Gallery named after Duleep Singh to come up at UK museum

Shyam Bhatia in London

A new gallery named after late Maharaja Duleep Singh is planned for the Ancient House Museum in Thetford town, half way between Cambridge and Norwich, displaying family artefacts never seen before.

This information was revealed exclusively to The Tribune last Friday on a day of celebrations to mark the refurbishment of the graves of Duleep Singh and members of his immediate family in the nearby village churches of Elveden and Blo Norton.

Those attending the celebrations included Norfolk County Council Chairman Rex Parkinson-Hare; Thetford Mayor Robert Kybird; and members of the Sikh community from Canada and the UK. 

Gurdeep Singh Sandhu from the Sikh Welfare Association that has funded the restoration of the graves also attended the celebrations. The association has donated £1,000 to the museum and £500 to St Andrews Church in Blo Norton.

Reverend Derrick Sheppard, Rector of the Blo Norton church,  described Maharaja’s younger surviving son, Prince Frederick — known locally as Prince Freddie — as a popular local resident and ‘staunch monarchist’, who hung Oliver Cromwell’s portrait upside down in his lavatory. 

Although Frederick was to all intents and purposes a ‘typical Englishman of his time’ who died in 1926, he still took the time to create a small gurdwara in the grounds of his home in Blo Norton, said Sheppard. The remains of the gurdwara are still visible.

A copy of the will that Frederick wrote when he was only 14 will be among the items that the Ancient House hopes to display when the new gallery is opened next year.

The Tribune has been given access to this teenage will in which Frederick writes: “I give and bequeath unto Papa my signet ring of topaz, unto Mama my ruby diamond ring, unto Bamba (his sister) my turquoise ring and 4 shillings to mend it with, unto Catherine (his second sister) my snake ring, unto Sophy (his third sister) my policeman pencil and Italian gold coin, unto baby (his younger brother Edward Albert) my large diamond ring.’ A codicil to the will says his George-lll coin is to be divided half between his older brother Victor and half to Edward.

Other items that could be on display at the museum include a hunting knife that belonged to the Maharaja and a hand written letter by Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, dated from 1942.