the princess ahmadee

7/25/2019 The Princess Ahmadee

1/6

THE PRINCESS AHMADEE

I was researching the Croft family and found a baptism in St Matthews, Buckley in 1878, it was only

later I spotted a ery unusual entry on the same page!

"1stSeptember 1878! Mary #hmadee, father Syad #hmad #li, mother Margaret #hmad #li! #bode

Buckley! $ather%s profession, &awab of India! 'ow ery strange, why would the child of an Indianman be baptised in a small (elsh town, surely it would hae made the news, but a search of local

papers found nothing at all!

# couple of months later while looking at the 1871 census) I was surprised to find what seemed to be

the same child! *iing at *ane +nd, Buckley was +llen wen aged -. an unmarried grocer born

/ulford, and Maria 0ones aged 2 her sister, a widow born 'awarden!3nder these is #hmeed #hmod #li aged 11 months born *ondon! 4his meant that the child was about

8 when she was baptised! 5+en though the date looks like 187" it is 18786 'ad she been brought up

in Buckley, where were her parents, and why was she liing in *ane +nd in a grocers shop

I couldn%t find the girl in 1881 or 181, but hae managed to find her marriage! 4here are arious

reports, all 9uite confusing!

The Colonies and India 24 October 1891

4he Begum #hmadee, youngest daughter of Sir Syed #hmad #li, :!C!S!I!, is to be married shortly toMr! #! $lower March, of 4he 'embs, ;reat Barr, Birmingham! 4he Begum #hmadee is a lineal

descendant, through her father, of the famous +mperor #kbar!

Birmingham Daily Post, December 11, 1891

Mr Maurice daughter of &awab Sind #hmed

#li :!C!S!*! of the royal house of ?elhi) Maurice


2/6

Before her marriage Mary had become a concert artist known as A/rincess #hmadee and oer the

years there are arious tales about her background, but nothing conclusie on her mother until a death

announcement in 18"!

In the A*ondon Chat of &ew ealand 18 it reads ATwenty five years ago a girl was born at

Kensington Palace Gardens, her father was the Sir Nawab Ali and her mother was a well born

English lady. When eight years old she was batised at !awarden, "ord "awrence being her

Godfather. She is now the #eg$m Ahmadee by birth and %rs #ennett by marriage, she is also one of

the most bea$tif$l and gifted women of the day. She learned ianoforte and har $nder the most

eminent teachers. Tosti roclaims her a otential Patti and the &$een who is a good '$dge agrees

with him!

4he first mention of /rincess #hmadee as a singer is in 0une 188, when she performed with Madame

Cellini@s ;rand Concert at St 0ames 'all! 4ickets D1 1s or 12s Ed! Between then and 18 there are

many reports about her concerts in which she performs all oer the country, traelling from Scotland

to Ireland, Isle of Man and ;uernsey often with more than one performance a week!

4hese are from =ust a few newspaper articles about her isits to (ales!

Wreham !d"ertiser# October 1$, 1891! n the preious 4uesday the /rincess #hmadee came to

Buckley when she appeared in a ;rand Concert in the +nglish Congregational Schoolroom in aid ofChurch funds

The Wreham !d"ertiser October 1%, 1891

4he following week she appeared in another concert at Buckley, at St Matthews Church &ational

School! 4his time the report mentions a duet $riendship sung by /rincess #hmadee of the Foyal

'ouse of ?elhi and Maurice


3/6

scale, the *eynote itself being so modified when it was aroached in certain ways as to s$ggest

do$bts whether it had the character of a *eynote for her at all. fo$nd the effect interesting and by no

means disagreeable.

Still my toleration for foreign intervals m$st not be ab$sed. bar d$ets between the #eg$m temering

the scale in her ndian manner, and %r 5oseh 41%ara temering it in o$r native manner. 6na notte

in 7ene2ia, s$ng $nder these conditions,

inflicted s$ch e)/$isite ang$ish on the more

sensitive ersons resent that they had to set

their teeth and hold firmly on to their chairs to

end$re it with o$tward calm. thin* this was

artly d$e to a gallant attemt on %r 41%ara1

s art not to sing obtr$sively in t$ne from the

E$roean oint of view, and to atten$ate his

tone as m$ch as ossible so as not to drown

the #eg$m, who was s$ffering from the effects

of an attac* of infl$en2a3 b$t the res$lt,

however well meant, was disastro$s.

n 12th $ebruary 18 0ohn Syed 4udor

Bennett was baptised at St /auls, 'ampstead!

'e had been born at ASunnyside Beer, ?eon!

/arents Mary #hmadee and (illiam 'enry

Bennett! ;entleman!

#nother son, #rthur Cecil (illiam Bennett

was baptised on 1 March 18E at the same

Church

In 121 the /rincess aged " is liing with her

two sons at ;range $arm, Buckfastleigh,

?eon!

She is a boarder, liing on her own means! In 12E under the name of Mary #hmadee

#hmad Bennett, she started diorce

proceedings on the grounds of adultery with

desertion! 'er husband had twice committed

adultery with unnamed women on "E &o

12E at ;rand 'otel, &orthumberland St, and th?ecember 12E at 'otel Fussell, Bloomsbury! #

final decree was gien in ctober 127! (illiam 'enry Bennett is said to be of no occupation, Mary

was awarded D-22 per annum for herself and two children!

In 111 #hmadee Bennett aged .2 is a isitor at 1- $ellows Foad, *ondon, she is still saying she is

married! She has no family with her!

She died aged .. in 11-! (ills and /robate! &ote that ( ' Bennett has an addition to his nameJ#hmadee, the Begum of .1 /eensey Foad, +astbourne, single woman died 1th 0anuary 11-!

#dministration to (illiam 'enry Bennet ?ampier, Captain Fesere of fficers! +ffects D".8 7s -d!

biously if her father had already died, then she didn@t get a share of his fortune!

4he youngest son 0ohn 4udor Bennett ?ampier aged "2 was killed in action near Kpres on " March

11! Second *ieutenant, "nd Battalion, 4he Cheshire Fegiment attached to 4he Sherwood $oresters

5&ottinghamshire and ?erbyshire Fegiment6

Son of *ieutenant Colonel (illiam ' Benett?ampier 54he Cheshire Fegiment6, "7 +gerton ;ardens,

Chelsea and of the late Mary # Benett?ampier!

4rying to find her parents has been difficult, I couldn@t find them in 1871, so started to search the

papers, the closest I could find was L


4/6

The *orning Post, '(ne 22 18%$A the &awab Sayad #hmed #li attended a state ball held by

command of the Gueen at Buckingham palace! er the neHt few years there were other mentions of

Syad #hmed #li attending many Foyal functions, but no mention of a lady!

4here was also an earlier report in the same paper in 18E7 to say that a daughter of the &awab #hmad

#li was born on the "1 st 0une 18E7 at .7 :ensington /ark ;ardens!

4his was found in a list of South #sians at the Inns of Court! Kear of admission to Middle 4emple

18EE May 1, two brothers on the same date!

&awab Syad #hmud #li of Calcutta 5"6, second son of &awab 4uhower 0ung, of Calcutta! Called "E

0an 18E!

&awab Syad #sghar #li :han Bahador, of Calcutta 5-16, eldest son of &awab 4uhower 0ung, of

Calcutta! Called "E 0an 18E

&awab 4uhower 0ung is mentioned 9uite a few times in the Calcutta 0ournal and in the 'orticultual

Society of India dated 18-, printed at the Baptist Mission /ress, Circular Foad, Calcutta it reads

A$rom his 'ighness &awab 4uhower 0ung, dated Benares dated "

th

#ugust presenting four pearsgrown there an offering to procure grafts of this pear tree A etc!

The *orning Post, '(ne 1%, 18+9 Foyal Botanic ;ardens! # special fete was held and among the

distinguished isitors were ?uchess of Cambridge, ?uke and ?uchess of 4eck, Count and Countess of

/aris etc etc, also &awab Synd #sshur #li :han Bahadoor and #li #hmed &awab Synd!

54hese names are a good enough match, and the dates are about right for them to be the sons of the

&awab 4uhower 0ung, also there is a connection with horticulture6

#nother paper report was 9uite a surprise! 4he address is close enough to the 18E7 birth!

The tandard# -ondon# December ) 18%$#&otice is hereby gien that I) the &awab Syad #hmod

#li at present residing at .1 :ensington ;ardens in the County of MiddleseH will &4 be

F+S/&SIB*+ for any ?+B4S or +&;#;M+&4S which may be contracted by any /erson callingherself *#?K or MFS #shmod #li or representing herself to be my wife! .1 :ensington ;ardens! 1st

?ecember 1872! 5/rincess #hamdee was born about May 1872 if the census age is correct 6

4hen I find in 1871 census at .1 :ensington ;ardens, MiddleseH!

&awah Syed N!! #li! S - b India, there are also two other Indian men -. and -2, but their names are

9uite unreadable! #fter this I@e neer found him in any other census, but the names are really

difficult to research because of arious spellings!

4here are many more reports of the &awab attending state functions in the neHt couple of years, then

nothing more on him at all until a report of the death of his Awife!

The tandard !(g(st $9, 1892


5/6

?eaths ! 0uly -1stat $lorence! Margaret, *ady #hmad #li wife of &awab Syad #hmad #li of Calcutta

and the beloed mother of the Begum #hmadee in her .7 thyear! 5Born c 18.6

I now tried to find if there was any remote connection with Buckley! 4he only clues I had was that

Mary was baptised there and that in 1871 she was staying with a shopkeeper in *ane +nd when she

was 11 months old!

+llen wen born /ulford was -.) she had a sister Maria born 'awarden aged 2 who had married a

0ones!

Moing forward to 1881 +llen born /ulford is E., 5maybe she should hae been . in 18716 is now at

*ord St, *ane +nd, she is still a grocer and has a niece #nne wen .2 who is a widow and a butcher

with her, #nne was born in Buckley!

I could find no trace of any of them in 18E1) there are parts of that year%s census missing so perhaps

they are Alost

4hen I found them in 181 at /itt Street 4ranmere

4homas 0ones "E =ourneyman =oiner b 'awarden 18"7

Marie 0ones "8 b 'awarden c 18"E

Margaret 0ones daughter b 'awarden c 18.E

;eorge 0ones . son b 'awarden+llen wen isitor unm -. no occupation b 'awarden 5this confirms her age was wrong in 18716

4homas and Maria had married on thSeptember 18. at 'awarden) her father was ;eorge wen, a

butcher!

I can@t find the family in 18.1 but in 181 her brother ;eorge and her mother +li>abeth are liing at

*ane +nd with the rest of his family! n ;eorge%s baptism in 181- his parents are ;eorge wen and

+li>abeth /arsonage, +llen and Maria@s baptisms hae not been found!

In all census records I found for the wen family there is only one tiny link as to why Mary #hmadee

would be in Buckley, and that is through Margaret aged in 181!

So the 9uestion now is could this really been Margaret 0ones, the death in $lorence aged .7 in 18"certainly matches! 4here is also the statement in the 1872 paper by the &awab #li about the A*ady or

Mrs #shmod #li or representing herself to be my wife A

I couldn@t find Margaret in 18E1 or 1871, but could she hae somehow found her way to *ondon and

managed to meet the son of Indian Foyalty!

?id she actually pass herself off as a person of higher status than she really was, and what about the

newspaper articles biously Mary #hmadee did hae a good education and was taught well

enough to pursue a musical career, but did her mother really marry Syad #li, he was probably

Muslim, so this would allow him to hae more than one wife and the other sister may hae been from

another woman!

I really don@t know, I think this is one tale I will neer sole!

Title. P %84/1912 &i0amat amily. !hmadee Beg(m

4his isa file in the British *ibrary which consists of "- pages of minutes and letters regarding an

application by #hmadee Begum for an increase in her pension! 4he file includes three letters written

by Begum herself and a copy of a letter regarding her con=ugal rights following her diorce! #fter

contacting the *ibrary it seems there is nothing in the files to shed any light on her mother or any

useful details on her father!

I A;oogled &i>amat $amily and found a Adynasty@ going back many centuries, but there is nothing

definite there about Syad, there was one of the same &i>amat family who is listed, with the grand title

of '' &awab &a>im Muti>umulMulk Muhsinuddaula $eradun 0ah Syed Mansur #li :han Bahadur

&asirat 0ang, 1.th &awab &a>im of Bengal, Bihar and rissa 18-8O1882 5abdicated6, who was born

in ctober 18-2!

'e came to +ngland, haing had two marriages in India, had another two concubines who were gienthe status of wies after inestigation by the British #uthorities, in +ngland he PmarriedP a further two

wies, Sarah


6/6

In a newspaper article from 1872 the &awab &a>im claimed that he was a descendant of Meer 0affier

who Fobert Clie of India placed on the throne of Bengal in 177, and that in 17E Bengal was

transferred to the British on condition that they paid a tribute of a sum e9uialent to D"E2!222! # later

agreement to pay D-18!1 annually Afor eer

Critics of the &awab &a>im said that he should be satisfied with a stipend of D"22 a dayJ

#fter some discussion again with the British *ibrary they do seem to think that this is the same

family, but where Mary #hmadee@s father fits in is still not sure! 'e may hae been a cousin and

entitled to support from the family or the &i>amat pension! Could Margaret =ust hae been another

one of these Ainformal liaisons and could Maria wen of Buckley been her ;randmother

#nd there the story has to end, it would be thrilling to uncoer the connection, but it will hae to stay

as it is unsoled!

#nnette +dwards!

the princess ahmadee

Documents