Frederick Duleep Singh

Prince Frederick Victor Duleep Singh, MVO, TD, FSA (23 January 1868 – 15 August 1926),[1] also known as Prince Freddy, was a younger son of Sir Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.

Frederick Duleep Singh
Crown Prince of Punjab
Prince Frederick Duleep Singh
Head of the Royal House of Punjab
Period7 July 1918 – 15 August 1926
PredecessorVictor Duleep Singh
SuccessorNone
(House extinct under uterine primogeniture)
BornFrederick Victor Duleep Singh
(1868-01-23)23 January 1868
London, United Kingdom
Died15 August 1926(1926-08-15) (aged 58)
Blo' Norton Hall, Diss, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Burial
Blo' Norton Church
HouseSukerchakia
FatherDuleep Singh
MotherBamba Müller
Education
Military career
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branchBritish Armed Forces
Years of active service1893–1919
RankSee list
UnitSuffolk Yeomanry
Norfolk Yeomanry

Early life edit

 
Memorial in St Andrew's church, Blo' Norton

Prince Frederick was born in London as the third son (the second surviving after the oldest son died on the first day after his birth) of Sir Duleep Singh and Bamba Müller, the former Maharaja and Maharani Duleep of Lahore.

He was educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge where he read History (B.A. 1890; M.A. 1894).[2] At Cambridge, he was a member of the Pitt Club.[3]

He was deeply interested in archaeology, contributing articles to various periodicals and became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He wrote Portraits in Norfolk Houses (1929, two volumes) alongside Rev. Edmund Farrer, and with Farrer and his friend Charles Partridge compiled and published Portraits in Suffolk Houses.[4] He was East Anglia representative of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and reported on about 50 historic building cases for it.

Career edit

He lived at Old Buckenham Hall and for 20 years, at Blo' Norton Hall near Thetford. He was a staunch monarchist, possibly due to his father's good relationship with Queen Victoria, even hanging a portrait of republican Oliver Cromwell upside-down in his lavatory at Blo' Norton.[citation needed] His collection of Jacobite and Stuart relics (and the Cromwell painting) were presented to Inverness Museum. He gave to the town of Thetford the timber-framed Ancient House (now a museum) together with his collection of portraits.

Military edit

Prince Frederick served with Yeomanry regiments from 1893 to 1919.

In July 1901, Prince Frederick transferred to the Norfolk Yeomanry from the Suffolk Yeomanry and was promoted to the rank of major.[6] He resigned his commission in 1909 but rejoined the Norfolk Yeomanry in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I and was on active service in France for two years and with the General Staff.

Honours edit

Punjabi edit

British edit

Ancestry edit

References edit

  1. ^ Photo of his memorial
  2. ^ "Duleep-Singh, Prince Frederick Victor (DLP887PF)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. ^ Fletcher, Walter Morley (2011) [1935]. The University Pitt Club: 1835-1935 (First Paperback ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-107-60006-5.
  4. ^ "Collections Online | British Museum".
  5. ^ Service Record
  6. ^ "No. 27348". The London Gazette. 23 August 1901. p. 5596.

External links edit