Jamnagar Lodge at Staines

Image: © Sean Davis Taken: 3 Sep 2012

K S Ranjitsinhji was a very successful first-class cricketer; he played for Cambridge University, Sussex and England. In India he succeeded to Maharaja Jam Sahib of Nawanagar in 1907. With the outbreak of World War I, in August 1914, he declared the resources of his estate could be used by Britain, including “Jamnagar House” at Staines. The house was converted to a hospital (The Prince of Wales Hospital for wounded officers) run by the Red Cross and with a gift of £50k to pay for running costs. As Maharaja he sent several squadrons of the Nawanagar Lancers to the Western Front. He became Chancellor of the Indian Chamber of Princes and represented India at the League of Nations after the First World War. Ranjitsinhji moved back into his house at Staines after the war. After the formation the newly founded Irish Free State in 1922, he became the first head of state to officially visit. He bought the 50,000-acre Ballynahinch estate in Connemara and moved there in 1924. This helped popularise tourism in the state at a tumultuous time in Irish history. He died at Jamnagar Palace, India in 1933, aged 60. Ranji is remembered in India by the Ranji Trophy, a national cricket tournament inaugurated in 1934. At Staines his house has been demolished, but the lodge still remains

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