c.1749
Timber for the church, and an arrest
Fr Buttari's church was rising, and the timber ran short. To help his priest, Devasahayam went to a man at the king's court, long his friend, for leave to cut wood in the royal forests. They fell to arguing over religion instead, and the man left threatening his life. The Jesuit history of 1894 calls this the incident that made the gathering storm break: by his intrigues a royal warrant followed, and Devasahayam gave himself up without resistance.
DocumentedThis moment rests on 2 sources.
What this source establishes
The parish's own English history — and the source that corrects the page: this church was built of BROAD BRICKS FROM PERUNGUDI, not of stone. Its date is said to rest on two inscriptions inside the old church, which nobody on this project has seen.