the church's two bells were made in the city of Lyon, France, by Burdin, in 1861, donated by a Frenchman named Casimir Grégoire
1861
Two bells cast in France
The parish's twin bells were cast in France in 1861, the gift of a benefactor named Casimir Grégoire — the bell in the tower still bears his name in its bronze. Packed in crates, they came by sea to Madras and up through Tirunelveli, and were finally hung in 1872, one in each of the church's two new towers, their joined ringing giving, the people still say, a sweetness of sound heard nowhere else in this land.
Parish traditionThis moment rests on 4 sources.
What this source establishes
Every specific — 1861, Lyon, Burdin, the crates, Madras, the Collector's office — comes from THIS ONE Tamil parish page. The parish's own souvenir contradicts it on the donor. Only the existence of the Burdin foundry at Lyon in those years is externally documented.