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{{short description|English suffragette (1871 - 1942)}}
{{GOCEinuse}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox royalty
{{Infobox royalty
|name = Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh
|name = Catherine Duleep Singh
|image = Bamba, Catherine and Sophia.jpg
|image = Catherine Hilda Duleep.jpg
|image_size =
|image_size =
|caption = Catherine at the center flanked by sisters Bamba and Sophia
|caption = Singh at her debut, Buckingham Palace, 1894
|birth_name = Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh
|birth_name = Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh
|birth_date = 27 October 1871
|birth_date = {{birth-date|27 October 1871}}
|birth_place = [[Elveden Hall]], [[Elveden]], Suffolk, England
|birth_place = Elveden Hall, [[Elveden, Suffolk]], England
|death_date = 8 November 1942
|death_date = {{death date and age|1942|11|8|1871|10|27|df=y}}
|death_place = [[Penn, Bucks]]
|death_place = [[Penn, Buckinghamshire]]
⚫
|religion = Sikh
|full name = Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh
|full name = Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh
|father = [[Duleep Singh]]
|occupation = [[Suffragette]] in the United Kingdom
|mother = [[Bamba Müller]]
|known for =
⚫
|religion =
|parents = [[Maharaja]] [[Duleep Singh]] (father)<br>[[Bamba Müller]] (mother)
}}
}}
'''Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh''' (27 October 1871 – 8 November 1942),
'''Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh''' (27 October 1871 – 8 November 1942), born to royalty, was a [[suffragette]] in the United Kingdom who also lived in Germany before [[World War II]] with her governess Fraulein Lina Schafer with whom she had an intimate relationship. She was the daughter of [[Maharaja Dalip Singh|Maharaja Duleep Singh]], son of [[Ranjit Singh|Maharaja Ranjit Singh]], known as the "Lion of the Punjab", who abdicated his kingdom of [[Punjab]] to the [[British Raj]] due to political maneuvering by [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Governor-General Dalhousie]] in India. Her mother was Maharani [[Bamba Müller]].
was the second daughter of [[Maharaja]] [[Duleep Singh|Sir Duleep Singh]] and [[Maharani]] [[Bamba Müller|Bamba (née Müller)]]. She was educated in England and in 1894 she was presented at Court. She became a [[suffrage|suffragist]] with her sisters, but did not take part in [[Emmeline Pankhurst]]’s [[Suffragette]] movement though her sister Sophia did.<ref>{{cite news |title=Celebrating Princess Catherine Duleep Singh |url=https://essexcdp.com/event/princesscatherine/ |access-date=24 July 2024 |work=Essex Cultural Diversity Project}}</ref>


She was a lifelong romantic companion of governess [[Lina Schäfer]] and from 1904 lived with her in Germany until the latter's death in 1937. She requested her burial at Lina's side in her will. Catherine and Lina were instrumental in aiding many Jewish families escape from Germany during World War II.
Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh and Schafer lived and toured Europe until the latter's death on 27{{nbsp}}August 1937. Singh died in 1942 but later, after World War{{nbsp}}II, her name was again in the news for a jewel box that was stashed in a vault and a joint bank account in a Swiss bank, which, after rejecting several claimants was awarded by a Swiss tribunal to the family of a secretary of [[Bamba Sutherland|Bamba]], her elder sister, who lived in Pakistan.

In June 1997, her name was in the news upon the discovery of a dormant joint (with Schäfer) bank account in a Swiss bank. After several claimants had been rejected, the contents of the bank account were awarded by a Swiss tribunal to the family of a secretary of her elder sister [[Bamba Sutherland|Bamba]] in Pakistan.


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
[[File:Bamba, Catherine and Sophia.jpg|thumb|250px|Catherine in centre with Bamba on the left and Sophia on the right]]
Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh was born on 27 October 1871 at [[Elveden Hall]], [[London]]. She was the second daughter of [[Maharaja Dalip Singh|Maharaja Duleep Singh]], who was the last ruler of Punjab and son of [[Ranjit Singh|Maharaja Ranjit Singh]], who was popularly called the "Lion of the Punjab". Duleep Singh was exiled from his kingdom in May 1854 (though he had been shifted from [[Lahore]] on 21{{nbsp}}December 1849)<ref name= Person>{{Cite web|url=http://thepeerage.com/p44523.htm|title=Person Page - 44523|accessdate=16 June 2016|publisher=The Peerage}}</ref><ref name= Sheikh>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/MaharajaDuleepSingh/MaharajaDuleepSingh_djvu.txt|title=The curse of `Koh-i-Noor` and the secret admirer|date=14 September 2014|accessdate=16 June 2016|publisher=Archive organization}}</ref> by the British following political maneuvering by [[James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie|Governor-General Dalhousie]] in India. When he was fifteen years old, he was moved from Lahore to live in England; he had also surrendered the famous [[Koh-i-Noor diamond]] to [[Queen Victoria]]. He lived in London at the estate in Elveden Hall, [[Suffolk]], spending most of his time in a lavish style.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/sophia-9781408835456/|title= About Sophia|accessdate=16 June 2016|publisher= Bloomsbury Publishing}}</ref> [[Queen Victoria]] favoured him and treated him very kindly and provided for his upkeep,<ref name=Kellogg >{{cite web|last=Kellogg|first= Carolyn |url=http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-anita-anand-20150111-story.html|title='Sophia' a fascinating story of a princess turned revolutionary|date=8 January 2015|accessdate=16 June 2016|work=LA Times}}</ref> but his handsome stature and regal bearing made him the platonic lover of Queen Victoria.<ref name=Tonkin>{{cite news|last=Tonkin|first=Boyd| url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/sophia-princess-suffragette-revolutionary-by-anita-anand-book-review-9965418.html|title=Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary by Anita Anand, book review|date=8 January 2015|accessdate=16 June 2016|work=The Independent}}</ref> He had converted to [[Christianity]]. In 1864, on his way to London he married [[Bamba Müller]] in [[Cairo]] at the British Consulate on 7{{nbsp}}June 1864; her father was a German banker and mother a [[Coptic Christian]] slave from [[Ethiopian Empire|Abyssinia]]. Bamba and Duleep Singh had six surviving children, and Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh was their second daughter. Catherine's siblings were her elder sister [[Bamba Sutherland|Bamba Sofia Jindan]] (1859–1957) and younger sister [[Sophia Duleep Singh|Sophia Alexandra]] (1876–1948), and three brothers [[Victor Duleep Singh|Victor Albert Jay]] (1866–1918), [[Frederick Duleep Singh|Frederick Victor]] (1868–1926), and Edward Alexander (1879–1942); Sophia was the most popular of them all as she was a well known suffragist. As Duleep Singh was working against the interests of the British empire and in favour of [[Indian Independence Movement|Indian independence]], he moved away to [[Paris]] where he was involved in activities related to getting back his [[Sikh Empire]] and was therefore under "British intelligence surveillance". In Paris, Duleep Singh married again, as his first wife Bamba Müller had died earlier due to illness. He married Ada Douglas, an actress in Paris, on 21{{nbsp}}May 1889, and had two daughters by her{{snds}}Ada Pauline (1887–?) and Irene (1880–1926). Duleep Singh died in Paris in 1893 in a Paris hotel, two years after his last meeting with Queen Victoria. It is also said that Duleep Singh reconverted to Christianity to receive "royal reappropriation" which enabled his [[interment]] at Elveden Hall with "floral tributes from the Queen".{{Sfn|Singh|Tatla|2006|p=45}}<ref name=Sufolk>{{Cite web|url=http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/duleep-singh|title=Duleep Singh|accessdate=16 June 2016|publisher=The Open University}}</ref><ref name= Sheikh >{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/MaharajaDuleepSingh/MaharajaDuleepSingh_djvu.txt|title=The curse of `Koh-i-Noor` and the secret admirer|date=14 September 2014|accessdate=16 June 2016|publisher=Archive organization}}</ref>
[[File:Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh.png|thumb|right|Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh (before 1940)]]
Singh was born on 27 October 1871 at [[Elveden Hall]], [[Suffolk]], in [[England]]. She was the second daughter of [[Maharaja Dalip Singh|Maharaja Duleep Singh]] and [[Bamba Müller]]. She had an elder sister [[Bamba Sutherland|Bamba Sofia Jindan]] (1869–1957), a younger sister [[Sophia Duleep Singh|Sophia Alexandra]] (1876–1948), three brothers{{snds}}[[Victor Duleep Singh|Victor Albert Jay]] (1866–1918), [[Frederick Duleep Singh|Frederick Victor]] (1868–1926), and Albert Edward Alexander (1879–1942), and two half-sisters{{snds}}Pauline Alexandra (1887–1941) and Ada Irene Beryl (1889–1926) by Duleep Singh's second marriage, to Ada Douglas Wetherill. Sophia was the best known of the sisters as she was an active suffragette.


Singh and her older sister Bamba were educated at [[Somerville College]], [[Oxford]].{{Sfn|Singh|Tatla|2006|p=45}}{{sfn|Visram|2002|p=103}} During this period she received private instruction in violin and singing. She was also given swimming lessons.<ref name=Net/> She was the prettiest among the three sisters; she and her sisters were debutantes at [[Buckingham Palace]] in 1895, dressed gracefully in silk.<ref name=History>{{Cite web|url=http://historysheroes.e2bn.org/hero/timeline/3521|title=Princess Sophia Duleep Singh –Timeline|accessdate=16 June 2016|publisher=History Heroes organization}}</ref> When her father attempted to move to India with his daughters he was forced to return from [[Aden]]. Catherine and her sisters then stayed at Folkestone, at 21{{snds}}Clifton Street. Initially, Queen Victoria had desired to put them under the care of Lady Login but on the advice of the India Office in London their care was entrusted to Arthur Oliphantt and his wife; Oliphantt's father had worked as an [[equerry]].<ref name=Net>{{Cite web|url=http://gw.geneanet.org/garric?lang=it&p=catherine+hilda&n=duleep+singh|title=Essai de Généalogie par Alain Garric: Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh|language=Italian|accessdate=12 June 2016|publisher= Geneanet.org}}</ref> It was during this period that the princess was introduced to Fraulein Lina Schafer, a German governess from [[Kassel]] who was twelve years her senior. The Princess then developed a deep and intimate bond with Schafer that lasted until the latter's death, thus changing her life style. Lina Schafer and the princess moved to residences in the [[Black Forest]] in [[Kassel]] and in [[Dresden]].<ref name=Net/>
In 1886 her father attempted to move to India with his daughters but was prevented from entering India and forced to return from [[Aden]]. Catherine and her sisters then stayed at Folkestone, at 21{{nbsp}}Clifton Street. Initially, Queen Victoria had desired to put them under the care of Lady Login but on the advice of the [[India Office]] in London their care was entrusted to Arthur Oliphant and his wife; Oliphant's father had worked as an [[equerry]].<ref name=Net>{{Cite web|url=http://gw.geneanet.org/garric?lang=it&p=catherine+hilda&n=duleep+singh|title=Essai de Généalogie par Alain Garric: Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh|language=Italian|access-date=12 June 2016|publisher= Geneanet.org}}</ref> It was during this period that the princess was introduced to Fräulein Lina Schäfer, a German teacher and governess from [[Kassel]] who was twelve years her senior. The Princess then developed a deep and intimate bond with Schäfer that lasted until the latter's death.<ref name=Net/>


Singh and her older sister Bamba were educated at [[Somerville College, Oxford]].{{Sfn|Singh|Tatla|2006|p=45}}{{sfn|Visram|2002|p=103}}<ref name="Singh Oxford DNB">{{cite web|author=Bhupinder Singh Bance |title=Duleep Singh, Princess Catherine Hilda (1871–1942)
Like her sister Sophia, Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh also became a [[suffragist]]. She was a member of the Fawcett Women's Suffrage Group and the [[National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies]] (NUWSS), also known as the Suffragists.<ref name= Lyell/>
|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-105619 |work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |accessdate=21 April 2014 |date=October 2013}}</ref> During this period she received private instruction in violin and singing. She was also given swimming lessons.<ref name=Net/> She was considered the prettiest among the three sisters; she and her sisters were [[debutante]]s at [[Buckingham Palace]] in 1895, dressed gracefully in fashionable white silk.<ref name=History>{{Cite web|url=http://historysheroes.e2bn.org/hero/timeline/3521|title=Princess Sophia Duleep Singh –Timeline|access-date=16 June 2016|publisher=History Heroes organization}}</ref> Like her sister Sophia, Catherine also became a [[suffragist]]. She was a member of the Fawcett Women's Suffrage Group and the [[National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies]] (NUWSS), also known as the Suffragists.<ref name= Lyell/>


In 1903, she toured India, went to her ancestral home in [[Lahore]] and other places such as [[Kashmir]], [[Dalhousie, India|Dalhousie]], [[Simla]], and [[Amritsar]]. She also visited the princely states of [[Kapurthala]], [[Nabha]], [[Jind]], and [[Patiala]] and interacted with both the royalty and the local people. After her return from India in March 1904 she lived in Europe with Lina Schafer in Kassel and also visited her family in Switzerland.<ref name=Net/>
In 1903, she toured India, went to her ancestral home in [[Lahore]] and other places such as [[Kashmir]], [[Dalhousie, India|Dalhousie]], [[Simla]], and [[Amritsar]]. She also visited the princely states of [[Kapurthala]], [[Nabha]], [[Jind]], and [[Patiala]] and interacted with both the royalty and the local people. After her return from India in March 1904 she lived in Europe with her former governess Lina Schäfer in the [[Black Forest]], in [[Kassel]] and in [[Dresden]] and also visited her family in Switzerland.<ref name=Net/>


Although not formally called a lesbian, Singh spent all her adult life with Shafer.<ref name=Net/><ref name= Lyell/> Even during World War{{nbsp}}II she lived with Schafer in Germany at the risk of being called a traitor. None of the family members seemed to have opposed this relationship.<ref name=Net/><ref name= Lyell>{{Cite web|last= Lyell|first= Carrie |url=http://www.divamag.co.uk/category/lifestyle/catherine-duleep-singh-sikh-suffragette.aspx|title=Remembering Catherine Duleep Singh As part of Black History Month, we remember a Sikh suffragette|date=21 October 2015|accessdate=16 June 2016|publisher= DIVA magazine}}</ref> Schafer died on 27{{nbsp}}August 1937 at the age of 78, leaving the Princess deeply saddened. At that time, the [[Nazis]] had made their presence in Germany, and as local people did not like her living in their area, on the advice of Dr.{{nbsp}}Fritz Ratig, her neighbour and accountant, she left Germany in November 1937 after disposing of all her property and moved to England via Switzerland.<ref name=Net/>
Singh spent most of her adult life with Lina Schäfer.<ref name=Net/><ref name= Lyell/> During World War{{nbsp}}I she lived with Schäfer in Germany at the risk of being called a traitor. None of the family members seemed to have opposed this relationship.<ref name=Net/><ref name=Lyell>{{Cite web|last=Lyell|first=Carrie|url=http://www.divamag.co.uk/category/lifestyle/catherine-duleep-singh-sikh-suffragette.aspx|title=Remembering Catherine Duleep Singh As part of Black History Month, we remember a Sikh suffragette|date=21 October 2015|access-date=16 June 2016|publisher=DIVA magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807040634/http://www.divamag.co.uk/category/lifestyle/catherine-duleep-singh-sikh-suffragette.aspx#|archive-date=2016-08-07|url-status=dead}}</ref> Schäfer died on 26{{nbsp}}August 1938 at the age of 79,<ref>[http://www.kassel-wilhelmshoehe.de/villen.html#07 Information about Lina Schäfer and her residence in Kassel (in German)] See text for house no. 15: "Sie starb am 26. August 1938 in ihrem Haus in der Schloßteichstraße 15 in Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe im Alter von 79 Jahren."</ref> leaving the Princess deeply saddened. After the Nazis came to power, on the advice of Dr.{{nbsp}}Fritz Ratig, her neighbour and accountant, she left Germany in November 1937 after disposing of all her property and moved to England via Switzerland.<ref name=Net/>


===Death===
===Death===
Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh died due to a heart attack on 8{{nbsp}}November 1942 at [[Penn Buckinghamshire|Penn]]. On the evening of her death she and her sister Sophia had attended a drama in the village, dined in Coaltech House and retired for the night. The next morning, when the maid attending Singh found her room locked, she informed Sophia who rushed and broke open the door and found her sister dead. The doctor declared her death as due to heart failure. Sophia was inconsolable at her sister's death. She was the only relative who attended the cremation of Singh. In memory of her sister, Sophia renamed the Coaltech House "Hilden Hall", adding Catherine's middle name, and sealed the room where she had died.{{Sfn|Anand|2015|pp=367-68}}
Catherine Singh died due to a heart attack on 8{{nbsp}}November 1942 at [[Penn, Buckinghamshire|Penn]]. On the evening of her death she and her sister Sophia had attended a drama in the village, dined in Colehatch House, and retired for the night. The next morning, when the maid attending Singh found her room locked, she informed Sophia who rushed and broke open the door and found her sister dead. The doctor declared her death as due to heart failure. Sophia was inconsolable at her sister's death. She was the only relative who attended the cremation of Singh due to World War II. In memory of her sister, Sophia renamed the Colehatch House "Hilden Hall", adding Catherine's middle name, and sealed the room where she had died.{{Sfn|Anand|2015|pp=367–68}}

When the princess died she left a will dated 1935 in which she stated "I, Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh desire to be cremated and the ashes buried at Elveden in Suffolk. I give my gold jewellery, my long pearl necklace and my wearing apparel to my sisters Princess Bamba Sophie Jinda Sutherland and Princess Sophia Alexandrowna Duleep Singh". In a [[codicil (will)|codicil]] she had also requested that her ashes be "buried as near as possible to the coffin of my friend Fraulein Lina Schafer at the Principal Cemetery at Kassel in Germany". However, there was no mention of a bank account and a vault in her name in a Swiss bank in [[Zurich]], which were revealed to the public many years later.<ref name=Victor>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/maharaja-dalip-singh/|title= Maharaja Dalip Singh|accessdate=16 June 2016|publisher= Victoria and Albert Museum}}</ref>
When the princess died she left a will dated 1935 in which she stated "I, Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh desire to be cremated and the ashes buried at Elveden in Suffolk. I give my gold jewellery, my long pearl necklace and my wearing apparel to my sisters Princess Bamba Sofia Jindan Sutherland and Princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh". In a [[codicil (will)|codicil]] she had also requested that a quarter of her ashes be "buried as near as possible to the coffin of my friend Fräulein Lina Schäfer at the Principal Cemetery at Kassel in Germany". However, there was no mention of a bank account and a vault in her name in a Swiss bank in [[Zurich]], which were revealed to the public many years later.<ref name=Dalip/>


==Legacy in Swiss bank==
==Legacy in Swiss bank==


In July 1997 there was a news item which was related to a list of more than 5,000 dormant accounts in Swiss banks published by the [[Swiss Bankers Association]] at the insistence of [[Holocaust Survivors]]. This list contained the name of the Princess with the address recorded as "Duleep Singh, Catherine (Princess), last heard of in 1942 living in Penn, Bucks", as one of the account holders. These accounts had not been operated since the end of the Second World War.{{Sfn|Singh|Tatla|2006|p=45}}<ref name= Vinayak>{{Cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/descendants-of-lahore-based-muslim-family-surprise-inheritors-of-punjabi-princess-legacy/1/231936.html|title=Claim to fame Descendants of a Lahore-based Muslim family are the surprise inheritors of a Punjabi princess' legacy|date=17 December 2001|accessdate=16 June 2016|publisher=India Today}}</ref><ref name=Dalip>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/maharaja-dalip-singh/|title=Maharaja Dalip Singh|accessdate=16 June 2016|publisher= Victoria and Albert Museum}}</ref> Then there were a large number of claimants to the treasure box in the vault and the joint account of the Princess with her governess Lina Schaefer, from relatives in Punjab, the [[Government of India]] and also relatives from Pakistan. There were no living direct descendants of the family as none of Duleep Songh's children had any off springs. A three-member Claims Resolution Tribunal was set up in Zurich to process the claims. During the three years of hearing on the claims of various parties held by the tribunal, the Government of India's claim was considered untenable as the Princess did not rule over any princely state and that her account in the bank was private. The tribunal also rejected all the claims from her relations in India and Europe. The tribunal then identified the Supra family (Supra was the caretaker-cum tutor of Bamba. As Bamba was also childless she had bequeathed her estate to Supra) in Pakistan who had not initially staked their claim as that family was the beneficiary of Bamba's fortune according to a will signed by her in 1942, and Princess Catherine had named Bamba as a beneficiary in her will of 1935. The tribunal then gave its award in favour of Supra's "five living sons - four in Pakistan and one in India - and his deceased daughter's children will receive an equal share of the assets besides the interest on the amount".<ref name= Vinayak/>
In July 1997 a news item appeared which was related to a list of more than 5,000 dormant accounts in Swiss banks published by the [[Swiss Bankers Association]] at the insistence of [[Holocaust Survivors|Holocaust survivors]]. This list contained the name of the Princess with the address recorded as "Duleep Singh, Catherine (Princess), last heard of in 1942 living in Penn, Bucks", as one of the account holders. These accounts had not been operated since the end of the Second World War.{{Sfn|Singh|Tatla|2006|p=45}}<ref name=Dalip>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/maharaja-dalip-singh/|title=Maharaja Dalip Singh|access-date=16 June 2016|publisher= Victoria and Albert Museum}}</ref><ref name= Vinayak>{{Cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/descendants-of-lahore-based-muslim-family-surprise-inheritors-of-punjabi-princess-legacy/1/231936.html|title=Claim to fame Descendants of a Lahore-based Muslim family are the surprise inheritors of a Punjabi princess' legacy|date=17 December 2001|access-date=16 June 2016|publisher=India Today}}</ref>
There were a large number of claimants to the joint account of the Princess with her governess Lina Schäfer, from the [[Government of India]] and relatives in Punjab and Pakistan. There were no recorded living direct descendants of the family as none of Duleep Singh's children had any offspring. A three-member Claims Resolution Tribunal was set up in [[Zurich]] to process the claims.
During the three years of hearing on the claims of various parties held by the tribunal, the Government of India's claim was considered untenable as the princess had not ruled over any princely state and her account in the bank was private. The tribunal also rejected all the claims from her relations in India and Europe.
The tribunal then identified the Supra family of Pakistan as potential beneficiaries. Catherine's 1935 will had named her sister Bamba as a beneficiary, and in 1942 Bamba, who was also childless, had bequeathed her fortune to her caretaker-cum-tutor Supra. The tribunal then gave its award in favour of Supra's "five living sons{{snds}}four in Pakistan and one in India{{snds}}and his deceased daughter's children will receive an equal share of the assets besides the interest on the amount". The assets totalled 137,323 Swiss Francs (Rs 39.8 lakh).<ref name="Vinayak" />


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
*https://blog.hrp.org.uk/curators/hampton-court-princess-catherine-duleep-singh/


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|last= Anand |first=Anita |title=Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Q5SlBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA368|year=2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4088-3546-3|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last= Anand |first=Anita |title=Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5SlBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA368|year=2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4088-3546-3}}
*{{cite book|last1= Singh |first1=Gurharpal |last2= Tatla |first2=Darsham Singh |title=Sikhs in Britain: The Making of a Community|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=d5O0bZmta-QC&pg=PA45|year=2006|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=978-1-84277-717-6|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last1= Singh |first1=Gurharpal |last2= Tatla |first2=Darsham Singh |title=Sikhs in Britain: The Making of a Community|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhsinbritainma0000sing|url-access= registration |page= [https://archive.org/details/sikhsinbritainma0000sing/page/45 45] |year=2006|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=978-1-84277-717-6}}
*{{cite book|last=Visram|first=Rozina |title=Asians In Britain: 400 Years of History|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=aGBnAAAAMAAJ|year= 2002|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=978-0-7453-1378-8|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last=Visram|first=Rozina |title=Asians In Britain: 400 Years of History|url=https://archive.org/details/asiansinbritain40068visr|url-access=registration|year= 2002|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=978-0-7453-1378-8}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Catherine Hilda Duleep}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Catherine Duleep}}
[[Category:Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford]]
[[Category:1871 births]]
[[Category:1871 births]]
[[Category:1942 deaths]]
[[Category:1942 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian female royalty]]
[[Category:British debutantes]]
[[Category:People from Forest Heath (district)]]
[[Category:People from Elveden]]
[[Category:English suffragists]]
[[Category:English suffragists]]
[[Category:English people of Ethiopian descent]]
[[Category:Women of the Victorian era]]
[[Category:Women of the Victorian era]]
[[Category:English people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:English people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:English people of German descent]]
[[Category:English people of German descent]]
[[Category:British expatriates in Germany]]

Latest revision as of 02:11, 15 August 2024

Catherine Duleep Singh
Singh at her debut, Buckingham Palace, 1894
BornCatherine Hilda Duleep Singh
27 October 1871 (1871-10-27)
Elveden Hall, Elveden, Suffolk, England
Died8 November 1942(1942-11-08) (aged 71)
Penn, Buckinghamshire
Names
Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh
FatherDuleep Singh
MotherBamba Müller

Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh (27 October 1871 – 8 November 1942), was the second daughter of Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh and Maharani Bamba (née Müller). She was educated in England and in 1894 she was presented at Court. She became a suffragist with her sisters, but did not take part in Emmeline Pankhurst’s Suffragette movement though her sister Sophia did.[1]

She was a lifelong romantic companion of governess Lina Schäfer and from 1904 lived with her in Germany until the latter's death in 1937. She requested her burial at Lina's side in her will. Catherine and Lina were instrumental in aiding many Jewish families escape from Germany during World War II.

In June 1997, her name was in the news upon the discovery of a dormant joint (with Schäfer) bank account in a Swiss bank. After several claimants had been rejected, the contents of the bank account were awarded by a Swiss tribunal to the family of a secretary of her elder sister Bamba in Pakistan.

Biography

[edit]
Catherine in centre with Bamba on the left and Sophia on the right
Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh (before 1940)

Singh was born on 27 October 1871 at Elveden Hall, Suffolk, in England. She was the second daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh and Bamba Müller. She had an elder sister Bamba Sofia Jindan (1869–1957), a younger sister Sophia Alexandra (1876–1948), three brothers – Victor Albert Jay (1866–1918), Frederick Victor (1868–1926), and Albert Edward Alexander (1879–1942), and two half-sisters – Pauline Alexandra (1887–1941) and Ada Irene Beryl (1889–1926) by Duleep Singh's second marriage, to Ada Douglas Wetherill. Sophia was the best known of the sisters as she was an active suffragette.

In 1886 her father attempted to move to India with his daughters but was prevented from entering India and forced to return from Aden. Catherine and her sisters then stayed at Folkestone, at 21 Clifton Street. Initially, Queen Victoria had desired to put them under the care of Lady Login but on the advice of the India Office in London their care was entrusted to Arthur Oliphant and his wife; Oliphant's father had worked as an equerry.[2] It was during this period that the princess was introduced to Fräulein Lina Schäfer, a German teacher and governess from Kassel who was twelve years her senior. The Princess then developed a deep and intimate bond with Schäfer that lasted until the latter's death.[2]

Singh and her older sister Bamba were educated at Somerville College, Oxford.[3][4][5] During this period she received private instruction in violin and singing. She was also given swimming lessons.[2] She was considered the prettiest among the three sisters; she and her sisters were debutantes at Buckingham Palace in 1895, dressed gracefully in fashionable white silk.[6] Like her sister Sophia, Catherine also became a suffragist. She was a member of the Fawcett Women's Suffrage Group and the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), also known as the Suffragists.[7]

In 1903, she toured India, went to her ancestral home in Lahore and other places such as Kashmir, Dalhousie, Simla, and Amritsar. She also visited the princely states of Kapurthala, Nabha, Jind, and Patiala and interacted with both the royalty and the local people. After her return from India in March 1904 she lived in Europe with her former governess Lina Schäfer in the Black Forest, in Kassel and in Dresden and also visited her family in Switzerland.[2]

Singh spent most of her adult life with Lina Schäfer.[2][7] During World War I she lived with Schäfer in Germany at the risk of being called a traitor. None of the family members seemed to have opposed this relationship.[2][7] Schäfer died on 26 August 1938 at the age of 79,[8] leaving the Princess deeply saddened. After the Nazis came to power, on the advice of Dr. Fritz Ratig, her neighbour and accountant, she left Germany in November 1937 after disposing of all her property and moved to England via Switzerland.[2]

Death

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Catherine Singh died due to a heart attack on 8 November 1942 at Penn. On the evening of her death she and her sister Sophia had attended a drama in the village, dined in Colehatch House, and retired for the night. The next morning, when the maid attending Singh found her room locked, she informed Sophia who rushed and broke open the door and found her sister dead. The doctor declared her death as due to heart failure. Sophia was inconsolable at her sister's death. She was the only relative who attended the cremation of Singh due to World War II. In memory of her sister, Sophia renamed the Colehatch House "Hilden Hall", adding Catherine's middle name, and sealed the room where she had died.[9]

When the princess died she left a will dated 1935 in which she stated "I, Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh desire to be cremated and the ashes buried at Elveden in Suffolk. I give my gold jewellery, my long pearl necklace and my wearing apparel to my sisters Princess Bamba Sofia Jindan Sutherland and Princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh". In a codicil she had also requested that a quarter of her ashes be "buried as near as possible to the coffin of my friend Fräulein Lina Schäfer at the Principal Cemetery at Kassel in Germany". However, there was no mention of a bank account and a vault in her name in a Swiss bank in Zurich, which were revealed to the public many years later.[10]

Legacy in Swiss bank

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In July 1997 a news item appeared which was related to a list of more than 5,000 dormant accounts in Swiss banks published by the Swiss Bankers Association at the insistence of Holocaust survivors. This list contained the name of the Princess with the address recorded as "Duleep Singh, Catherine (Princess), last heard of in 1942 living in Penn, Bucks", as one of the account holders. These accounts had not been operated since the end of the Second World War.[3][10][11]

There were a large number of claimants to the joint account of the Princess with her governess Lina Schäfer, from the Government of India and relatives in Punjab and Pakistan. There were no recorded living direct descendants of the family as none of Duleep Singh's children had any offspring. A three-member Claims Resolution Tribunal was set up in Zurich to process the claims.

During the three years of hearing on the claims of various parties held by the tribunal, the Government of India's claim was considered untenable as the princess had not ruled over any princely state and her account in the bank was private. The tribunal also rejected all the claims from her relations in India and Europe.

The tribunal then identified the Supra family of Pakistan as potential beneficiaries. Catherine's 1935 will had named her sister Bamba as a beneficiary, and in 1942 Bamba, who was also childless, had bequeathed her fortune to her caretaker-cum-tutor Supra. The tribunal then gave its award in favour of Supra's "five living sons – four in Pakistan and one in India – and his deceased daughter's children will receive an equal share of the assets besides the interest on the amount". The assets totalled 137,323 Swiss Francs (Rs 39.8 lakh).[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Celebrating Princess Catherine Duleep Singh". Essex Cultural Diversity Project. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Essai de Généalogie par Alain Garric: Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh" (in Italian). Geneanet.org. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  3. ^ a b Singh & Tatla 2006, p. 45.
  4. ^ Visram 2002, p. 103.
  5. ^ Bhupinder Singh Bance (October 2013). "Duleep Singh, Princess Catherine Hilda (1871–1942)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  6. ^ "Princess Sophia Duleep Singh –Timeline". History Heroes organization. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  7. ^ a b c Lyell, Carrie (21 October 2015). "Remembering Catherine Duleep Singh As part of Black History Month, we remember a Sikh suffragette". DIVA magazine. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  8. ^ Information about Lina Schäfer and her residence in Kassel (in German) See text for house no. 15: "Sie starb am 26. August 1938 in ihrem Haus in der Schloßteichstraße 15 in Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe im Alter von 79 Jahren."
  9. ^ Anand 2015, pp. 367–68.
  10. ^ a b "Maharaja Dalip Singh". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Claim to fame Descendants of a Lahore-based Muslim family are the surprise inheritors of a Punjabi princess' legacy". India Today. 17 December 2001. Retrieved 16 June 2016.

Bibliography

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