OTP 2022 Hub - Ancient House
Ancient House Museum of Thetford Life is delighted to be an OUTing the Past Hub for the second time this year. Since our Teenage History Club started exploring our local LGBTQ+ history in 2017 we have been committed to find, researching and sharing stories of Thetford’s queer history.
Our museum was founded by Prince Frederick Duleep Singh in the 1920s. Recent research into Prince Frederick’s letters have reveal he had queer experiences at school and during his adult life. The museum tells the story of Thetford town and the surrounding Brecks from Neolithic times to the present.
Ancient House’s Teenage History Club have been active in sharing LGBTQ+ history over the past five years through exhibitions, family events, tours, craft activities, Escape Rooms and even a stand-up comedy night. You can see some of their work on this You Tube playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH63e73axTA&list=PLwyJDukMtQb2J4VgD6zPOEhiYY_r3UVUG
After a successful and packed digital programme last year we plan to run a hybrid event this year – both on Zoom and in-person at the museum on Friday 18 February. We are excited to be co-hosting this conference with local young people taking the lead to share knowledge and understanding of board LGBTQ+ history.
We are delighted that OUTing the Past and LGBT+ History Month will co-inside with our brand new exhibition marking the life of Princess Catherine Duleep Singh on the 150th anniversary of her birth. Princess Catherine Duleep Singh, second daughter of Maharajah Duleep Singh and his wife, Maharani Bamba as a child. Princess Catherine was a lesbian who lived with a woman called Lina Schafer for most of her life.
Catherine was born on 27 October 1871 and was the second daughter of Maharajah Duleep Singh. She grew up at Elevden Hall, near Thetford. In 1889 after her father moved to Paris and the death of her mother, Catherine and her siblings were cared for by Mr and Mrs Oliphant at Folkestone. Fräulein ‘Lina’ Schafer, from Kassel, Germany was their governess. She was 12 years older than Catherine. The pair had formed a strong attachment and travelled to Europe together. In 1890 Princess Catherine attended Somerville Hall, Oxford.
Catherine was an active member of the women’s rights movement all her life. In 1912 she opened a ‘forest of Christmas trees’ in Nottingham in aid of the ‘Constitutional Women’s Suffrage Works.’
In 1908 Lina and Catherine moved to Germany and set up house together. Catherine’s sister Princess Sophia described their relationship as “intimate”. Catherine stayed in Germany during the First World War. Lina said “we are like two mice living in a little house.” The couple enjoyed taking long walks. Catherine liked gardening and Lina liked to cook. Catherine wrote: “I am having a very good time of it and enjoying myself thoroughly.” During the 1930s the couple’s neighbours said “the local Nazis disapproved of the old Indian lady”. Despite this Catherine remained with Lina until she died on 26 August 1938 aged 79.
During WW2 she sheltered German-Jewish refugees at her Buckinghamshire home, including the Meyerstein and Hornstein family and a violinist named Alexander Polnarioff.
After Kristallnacht (1938) Dr Hornstein was sent to a concentration camp near Berlin. When his wife Ilse found out she snuck into the offices of Reinhard Heydrich, the architect behind the “final solution”. Ilse spoke to Heydrich on how her husband Wilhelm had earned an Iron Cross serving in WW1. Heydrich allowed Wilhelm to have his freedom if they could secure a guarantor and leave the country. Princess Catherine happened to see Ilse at the Meyerstein’s surgery waiting room, and after speaking to Dr. Meyerstein, she immediately agreed to be the Hornstein’s guarantor, and let them stay at her English home, Coalhatch House.
Catherine died on 8 November 1942. She was cremated and requested that her ashes be "buried as near as possible to the coffin of my friend Fräulein Lina Schafer at the Principal Cemetery at Kassel in Germany".
The display includes photographs, letters, Indian textiles and tiles which help tell the Princess's story alongside a brand-new portrait of Princess Catherine by contemporary Sikh artist, Inkquistive. The portrait features the Rainbow Pride flag.
We look forward to vada-ing your lovely eeks on 18 February.