Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1428

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.2 linear feet (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Sir Richard Harington papers, 1891-1912 (bulk: 1911-1912), Ms. Coll. 1428, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1891-1912 (inclusive) and 1911-1912 (bulk)

Creator:

Harington, Richard, Sir

Form:

Publications (documents), Photographic postcards, Photographs, and Printed ephemera

Abstract:

The materials in this collection almost entirely center around the 1911 Delhi Durbar, to which Sir Richard Harington and his wife, Lady Selina Harington, were invited. It contains informational materials related to the Durbar and Delhi, postcards, and photographs of the Haringtons, along with some limited peripheral ephemera.

Sir Richard Harington (1861-1931) was the 12th Baronet of the Harington Baronetcy of Ridlington in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands. He succeeded his father, also Sir Richard Harington (1835-1911), to the title in 1911. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He became a barrister in 1886, served in the London Brigade of the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers from 1880 to 1891, and commanded the Artillery Company of the Calcutta Port Defence Volunteers from 1900 to 1909. He was appointed as a Puisne Judge in the High Court of Justice at Fort William in Bengal in 1899, where he served until returning home in 1913. He volunteered for the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve during World War I and was promoted to the rank of Chief Petty Officer in the Anti-Aircraft Corps, in which capacity he served until 1916. He thereafter served as High Sheriff of Herefordshire. He died in February 1931.

During his service in India, Sir Harington and his wife, Selina Louisa Grace Harington, attended the Delhi Durbar of 1911. The term "Durbar" comes from a Persian-derived, Mughal term for "court," and has come to refer to several imperial mass assemblies organized by the British Raj at what is now Coronation Park in Delhi, India. These lavish events were held to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India and took place three times, in 1877, 1903, and 1911. Sir Harington's papers concern this last Durbar, which was the only one that a British sovereign, George V, attended. Practically every ruling prince and nobleman in India, plus thousands of landed gentry and other persons of note, attended this Durbar, which lasted from December 7 to December 16, 1911. This event resulted in the capital of India during the British Raj being changed from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Delhi.

The materials in this collection almost entirely center around the 1911 Delhi Durbar. It contains the following: personal invitations to Sir Harington and his wife, Selina Louisa Grace Harington; official programs, pamphlets, and booklets focusing on Durbar events and Delhi in general; one set of photographic postcards showing various tent camps erected for the event; one postcard sent to Sir Harington; several cardstock-mounted photographs showing Sir Harington, Lady Harington, and their two children; one music program for an event unrelated to the Durbar; and one Royal Insurance Company folder.