighteen years, and was instrumental in the adoption of Krishna Menon as parliamentary candidate for Dundee in 1939.

Saggar married Jane Quinn, the daughter of a bailie and a town councillor of Dundee. On his death, the Lord Provost of Dundee, William Hughes, said: ‘He was a man of compassion for everyone in need…he came to Dundee from halfway across the world but no son of Dundee had greater love for its people or worked harder in their interest. Dundee is much poorer by his passing’ (Maan, p. 128). The naming of a Dundee street and local library after Saggar and his brothers (one of whom, Dhani Ram, also worked as a doctor in the town) is further evidence of the great esteem in which he was held.

Date of birth: 
01 Jan 1898
Connections: 

V. K. Krishna Menon

Labour Party, National Health Service.

Precise DOB unknown: 
Y
Secondary works: 

Maan, Bashir, The New Scots: The Story of Asians in Scotland (Edinburgh: Donald, 1992)

Visram, Rozina, Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History (London: Pluto, 2002)

Visram, Rozina, 'Saggar, Jainti Dass (1898–1954)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2012) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/71/101071631/]

City of birth: 
Daherra, Ludhiana, Punjab
Country of birth: 
India
Other names: 

Jainti Dass Saggar

Dr Saggar

Location

Dundee, Scotland, DD1 1DB
United Kingdom
56° 27' 35.6076" N, 2° 59' 19.8024" W
Date of death: 
01 Jan 1974
Precise date of death unknown: 
Y
Location of death: 
Dundee, Scotland
Date of 1st arrival in Britain: 
01 Jan 1919
Precise 1st arrival date unknown: 
Y
Dates of time spent in Britain: 

1919 until his death

Harbans Lall Gulati

About: 

Harbans Lall Gulati completed his medical training in Lahore, becoming an officer in the Indian Medical Service in 1916. On his arrival in England, he discovered that his medical qualifications were not recognized and so repeated his training at Charing Cross Hospital, doing unskilled work by night in order to pay his fees. He qualified in 1926 and began work as a GP in Battersea shortly afterwards. In his obituary in the British Medical Journal, he is described as a pioneer of the ‘meals-on-wheels’ service, as well as an active member of the St John and Red Cross organizations. He was also associated with the Royal Westminster Opthalmic Hospital.

In 1934 Gullati became a Conservative member of the local council, resigning from the party in 1947 because of their lack of support for the National Health Service. He went on to join the Socialist Medical Association as well as the Labour Party becoming a Labour member of the LCC for South Battersea and later standing (unsuccessfully) for parliamentary candidature. He was an active member of the committee of the Indian YMCA in London, as well as a magistrate and a Freemason.

He was married and had two sons and a daughter.

Date of birth: 
01 Jan 1896
Connections: 

Conservative Party, Indian YMCA, Labour Party, London County Council, National Health Service, Red Cross, Socialist Medical Association.

Precise DOB unknown: 
Y
Secondary works: 

Obituary, British Medical Journal (22 July 1967), p. 247

Visram, Rozina, Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History (London: Pluto, 2002)
 

City of birth: 
Punjab
Country of birth: 
India
Other names: 

Dr Harbans Lall Gulati

Locations

Charing Cross Hospital
Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8RF
United Kingdom
51° 29' 14.4708" N, 0° 13' 18.2892" W
Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital
City Road
London, EC1V 2PD
United Kingdom
51° 31' 45.318" N, 0° 5' 44.34" W
Date of death: 
13 Jun 1967
Location of death: 
England
Date of 1st arrival in Britain: 
01 Jan 1920
Precise 1st arrival date unknown: 
Y
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