Exhibition- Maharajah Duleep Singh: Norfolk's Princely Family
Date and time
An exhibition exploring the lives of this extraordinary family, with artefacts & objects loaned from the renowned collection of Peter Bance.
About this event
Over 150 years ago the last Emperor of the Punjab, Maharajah Duleep Singh made East Anglia his home when he purchased the Elveden Estate near Thetford on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. For a century his family continued to reside in the region, from Old Buckenham, Hockwold, Blo’ Norton, Breckles and Walcot.
The family’s legacy is still present today, from the Ancient House Museum which was donated by Prince Frederick, to the numerous Norfolk churches he saved from closure and restored. He went on to join the Norfolk Yeomanry and later served in the First World War, and even erected War Memorials for those who fell. The Princesses were not only active Suffragists supporting the rights for women to vote but the youngest Sophia, belonged to the renowned Suffragettes, and gave a gift of over 200 portraits of Norfolk worthies to the Town of Thetford from the family collection.
This exhibition looks at the lives of this extraordinary family, with artefacts and objects loaned from the renowned collection of Peter Bance who has spent 25 years amassing this largely unseen archive which will go on display for the first time. Highlights include the Maharajah’s velvet Indian Jacket, his Purdey shotgun with which he shot thousands of game at his Elveden Shooting parties with the Prince of Wales, textiles and wearing apparel of the Princesses, the family ’s photograph albums and personal intimate letters.