| Baron Sinha | |
|---|---|
| Creation date | 1919 |
| Created by | King George V |
| Peerage | Peerage of the United Kingdom |
| First holder | Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha |
| Present holder | Arup Kumar Sinha, 6th Baron Sinha |
| Heir presumptive | Dilip Kumar Sinha |
| Arms | Argent on a chevron ermine between in chief two lotus flowers and in base an adjutant bird three fountains all proper. |
| Crest | A demi-tiger supporting a fasces erect proper. |
| Supporters | On either side an adjutant bird proper collared or. |
Baron Sinha, of Raipur in the Presidency of Bengal, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. [1] It was created in 1919 for Sir Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, a distinguished barrister and zamindar who was the first (and only) Indian ever to be elevated to the hereditary peerage. [2]
A distinguished Calcutta (now Kolkata) barrister, the 1st Baron Sinha was the first Indian to be appointed Advocate-General of Bengal in 1905. Four years later, he became the first Indian to be appointed to the Viceroy's Executive Council. In 1917, he became an assistant to the then-Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, at the Imperial War Conference. He was raised to the peerage two years later, in part due to the perceived need for an Indian representative to steer India-related legislation through the House of Lords. There was controversy over the succession on his death in 1928. He ought to have been succeeded in his title by his first son, Arun Kumar Sinha. However, Arun Kumar had been born at a time when there was no system of registration of births and marriages in India, so he was unable to prove his claim to the title to the satisfaction of the House of Lords at that time.
In 1936, Arun Kumar Sinha, 2nd Baron Sinha, presented a petition for a writ of summons to the House of Lords. The petition was referred to the Committee for Privileges on 27 June 1938, and a Commission was appointed to take evidence in Calcutta, on this birth and marriage. Ultimately, on 25 July 1939, the Committee for Privileges decided that Lord Sinha had succeeded in his claim. [3] The decision remarks that the decision was not precedent for a peer who had legally married two wives (at the same time), and that there is no British law on heirship in the case of a polygamous marriage; but in this case that difficulty did not arise - and in fact the first Lord Sinha had belonged to the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, a variety of Hinduism which required monogamy. [4] Having fully established his claim, Arun Kumar, now confirmed as the second Lord Sinha, was subsequently issued a writ of summons directing him to take his seat in the House of Lords. Owing to the Second World War, however, he was unable to attend Parliament until 1 August 1945, when he was finally sworn in and signed the Register of Peers. [2] More controversy followed in the early 1950s, when he was refused a British passport: eventually, in 1955, he was issued with a passport which described him as a British subject.[ citation needed ] He continued to regularly attend sessions and speak in the House of Lords until his death in 1967. [2]
Upon the death of the 2nd baron, the title passed to his elder son, Sudhindra Prasanna Sinha, who took his seat in the House of Lords as the 3rd Baron Sinha on 18 June 1969. [5] The 3rd Baron Sinha, who unlike his father and grandfather pursued a business career, only infrequently attended sessions of the Lords as he served as chairman of general merchants and holding company Macneill & Barry (now post it's acquisition Williamson Magor) and as a director of several Kolkata-based firms, including the Statesman . [2] Reportedly, he and his son and heir, Susanta Prasanna Sinha, only spoke English and not Bengali. [6]
In the early morning of 28 November 1978, a mysterious fire broke out in the 24-room Sinha family mansion at 7 Lord Sinha Road in Kolkata; it took about two hours for a police constable in the neighbouring barracks to see the flames and alert the Sinha family and emergency personnel. When the fire brigade arrived, they discovered the burnt corpses of Shane Patrick Sinha, the four-year old heir presumptive to the peerage, and his three-year-old sister Sharon. Both were the younger children of the heir to the peerage, the Susanta Prasanna Sinha. Then aged 25, Susanta had been a keyboards player in a Kolkata cafe' during his teens before becoming a tea broker. In 1972, he married Patricia Orchard, an Anglo-Indian from a working-class family in Kolkata. The marriage reportedly met with strong disapproval from the Sinha family, and they never accepted Patricia or the three children she had with Sushanta as members of their family. Patricia soon alleged her husband to be a drug addict and pyromaniac who made at least three attempts to set fires at his place of work, at a hotel where the couple had once stayed and at their flat. In February 1978, the couple separated, with Patricia returning to her parents' home with their eldest child and daughter. The remaining two children continued to live with their father and his family, though Patricia later alleged they "led a dog's life," reportedly never being allowed to sleep in a bed, only on the floor of a room. [6] Investigators and emergency personnel who arrived at the Sinha mansion after the fire were struck by the surviving family's apparent indifference to the fire or to the deaths of the two children. [6] Although the Sinhas alleged the blaze had been caused by a short circuit, a fire investigator's report noted the heat of the blaze had been "most intense" at the spot where the two bodies were found, and that the fire had most likely originated there; the report further noted the victims of the fire had apparently not made any attempt to escape. As a result, on 6 December 1978 the Kolkata police charged both Susanta Prasanna Sinha and his sister Manjula Dorje Sinha with murder by arson and tampering with evidence. [6] Both siblings however were acquitted in the subsequent trial, with the fire controversially deemed to have been accidental. [2]
Following the tragedy and scandal, and having retired in 1977, the 3rd baron retreated into a quiet life with his wife and their children. In reduced circumstances by 1988 and being forced to rent out the lower two floors of the family mansion, he granted an interview that year to a journalist from the Illustrated Weekly of India , during which he described the modern Kolkata and India as "absolutely alien to anything I've ever known." [2] He further noted his peerage had little relevance for a republican Indian government, which "didn't particularly wish for an Indian representative in the House of Lords" who would not be working in tandem with the Indian government, and that India had its own representation in the United Kingdom through its High Commission. [2]
The 3rd baron died the following year, in 1989. He was succeeded by his son Susanta Prasanna Sinha as the 4th Baron Sinha, though the latter did not file a formal claim to the peerage. The 4th baron died young and without male issue three years later, upon which the direct male line failed. [7]
The 4th baron was succeeded in the barony by his uncle Aninda Kumar Sinha as the 5th baron Sinha, a retired sales manager and the younger son of the second baron. Prior to the death of the 4th baron, however, it was thought that his uncle, the heir presumptive, had predeceased his nephew, possibly without heirs. Desiring to keep his new status a secret, the new Lord Sinha did not register his claim with the British authorities. In 1996, the 4th baron's sister Anjana Lahiri notified the British press that her uncle was still alive and resident in the UK. [7] He was duly recognized as the 5th Baron Sinha, but continued to refuse his claim to the peerage.
On the death of the 5th baron in 1999, the rights to the title passed to his elder son Arup Kumar Sinha, de jure the present 6th Baron Sinha. The said Arup Kumar Sinha is a British citizen and was brought up in Britain. He inherited the right to sit in the House of Lords on 18 January 1999 but lost it on 11 November 1999 as a result of the House of Lords Act 1999. [8] He however does not appear on the Roll of the Peerage; as a result, he may not use the title in an official capacity until he registers with the College of Arms and provides the necessary documentation to be listed on the roll. The 6th baron Sinha continues to claim the title as of 2015.
As of 2005, the 6th Baron Sinha was working as a travel agent.
The heir presumptive is the present holder's brother the Hon. Dilip Kumar Sinha (b. 1967).
Marquess of Lothian is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, which was created in 1701 for Robert Kerr, 4th Earl of Lothian. The Marquess of Lothian holds the subsidiary titles of Earl of Lothian, Earl of Lothian, Earl of Ancram (1633), Earl of Ancram, Viscount of Briene (1701), Lord Newbattle (1591), Lord Jedburgh (1622), Lord Kerr of Newbattle (1631), Lord Kerr of Nisbet, Langnewtoun, and Dolphinstoun (1633), Lord Kerr of Newbattle, Oxnam, Jedburgh, Dolphinstoun and Nisbet (1701), and Baron Ker, of Kersheugh in the County of Roxburgh (1821), all but the last in the Peerage of Scotland. As The Lord Ker in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, previous marquesses sat in the House of Lords before 1963, when Scottish peers first sat in the House of Lords in their own right. The holder of the marquessate is also the Chief of Clan Kerr.
Baron Mowbray is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ for Roger de Mowbray in 1283. The title was united with the Barony of Segrave in 1368, when John Mowbray, 1st Earl of Nottingham and 5th Baron Mowbray, succeeded to that title. His successor was named Duke of Norfolk. With the childless death of Anne Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk, in c.1481, the Barony went into abeyance between the Howard and Berkeley families, and both styled themselves Baron Mowbray and Seagrave.
Earl of Carlisle is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England.
Earl of Home is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1605 for Alexander Home of that Ilk, 6th Lord Home. The Earl of Home holds, among others, the subsidiary titles of Lord Home and Lord Dunglass (1605) in the Peerage of Scotland, and Baron Douglas, of Douglas in the County of Lanark (1875), in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Various Earls of Home have also claimed the title of Lord Hume of Berwick. The Earl is also Chief of the Name and Arms of Home and heir general to the House of Douglas. The title of Lord Dunglass is used as a courtesy title by the eldest son of the Earl.
Earl of Dunmore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland.
Earl of Stair is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1703 for the lawyer and statesman John Dalrymple, 2nd Viscount of Stair.
Baron Strabolgi is a title in the Peerage of England supposedly created in 1318 for Scottish lord David of Strathbogie, 10th Earl of Atholl. Despite lack of evidence supporting its existence, it was called out of abeyance by the House of Lords in 1916. Whether it ever existed before then is open to serious dispute.
Earl of Gosford is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1806 for Arthur Acheson, 2nd Viscount Gosford.
Lord Kinloss is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1602 for Edward Bruce, later Master of the Rolls, with remainder to his heirs and assigns whatsoever. In 1604 he was also made Lord Bruce of Kinloss, with remainder to his heirs male, and in 1608 Lord Bruce of Kinloss, with remainder to any of his heirs. He was succeeded by his son, the second Lord, who was killed in a duel in 1613.
Lord Napier, of Merchistoun, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1627 for Sir Archibald Napier, 1st Baronet. Earlier that year, he already held the Napier Baronetcy, of Merchistoun in the County of Midlothian, created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. The titles remained united until 1683, when the Baronetcy became dormant. It was revived in the early 19th century and is now held by another branch of the Napier family. Between 1683 and 1686, the Lords of Napier also held the Nicolson Baronetcy, of Carnock in the County of Stirling, and since 1725 the Scott Baronetcy, of Thirlestane in the County of Selkirk, both baronetcies created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. The latter one is held till today. Additionally, the tenth Lord was created Baron Ettrick, of Ettrick in the County of Selkirk in the Peerage of the United Kingdom on 16 July 1872.
Lord Torphichen or Baron Torphichen is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created by Queen Mary in 1564 for Sir James Sandilands, with remainder to his heirs and assigns whatsoever.
Viscount Mersey, of Toxteth in the County Palatine of Lancaster, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1916 for the lawyer and politician John Bigham, 1st Baron Mersey. He had already been created Baron Mersey, of Toxteth in the County Palatine of Lancaster, in 1910, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. His son, the second Viscount, was a Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords and also served as Liberal Chief Whip in the House of Lords from 1944 to 1949. His son, the third Viscount, married Katherine Petty-Fitzmaurice, 12th Lady Nairne, the eldest daughter of Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 6th Marquess of Lansdowne and 10th Lord Nairne. They were both succeeded by their son, the fourth Viscount Mersey and thirteenth Lord Nairne. As of 2017 the titles are held by the latter's son, the fifth Viscount, who succeeded in 2006.
Baron HolmPatrick, of HolmPatrick in the County of Dublin, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in the 1897 Diamond Jubilee Honours for the Lord Lieutenant of County Dublin and former Member of Parliament for County Dublin, Ion Hamilton. Both his father, James Hans Hamilton, and grandfather, Hans Hamilton, had represented this constituency in the British Parliament.
Baron Ampthill, of Ampthill in the County of Bedfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 March 1881 for the diplomat Lord Odo Russell. He was the third son of Major-General Lord George Russell, second son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford.
Baron Addington, of Addington in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 22 July 1887 for the businessman and Conservative Member of Parliament, John Hubbard. He was head of the firm of John Hubbard & Co and also sat as a Member of Parliament for Buckingham and the City of London. His eldest son, the second Baron, was a partner in the family firm and represented Buckingham in the House of Commons as a Conservative. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the third Baron. He was three times Mayor of Buckingham. On the death of his younger brother, the fourth Baron, the line of the eldest son of the first Baron failed. The title passed to their first cousin once removed, the fifth Baron. He was the grandson of Cecil John Hubbard, third son of the first Baron. As of 2018, the title is held by his eldest son, the sixth Baron. He is one of the ninety elected hereditary peers that remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act of 1999. Lord Addington sits on the Liberal Democrat benches.
Baron Northbrook, of Stratton in the County of Southampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1866 for the Liberal politician and former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Francis Baring, 3rd Baronet. The holders of the barony represent the genealogically senior branch of the prominent Baring family. The name Northbrook is derived from a tithing of the local parish.
Baron Vivian, of Glynn and of Truro in the County of Cornwall, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and held by a branch of the Vivian family. It was created on 19 August 1841 for the soldier Sir Hussey Vivian, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a baronet, of Truro in the County of Cornwall, on 19 January 1828. His eldest legitimate son, the second Baron, represented Bodmin in the House of Commons and served as Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall. His son, the third Baron, served as British Ambassador to Italy from 1891 to 1893. The latter's great-grandson, the sixth Baron, was a soldier and a Conservative member of the House of Lords. Lord Vivian was one of the ninety elected hereditary peers that were allowed to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999. As of 2014 the titles are held by his only son, the seventh Baron, who succeeded in 2004.
Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, 1st Baron Sinha, KCSI, PC, KC, was a prominent British Indian lawyer and statesman. He was the first Governor of Bihar and Orissa, first Indian Advocate-General of Bengal, first Indian to become a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council and the first Indian to become a member of the British ministry. He is sometimes also referred as Satyendra Prasanno Sinha or Satyendra Prasad Sinha.
Baron Fermoy is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. The title was created by Queen Victoria by letters patent of 10 September 1856 for Edmond Roche.
Following the final collapse of the Mughal Empire in 1857 and the proclamation of the British Indian Empire, the British continued to maintain and recognise many of the old Mughal and Hindu styles and titles, introducing a compound honours system which awarded those titles along with British noble and aristocratic titles and knighthoods. Uniquely amongst the countries under British dominion, India was the sole country where British hereditary titles were conferred upon British subjects not of European ancestry. All British titles and honours became obsolete after the formation of the modern Republic of India in 1950, though they continue to be recognised by the British government. The Portuguese gave titles and created coats of arms for its Goan citizens from the early 1700s, both Hindu and Indian Christian. These titles however lost their recognition after the Portuguese Revolution and start of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910.
