Lena, Lady Login ( Campbell; 1820 – 17 April 1904) was a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
courtier and author. She was involved with educating
Duleep Singh
Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh, GCSI (4 September 1838 – 22 October 1893), or Sir Dalip Singh, and later in life nicknamed the "Black Prince of Perthshire", was the last ''Maharaja'' of the Sikh Empire. He was Maharaja Ranjit Singh's youngest son ...
, deposed
maharaja
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king".
A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...
of the
Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
kingdom of the Punjab, when he was still a child, and later with bringing him to the UK. Queen Victoria asked her to look after another exiled Indian noble, Victoria Gouramma, daughter of the deposed ruler of Coorg, and to find her an acceptable husband.
Life
Login was born in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
in Scotland in 1820. She went to India with her sister and brother-in-law, Major Hope Dick. It was in
Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
that she married
John Spencer Login
Sir John Spencer Login (9 November 1809 – 18 October 1863) was a Scottish surgeon in British India, best remembered as the guardian of Maharajah Duleep Singh and the Koh-i-Noor diamond following the annexation of Punjab and Last Treaty of Laho ...
in 1842.
He was the Resident Surgeon at
Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
, the physician to the court of Oudh and
Postmaster General of Oudh.
As physician to the Court of Oudh, Login was barred from directly examining women in the
zenana.
However, here, his wife Lena was able assist in diagnosing the medical conditions.
Their children were depicted in a miniature on
ivory by an anonymous Indian artist in 1846. The scene shows their oldest son Edward William Spencer Login (born 1843) on a rocking horse, their daughter Lena Margaret Campbell Login (1845) in a blue dress, and the infant Louisa Marion d’Arcy Login (1846) held by the children's
ayah. She and the Indian child in the picture are unidentified.
[ They had six children.][Login (née Campbell), Lena, Lady Login.](_blank)
Rosemary Cargill Raza, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', Oxford University Press, Oxford. Online edition. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
In 1849 her husband was made the guardian to Duleep Singh
Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh, GCSI (4 September 1838 – 22 October 1893), or Sir Dalip Singh, and later in life nicknamed the "Black Prince of Perthshire", was the last ''Maharaja'' of the Sikh Empire. He was Maharaja Ranjit Singh's youngest son ...
who was a deposed teenage ruler. Lena became part of his education giving him lessons in expected (British) behaviour. Duleep Singh became a Christian in 1853 and the following year they all went to Britain where her husband was knighted.
In 1858 Queen Victoria asked her to find a suitor for her goddaughter, Victoria Gouramma
Victoria Gouramma (sometimes spelt Gowramma in India or Gauromma in British newspapers of the period) (4 July 1841 – 30 March 1864) was an Indian princess.
Life
She was born in Benares, to Chikka Virarajendra (spelt "Veer Rajunder Wadeer" i ...
. There was an expectation that she would be a suitable wife for Duleep Singh
Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh, GCSI (4 September 1838 – 22 October 1893), or Sir Dalip Singh, and later in life nicknamed the "Black Prince of Perthshire", was the last ''Maharaja'' of the Sikh Empire. He was Maharaja Ranjit Singh's youngest son ...
who was an deposed member of royalty, but he instead chose to marry Bamba Müller
Maharani Bamba, Lady Duleep Singh (born Bamba Müller; 6 July 1848 – 18 September 1887), was the Egyptian wife of Maharaja Duleep Singh, Sir Duleep Singh. Brought up by Christian missionaries, she married Sir Duleep Singh and became Maharani Ba ...
, the daughter of a German merchant and Ethiopian concubine, whom American Presbyterian missionaries had educated in Cairo. Lady Login tried to find a suitable European noble to become Gowramma's husband, but Gowramma married Lt. Col. John Campbell, who was 30 years older.
Login died in Aylesford
Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, England, northwest of Maidstone.
Originally a small riverside settlement, the old village comprises around 60 houses, many of which were formerly shops. Two pubs, a village s ...
in 1904. She left memoirs that offer valuable descriptions of her life in India and her interactions with the young Duleep Singh.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Login, Lena
1820 births
1904 deaths
Writers from Perth, Scotland
Scottish courtiers
Wives of knights
19th-century Indian people