item details
Emily Eden; after; 1835-1842
J. Dickinson & Son; publisher; 1844
Charles Hullmandel; lithographer; 1844
Overview
Emily Eden (1797 – 1869) was an English novelist and artist celebrated for her accounts of her travels in India from 1835 to 1842. She was born into a prestigious family. Her father was Lord Auckland and her mother was the daughter of Sir Gilbert Elliot. Her uncle, on her mother’s side, was the first Earl of Minto and became Governor General to India in 1806. In 1835, Emily’s older brother George was appointed Governor General to India and she accompanied him on his posting, serving as his de-facto first lady.
Emily was one of twelve children. Of all her siblings, she was closest to her eldest brother, George, thirteen years her senior. With the death of their parents in 1814, George assumed the title of Lord Auckland, and Emily and her sister Fanny moved into the bachelor's household.
George was the head of the house, and Emily was the lady of the house, where life was comfortable and happy for the three siblings. Together, they gardened, played chess, socialised and travelled. Emily was curious, intelligent, well-read, and witty. Politics was her passion, and she boldly debated with George and his friends and made them laugh with her biting humour.
When Emily was 38, George received a prestigious post as Governor General of India. Fanny was eager for the opportunity, but Emily was reluctant, distressed at giving up their happy lifestyle in England and at the prospect of spending five months travelling at sea. Her family friend, King William, sent her a warm letter of encouragement. With an entourage of government staff and servants, the siblings set sail from Plymouth on 3 October 1835.
Once they arrived and settled at Government House in Calcutta, Emily found life uncomfortable and unfamiliar. She lamented the lack of privacy; servants were everywhere, and four were assigned to follow her wherever she went. Her public life was quite demanding, with a constant succession of formal dinners, tea parties and visitors to host. Her private life was another matter; she felt she had nothing to do in her spare time, and a physical lethargy consumed her.(1) According to Emily's accounts, the worst part of life in Calcutta was that she spent very little time with George. Her writing and drawing helped her cope with the monotony and isolation.
In Up The County: Letters Written to Her Sister from the Upper Provinces of India (1867), Emily describes her journey across Northern India as part of the British Governor General's entourage in a collection of journal-letters addressed to her sister, Mary Drummond. These provide a detailed and personal account of her time and experience in India.(2) Her writing documents significant political developments during her brother’s term as Governor General, including the decimation of a British and Indian Army during the retreat from Kabul in 1842, a calamity for which her brother was partially responsible.(3)
During her time in India, Emily also produced exquisite portraits of the people she met and the things she saw. A collection of these drawings, reproduced as 24 lithographs, was published in 1844 as The Portraits and People of India. She depicted princes, soldiers and servants with incredible detail, demonstrating both technical skill and personal insight. Her portrait subjects included Dost Mohamed Khan (1792 – 1863), regarded as one of the most important rulers in the history of Afghanistan, and Ranjit Singh (1780 – 1839), founder of the Sikh empire. She also depicted exotic animals and magnificent jewels displayed by the rajahs.
Te Papa holds nine prints from The Portraits and People of India. They were donated to the national collection by The Returned Soldiers Association (RSA), Wellington from the Estate of The Late Colonel W. B. Rhodes on 21 June 1917.
Colonel Rhodes (1887 - 1915), born William Barnard Moorhouse, was a decorated British airman with ancestral ties to New Zealand. His mother, Mary Ann Moorhouse, was the daughter of kuia Otahui Tuhana (Ngati Tama, Taranaki/Tuturu, Ngati Ruanui, and Te Awa Māori) and one of the wealthiest women in New Zealand, having inherited vast land holdings and assets from her father William Barnard Rhodes. Mary Ann Moorhouse moved to England with her husband and raised a family there. Her son, William, legally changed his surname to Rhodes to satisfy the requirements outlined in his grandfather's will.
Colonel Rhodes's life story is distinguished by valour and scandal. On two different occasions, in 1907 in New Zealand and 1912 in England, Rhodes was charged with manslaughter in motor racing accidents but was never convicted. In 1915, he perished from injuries sustained in WWI combat. He was the first airman to receive the Victoria Cross, the highest honour for gallantry in the face of the enemy awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
The text below was written by Emily Eden to describe the subject of her drawings and accompanied the lithographs in her book The Portraits and People of India.
The figures mark the peculiarity of the appearance of the Sikhs, whose rich and flowing dresses, and tall, thin forms, distinguish them strongly from other inhabitants of India. The figures represent attendants of Raja Khurruk Singh, the eldest son of the Runjeet Singh, who was deputed on a complimentary mission to the Governor General at Simla. Raja Kurruk Singh succeeded his father, but was too feeble to wield his authority; he soon died and was succeeded by his son, Nao Nehal Singh, who was shortly afterwards killed by the fall of a gateway. The fate of the family of the great founder of the Sikh power was very tragical and striking. Rao Nehel Singh was succeeded by the present Maha-Raja, Shere Singh. – Emily Eden
Citations
1. Marian Fowler, Under the Peacock Fan: First Ladies of the Raj, Canada: Viking Press, 1987, p. 39.
2. Angelia Poon, Enacting Englishness in the Victorian Period: Colonialism and the Politics of Performance, Hampshire, UK: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 1988, p 75.
3. William Dalrymple, Return of a King, New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing, 2014, p 390.
Bibliography
Dalrymple, William. Return of a King. New York: Knopf Double Day Publishing. 2013.
Clarke, Sandra, Ann Reweti, Lotofoa Fiu. "Aperahama Tuhana Wakaruamoko, d.1885." Nga Tupuna II o Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Vol. 2). Wellington: Wellington City Council in association with the Wellington Tenths Trust, 2003, p 45.
Eden, Emily. Portraits of the Princes and People of India. London: Lowes Cato, 1944. Portraits of the princes & people of India / by the Hon. Miss Eden, drawn on the stone by L. Dickinson : Eden, Emily, 1797-1869. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Fowler, Marian. Below the Peacock Fan – The First Ladies of the Raj. Canada: Viking Press, 1987.
Patterson, Brad. "Story: Rhodes, William Barnard." Te Ara – The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Rhodes, William Barnard – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography – Te Ara
Poon, Angela. Enacting Englishness in the Victorian Period: Colonialism and the Politics of Performance. Hampshire, UK: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 1988.
"The New Brighton Motor Bicycle Accident." Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12769, 4 April 1907, p 3. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19070404.2.8
Wikipedia contributors, "William Barnard Rhodes-Moorhouse." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Barnard_Rhodes-Moorhouse&oldid=1197395000 (accessed September 25, 2024).