In the 19th century an English missionary family turned this watery Kerala village into farmland, schools and a heritage home – a story you can still explore today.
The Story of Baker Family and Kumarakom
How One English Family Reclaimed a Swamp, Built a Home, and Left Behind a Legacy in the Heart of Kerala’s Backwaters
A Quiet House on the Lake
In the early morning haze, Kumarakom’s backwaters lie still, the lake smooth as glass. Birds stir in the distance. A narrow wooden canoe glides past the edge of a sloping, thatch-roofed house — its deep verandahs shaded by ancient mango trees. This is not just any house. More than a century ago, it was called “History House” by local children. Before it became part of a luxury hotel, it was home to the Baker family, British settlers who arrived not as rulers, but as reformers, builders, and quiet dreamers.
A Family from Another World
The Bakers were not famous. They held no titles. Yet they came halfway across the world from England to a remote corner of Kerala in the 1800s, not to govern, but to live. Henry Baker Sr, a young missionary, stepped off a boat in Travancore in 1818 with only his Bible, his wife, and a belief that he could help. Decades later, his son Alfred would request 500 acres of swampy land from the Maharaja — not to hunt, but to farm. What they did next would shape Kumarakom for generations.
Where Birds Nest and History Rests
By the time Alfred George Baker arrived at the edge of Lake Vembanad, it was little more than marsh and mist. But he saw something else: potential. With patient hands, his workers dug canals, lifted mud into bunds, and planted coconut palms where once only reeds grew. He even left ten untouched acres as a refuge for birds — a patch of wilderness that still sings today. You can stand there now, in the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, and hear the wings of that legacy in flight.
Table of Contents
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Colonial Beginnings
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Reclaiming the Land: Farming and Ecology
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The Baker Bungalow: Architecture and Heritage
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Education and Social Reform
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Notable Baker Family Members
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Legacy Today: Taj Resort and Bird Sanctuary
Colonial Beginnings
The Baker family roots go back to the early 1800s. In 1818 Henry Baker Sr (1793–1860), a young English priest, arrived in South India as a missionary. He married Amelia Dorothea and settled near Kottayam, Kerala. Henry and Amelia focused on education – their schools helped raise Kerala’s literacy in later years. Henry’s sons Alfred George (often called “George”) and Henry Jr grew up in India.
Important dates in this saga include:
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1818: Henry Baker Sr arrives, starts mission in Travancore.
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1847: King of Travancore grants 500 acres in Kumarakom to Alfred G. Baker.
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1881: The Baker family completes their lakeside bungalow (“History House”).
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1962: Four generations of Bakers lived here until about this year.
Reclaiming the Land: Farming and Ecology
The Bakers essentially built the village of Kumarakom out of swamps. Alfred G. Baker requested 500 acres of wetland in 1847 and began turning it into coconut groves and rice fields. Imagine trying to farm in a shallow lake – that was the challenge. Baker led workers to dig and fill the marsh: they piled up earth and teak wood into the shallow water to create a solid base. As land was filled, he planted coconut trees on about 150 acres, and reserved the rest for paddy (rice) cultivation.
He managed water by digging wide canals (20–30 feet across) to link the fields. High mud bunds (embankments) were built around the fields to keep saltwater out. One local analogy: think of building a dam and filling it with earth step by step. Bunds also came from canal mud, so nothing was wasted. Baker even installed pump sets (early water pumps) when neighbours were still hand-drying fields, showing his modern approach. To guard against erosion and wind, he planted mangrove saplings (called kandal) along the edges.
You might picture the result as a checkerboard of green fields and coconut groves. Remarkably, Baker left a 10-acre patch completely untouched as a bird haven. That plot, wild and wet, is now the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary. It hosts migratory waterfowl every year – a gift from Baker’s vision. In short, the Bakers’ land-reclamation steps were:
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Fill wetland with earth and timber to make fields.
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Dig canals and build bunds to control water.
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Plant coconut palms on part of it and keep other parts for rice.
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Introduce pumps and protective mangroves.
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Reserve a bird sanctuary by leaving land wild.
Each step was both practical and eco-friendly. As the tourism authority notes, Baker was “modern in his approach” but careful not to destroy nature. Today you can still visit the lush backwaters and bird sanctuary that resulted from these efforts.
The Baker Bungalow: Architecture and Heritage
One lasting landmark is the Baker family’s Victorian bungalow on the lakeside. Completed in 1881, it was modest in style but built with care. To support the heavy house, Baker’s team drove large teak rafters into the mud and packed them with soil to create a firm base. The excavation even left a pond in front of the house, adding a lake-like view.
The house itself had a long verandah across the front and a high sloping coconut-leaf thatch roof. Inside was a big central living hall with a bedroom on each side, plus dressing rooms and bathrooms. The kitchen was in a separate block behind, as was traditional. Tip: Think of the verandah as an outdoor living room – in Kerala’s climate it kept the house cool and invited breezes in.
Later, Alfred’s son George Alexander Baker added a second floor mirroring the same plan. This doubled the living space. The builders repeated the verandah layout upstairs, so the whole house had encircling verandahs on both levels. Together the original house and its addition create the Tudor-like façade we see today.
The Baker family home today still stands on Vembanad Lake’s edge. It has been carefully restored as the Taj Garden Retreat (formerly Taj Vivanta). The resort notes “the original bungalow on this estate was built in 1881 by an English missionary”. In fact, Taj advertises that it is next to the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary and features the “Original Baker family bungalow over 140 years old”. You can actually check in through the old Baker verandah: the resort uses the house as its reception. This living slice of history lets guests walk where Estha and Rahel of The God of Small Things once imagined ghosts.
Key house features:
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Tall, thatched roof and wide low verandahs.
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Spacious central hall with adjacent bedrooms and a back kitchen.
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Built on wooden piles and soil base to stand on the lakefront.
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Second floor added in early 1900s by George Baker.
Today the bungalow remains grand yet quiet, a reminder of the family’s effort. The Taj resort highlights it on every brochure – even naming a “Baker’s Lounge” bar after the family.
Education and Social Reform
The Bakers did more than farm and build; they also helped educate the local community. Alfred Baker’s wife, Fanny, opened a school in their own home for nearby children. In 1886 Alfred then founded a small primary school in memory of his late sister Annie. This proved only the beginning: by 1925 the Baker family had established the Baker Memorial School in Kottayam, Kerala, named for the family’s missionary legacy.
These schools taught children from all castes (quite progressive at the time) and often included science and modern subjects. The Bakers were well regarded for promoting social reform: they worked closely with local Christian groups and social activists. One history notes they “played a key role in many agricultural, educational and social reforms”. For example, Henry Baker Jr corresponded with the Zoological Society, spreading knowledge of local wildlife, and he helped set up an early orphanage. Alfred himself campaigned against social ills of the day.
Contributions to society included:
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Starting schools (Fanny’s family school and Annie Memorial School).
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Involvement in church and missions (they supported the Syrian Church and local bishoprics).
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Developing better farming methods to benefit all villagers.
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Promoting native languages and education – all Bakers spoke Malayalam at home.
In short, the Bakers weren’t just landlords: they became part of Kerala’s social fabric. They even adopted local dress (the women wore the traditional sarong, or mundu, at home) and language. A visitor today would hear Malayalam phrases echo in the old house and see books in Malayalam on the shelves – part of their century-long legacy.
Notable Baker Family Members
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Henry Baker Sr (1793–1860) – Father of Alfred and Henry Jr. A London-born missionary who arrived in Kerala in 1818. He ran schools in Travancore (near Kottayam) and is considered a pioneer of Christian education in the region.
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Alfred George Baker (ca.1830–1903) – Henry Sr’s son and Kumarakom’s founder. Locals called him “Kari Saipu” (Black Sahib) for his dark clothes. He proposed the 500-acre project to King Uthram Thirunal and began farming in 1847. His vision created Kumarakom’s farmland and wetlands park. Alfred died at about age 72 and was buried in Kottayam.
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Fanny Baker (d.1891) – Alfred’s devoted wife. Though shy, she ran the couple’s first school for local children at their own home. She supported Alfred’s reforms and raised their children (eight in all). After her early death, Alfred honored her by naming a school after her.
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Henry Baker Jr (1830s–?) – Alfred’s younger brother. He is remembered for running a coffee plantation in nearby Peerumedu and for his love of nature. Henry Jr was a keen naturalist (he once wrote to the Zoological Society in London) and helped preserve mangroves and bird life.
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George Alexander Baker (1860s–1946) – Son of Alfred. Educated abroad, he returned to expand the estate. George added a second floor to the house and built a church and a school for estate workers. He managed Kumarakom until 1946.
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Robert George Alexander Baker (1913–1989) – Son of George. Often called R.G.A. Baker, he was the last Baker to live full-time in Kumarakom. He took over estate management in 1946. Following Kerala land reforms, he gradually sold off the property. In the 1960s he returned to England; R.G.A. Baker died in Essex in 1989. His widow and children continued living there.
All the Bakers above spoke Malayalam as their mother tongue and even dressed like locals at home. Their story spans roughly 150 years, bridging British colonial times and modern India.
Legacy Today: Taj Resort and Bird Sanctuary
Visiting Kumarakom, you can still see the Bakers’ legacy. The lakeside bungalow they built is now part of the Taj Kumarakom Resort & Spa. The hotel proudly advertises that its “original bungalow on this estate was built in 1881 by an English missionary”. Taj’s marketing calls the spot “Original Baker family bungalow over 140 years old”. In fact, the old house functions as the resort’s lobby and restaurant (guests check in under the same wood beams), a living museum to the family.
Nearby is the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, created from the wetland Baker set aside. Today you can hire a wooden canoe from a local boathouse and glide through the reedbeds. In the early morning or at dusk you will spot egrets, storks and kingfishers. (Tour operators often note that the resort is “next to Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary”.)
A Legacy That Floats on Water
Walk through the old verandahs of the Baker bungalow today, and you’ll feel it — not grandeur, but presence. The soft creak of wooden floorboards. The scent of old timber and rain-soaked air. Outside, the lake still laps against the edges of fields once carved from swamp. The birds still return. The village still speaks their name. The Bakers did not seek monuments, but their work endures — in the quiet of the bird sanctuary, the curve of a canal, the rhythm of a school bell ringing across the water. Kumarakom remembers them, not with statues, but with life still unfolding gently around what they left behind.
Visiting tips:
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Stay or dine at the Taj Garden Retreat to see the Baker House verandah.
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Take a backwater boat tour: you’ll pass by the green paddies the Bakers planted and arrive at the bird sanctuary.
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Read The God of Small Things if you enjoy history and literature – the novel references “Kari Saipu’s” house (“History House”); even without fiction, the real house is intact.
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Visit the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary (open 6am–6pm) – it’s the same swamp the Bakers left untouched as a bird refuge.
In calm confidence, the Bakers’ century of work still speaks here: a colonial bungalow, thriving farms, healthy wildlife and educated communities are all part of the story. By following their footsteps (quite literally at the Taj) you can see how one family’s vision shaped modern Kumarakom.
Photo Credit by: Taj Resorts Kumarakom, Kerala