Jejeebhoy baronets

The Jejeebhoy Baronetcy (sometimes spelled Jeejeebhoy), of Bombay, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created 6 August 1857 for Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy,[1] a prominent Parsee merchant and philanthropist who was the first Parsi and first Indian to be knighted (1842) and the first to be made a baronet (1857). When Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy was made a baronet, it was realised that the Parsee custom was for a change of names for each generation. This conflicted with the British tradition of using consistent surname for a particular baronetcy. In 1915, the Imperial Legislative Council passed the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Baronetcy Act, providing that all the male heirs should take these names and no other. Similar provision was made for subsequent Parsee baronets. All holders of the title relinquish their own names and assume that of the first Baronet.

Following Sir Jamsetjee's death in 1859, he was succeeded by his eldest son Cursetji as the second baronet. The second baronet had three sons; his eldest son Manekji succeeded him as the third baronet in 1877. The third baronet was appointed a Companion of the Star of India (CSI) and as a justice of the peace, served on the council of the Governor of Bombay. He had one son, Cursetji (1878–1893), who predeceased him at a young age, and was succeeded by his younger brother Cowasji, the fourth baronet, who came to be known as the leader of the Parsi community in Bombay. His only son, Rustamji, succeeded him as the fifth baronet in 1908, and was knighted as a KCSI and later served as vice-president of the Indian Legislative Assembly. The fifth baronet was succeeded by his only son Cowasji in 1931 as the sixth baronet. The sixth baronet only had three daughters, and upon his death in 1968, the main line of male descent from the first baronet failed. His second cousin Manekji succeeded him as the seventh baronet; Manekji was a great-grandson of the second baronet through his youngest son Jamsetji Cursetji (1860–1916) and through his son Rustamji (1884–1947).[2]