MARY ISAACS REBEIRO
(1904 – 1983)
Celebrating The pioneering First Postmistress of India and her distinguished Family
Mary Isaacs Rebeiro
22 October 1904 – 2 November 1983
The first lady to head a Post Office (Kashmere Gate, Maiden’s Hotel and Mori Gate, from 1940) in an all – male Postal environment when less than 1% of India’s Organised Sector workforce was female and 16% Indians were literate
Affectionately called dak khane ki memsaab by the thousands she served, especially among illiterates and the weaker sections
In times when Post Offices were the main, often only, such centres she served Delhi’s prestigious St. Stephen’s Hospital, The Indian Express, Queen Mary’s, Maiden’s/ Swiss Hotels, Chief Commissioner-Magistrates/ The District Courts, Carlton’s (commissioned 1922 by Viceroy Daniel Isaacs who also founded Delhi University 1922) Jagat Narain Seth (owner of Ritz, Novelty and Jagat Cinemas) ace photographer Kulwant Roy and eminent writer Nirad C Chaudhuri, diplomats and foreign tourists in elite Civil Lines – Kashmere Gate – Mori Gate
Daughter of distinguished Anglo – Indian parents Sarah Rose and Revd JS Isaacs (Jt Commissioner Lahore/ Delhi’s Revenues Officer 1920s) niece of Principal Eric Isaacs MA, sister of Grace, Stephen Isaacs MA IAS, John Isaacs MSc, George Isaacs (DE Telegraphs) and Theophilus Isaacs (Electrical Engineer, Sheffield UK) and cousin of Brigadier Sam Isaacs, beloved wife of John Rebeiro (Delhi 1909/ Delhi Improvement Trust/ DDA) cherished mother of Jeanette (Church High, now DPS/ Presentation Convent / Trinity School of Music London 1940s)
Oldest worshiping family of the oldest Church (1836) in Delhi, St. James since 1910.
The Isaacs’, The Dountings and The Stimpsons (UK) The Josephs (Delhi – Bombay) and son Prof Sydney Rebeiro MA (Delhi) / Cambridge UK / Kentucky USA Res: A 681 Sarita Vihar, New Delhi 110076 R : 26953434 O : 27666665 sydneyrebeiro@yahoo.com and sydneyrebeiro@gmail.com
Marking the Family’s Centenary in the Capital City Delhi 1909 – 2009