Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy

Philanthropy

• Mahim Causeway: The British Government had refused to build a causeway to connect the island of Mahim to Bandra. Jejeebhoy's wife, Avabai Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, spent Rs. 1,55,800 to finance its construction, after whom it was named. The work began in 1841 and is believed to have been completed four years later.
• He donated Rs. 1,00,000 to build Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals
• Jejeebhoy donated to at least 126 notable public charities, including the Sir J. J. School of Art, the Sir J. J. College of Architecture, the Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art and the Seth R.J.J. High School. He also endowed charities dedicated to helping his fellow Parsis and created the "Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy Parsi Benevolent Fund" in 1849.
• He paid two-thirds of the entire cost of the Poona waterworks, with the remainder coming from the government.
• He gave a substantial donation to Bombay Samachar founded by Fardunjee Marzban in July 1822. The Bombay Times was launched in 1838 by a syndicate of persons, which included Sir Jamsetjee. In 1861, it was renamed The Times of India. Jamsetjee also donated handsomely to the Jam-e-Jamshed Press when it was founded in 1859.
• The Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, formerly The Victoria and Albert Museum, which was designed by a London architect was built with the patronage of many wealthy Indian businessmen and philanthropists like Jejeebhoy, David Sassoon and Jagannath Shankarseth.
• Construction of Charni Road and relief to cattle. Between 1822 and 1838, cattle from the congested fort area used to graze freely at the Esplanade Maidan (now called Azad Maidan), an open ground opposite the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. In 1838, the British rulers introduced a 'grazing fee' which several cattle-owners could not afford. Therefore, Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy spent Rs. 20,000 from his own purse for purchasing some grasslands near the seafront at Thakurdwar and saw that the starving cattle grazed without a fee in that area. In time the area became known as "Charni" meaning grazing. When a railway station on the BB&CI railway was constructed there it was called Charni Road.
• He spent Rs. 1,45,403 to set up the Sir J. J. Dharamshala at Bellasis Road, and until today, innumerable old and destitute people receive free food, clothing, shelter and medicines. All their needs for the past 150 years, irrespective of caste, creed or religion, have been looked after by the Dharamshala, the first free home for the elderly in Asia.
• Whether it was the famine of Ireland (1822), the floods in France (1856) or the fire, which ravaged both Bombay (1803) and Surat (1837), this beacon of altruism gave graciously to one and all without discriminating on the basis of caste or creed.