Alfred Hallett
Encyclopedia
He wanted to study art from the time he was young but his parents were members of the Exclusive Bretheren sect and his mother faced excommunication
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
for encouraging him. He studied in London, and exhibited in two Summer Exhibitions in 1937 and 1939 at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
, London, although he never became a Royal Academician. In 1938, he was invited to India to paint by the Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
i owner of Nedou's Hotel in Srinigar.
He offered his services to the British Government during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but refused to take up arms. He was given a job as a censor, and rose to the position of Chief Censor in the Punjab
Punjab (British India)
Punjab was a province of British India, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British rule. With the end of British rule in 1947 the province was split between West Punjab, which went to Pakistan, and East Punjab, which went to India...
.
He became the manager of sales and design after the war for the New Egerton Woollen Mills (established in 1880) in Dhariwal
Dhariwal
Dhariwal are a clan of Jats found in both India and Pakistan.- History :One branch of the Mudgals was called Dharan. Later on, these people were known as Dhariwals....
, Punjab, which produced woollen worsted
Worsted
Worsted , is the name of a yarn, the cloth made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from the village of Worstead in the English county of Norfolk...
and hosiery
Hosiery
Hosiery, also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also known generically as hose...
of all kinds. He was close friends with the accountant, Mr. Kim Butterworth and his wife Jean.
After the end of the war, Alfred decided to stay in India. After the Partition of India
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
in 1947 he and the Butterworth family frequently went on camping trips together in the mountains during the summers. They finally bought a church property previously used for furloughs by missionaries at Dharamkot
Dharamkot
Dharamkot is a city and a municipal council in Moga district in the state of Punjab, India.S. Seetal Singh is the present Akali MLA from Dharamkot in Punjab Vidhan sabha.-Demographics:...
, set amongst snow-capped mountains in beautiful deodar forests, well above McLeod Ganj
McLeod Ganj
McLeod Ganj, McLeodGanj, or Mcleodganj, is a suburb of Dharamshala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It has an average elevation of 2,082 metres ....
, Dharamsala
Dharamsala
Dharamshala or Dharamsala is a city in northern India. It was formerly known as Bhagsu; it is the winter seat of government of the state of Himachal Pradesh and the district headquarters of the Kangra district....
, at an altitude of about 2,200 metres (7,218 feet).
He was a keen gardener and developed a friendship with H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...
with whom he used to share cuttings, seeds and gardening tips. In later years he repaired a lovely stone cottage, known as "Carlton Cottage" on his property which he rented to foreigners to generate some income. The house had been built by a retired English Major in the 1840s, who had originally tried to establish a strawberry farm nearby, but it was badly damaged in the massive and deadly 1905 Kangra earthquake
1905 Kangra earthquake
1905 Kangra earthquake was a major earthquake that occurred in the Kangra Valley and the Kangra region of Himachal Pradesh in India on 4 April 1905. The earthquake measured 7.8 on the surface wave magnitude scale and killed more than 20,000 people...
.
He was well known for his portraits, landscape and flower paintings some of which are exhibited at the Naam Art Gallery in the small rural locality of Sidhbari, near Dharamshala
Dharamsala
Dharamshala or Dharamsala is a city in northern India. It was formerly known as Bhagsu; it is the winter seat of government of the state of Himachal Pradesh and the district headquarters of the Kangra district....
in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
. He also painted imaginative religious and abstract paintings, some of which may be seen in the Catholic Church and school in Amritsar
Amritsar
Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
.
He died at his home in Dharamkot in April 1986.