Victoria Gouramma

Victoria Gouramma
Victoria Gouramma (1854), by Roger Fenton

Victoria Gouramma (sometimes spelt Gowramma in India or Gauromma in British newspapers of the period; 4 July 1841 – 30 March 1864) was an Indian princess.

Life

Princess Victoria Gouramma by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

She was born in Benares,[1] to Chikka Virarajendra (spelt "Veer Rajunder Wadeer" in English court proceedings[2]), the ruler of Coorg who was deposed by the British in the Coorg War under the command of James Stuart Fraser. Virarajendra surrendered on 24 April 1834, and was taken to Benares as a political prisoner. He went to England in March 1852 to demand in court that the British East India Company return his wealth. Queen Victoria received the deposed king with royal treatment, and he left his daughter in her care.

Gowramma was then placed under the care of Major Drummond and his wife, who had travelled by ship along with the Raja. Gowramma was baptised into the Church of England on 5 July 1852 in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, by John Bird Sumner, Archbishop of Canterbury. The Queen stood as godmother (sponsor), giving her the name “Victoria”.[3][4] In 1865, the Queen commissioned German painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter to paint a portrait of Gouramma for the Princesses’ (now Principal) corridor at Buckingham Palace.

Family tree of Victoria Gouramma.

In 1858, Queen Victoria asked Lena, Lady Login to find a suitor for her goddaughter. There was an expectation that she would be a suitable wife for Duleep Singh, another deposed member of royalty, but he announced he intended to marry an Englishwoman. Lady Login tried to find a suitable European nobleman to become Gowramma's husband, but Gowramma married Lt. Col. John Campbell in July 1860, who was 30 years her senior, despite the schemes.[5][6] They had a daughter, Edith Victoria Gouramma Campbell born on 2 July 1861. Edith Victoria married Henry Edward Yardley, son of Sir W. Yardley, and together had a son named Henry Victor Rajendra Yardley.[7] Having emigrated to Australia and died in 1936, Henry Victor Rajendra’s descendants there include a great-granddaughter, Natashya, who has since visited their ancestral seat.[8]

Gouramma died of tuberculosis in 1864 and was buried at Brompton Cemetery.[3] A marble bust of her by Baron Marochetti is now at the Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

References

1. Poddar, Abhishek; Gaskell, Nathaniel; Pramod Kumar, K. G; Museum of Art & Photography (Bangalore, India) (2015). "Coorg". Maharanis: women of royal India. Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing. pp. 106–107. ISBN 978-93-85360-06-0. OCLC 932267190.
2. Anonymous (1857). Coorg and its Rajahs. London: John Bumpus. pp. 110–136.
3. Login, E. Dalhousie (1916). Lady Login's Recollections. Court life and camp life 1820-1904. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 148–194.
4. "Baptism of the Princess Gauromma". Sherborne Mercury. 6 July 1852. p. 2 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Login [née Campbell], Lena, Lady Login (1820–1904), courtier". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/48644. Retrieved 29 March 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
6. Login, E. Dalhousie (1916). Lady Login's Recollections: Court Life and Camp Life 1820-1904. London: Smith, Elder and Co. p. 190.
7. M.O.C. (1894). Supplement to a memorial history of the Campbells of Melfort, Argyllshire and of other Highland families with whom they have intermarried. London: Simmons and Botten. p. 58.
8. Belliappa, C.P. "VICTORIA GOWRAMMA'S GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER VISITS COORG". Coorg Tourism Info. India. Retrieved 26 January 2025.

Other sources

• Belliappa, C.P. (2009) Victoria Gowramma: The Lost Princess of Coorg. Rupa Publications.

External links

• The Matchmaker Queen
• A princess' tale
• Roger Fenton. "1854 photograph of Princess Victoria Gouramma of Coorg". Royal Collection Trust. Inventory no. 2906574.