Gardner family of Soron (Kasganj)
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Baron of Uttoxeter?
From: Arvind Chauhan, This humble UP farmer is claimant to baron title, November 19, 2018: The Times of India
For many years now, Julian James Gardner, 75, has lived with a dream — to see his family being recognised as the rightful claimant of the barony of Uttoxeter in Britain. Gardner, a farmer with a small landholding at Soron in Kasganj, some 140 km away from Agra, belongs to an Anglo-Indian family, referred to as ‘angrez’ by locals. This is because the family has descended from British nobility and Mughalroyalty, and claims to be the only surviving legitimate claimant to the barony which has been lying dormant since 1883, after the third Baron passed away.
That a farmer living in the badlands of UP is in fact the claimant to the title of Baron in UK and therefore eligible for a seat in the House of Lords, may seem too fantastic to be true. But Gardner says he has all the documents to prove his claim, including a detailed ror of Delhi). He served under Lord Cornwallis in the Anglo-Mysore Wars and then served the Maratha Confederacy. In 1809, he raised the cavalry corps called Gardner’s Horse, which is today an armoured regiment of the Indian Army. William settled in Kasganj where Julian, the seventh generation of his family, continues to live with his Gujarati wife Ella Priscilla, son Ashley Rodney, daughter-in-law Jenfamily tree that charts out his bloodline linking it to Admiral Alan Gardner, the first Baron Gardner of Uttoxeter.
Julian’s family is descended from William Linnaeus Gardner, elder brother of Admiral Alan Gardner. William came to India in the late 18th century to seek his fortune and married a Mughal princess (the Princess of Cambay who was adopted daughter of Akbar Shah-II, Mughal empenifer Deborah and two grandchildren William Stuart,19, and Jillian Elizabeth, 23.
“Although I have the documents to prove my case, I don’t have the cash or resources to pursue legal proceedings and engage lawyers (to fight the case through the committee of privileges at Westminster). I have never been to London. My home has always been Kasganj,” says Julian. The family is involved in farming, cattle rearing as well as raising poultry, which they say is enough to meet their needs. “Our ancestors owned property till Dadri close to Ghaziabad border, but over time, the land shrunk to a couple of acres. Today, we live a humble but peaceful life,” says the patriarch who incidentally studied at the Boy’s High School at Allahabad, where actor Amitabh Bachchan and his brother Ajitabh were his contemporaries.
Several researchers, including those from the UK, have met Julian Gardner over the years to investigate his claims. Most notably, author William Dalrymple while researching his book ‘White Mughals’ spent a day with the family at their farmstead in 2003. He returned convinced of the genuineness of the family’s claims. In an email response, when TOI sought his views on the Gardner family, Dalrymple replied that Julian Gardner “really does seem to be the legitimate claimant (to the barony).” “It’s a remarkable story,” he added.
Julian’s children meanwhile say that they initially felt reluctant to talk about their lineage, but now feel proud of their bloodline. Iona Valerie Brendish, the youngest daughter of Julian, who is currently the principal of the Sayyid AkbarHusayni School at Gulbarga in Karnataka, told TOI, “When I look at my family tree, it gives me goosebumps. As children, we hesitated to talk about it, fearing that people may make fun of us, but today we feel proud about our ancestry.”
