William Hall in India and In Scotland

An Indian Princess

July 3, 2012 at 1:54 pm Leave a comment

The woman in this picture is my great grandmother, Jane Isabella Hall Gray. My mother always told me she was an Indian princess, but we can’t find any proof that this is true. I do know that Jane Isabella was born in Port Blair, India, in 1870. Her father, William Hall, was from Scotland and serving in the British Army in His Majesty’s Regiment 69. He was a private. A private and a princess? There must be more to the story.

Jane’s mother’s name was Lydia Selina Ramsbottom. That name was reused through generations of my mother’s family. I am now guessing that Lydia Selina was closer to being an Indian princess than Jane Isabella. I think that Lydia’s mother was a native Indian who married a man named Samuel (or James) Ramsbottom. On Lydia’s death certificate, her mother and father’s names are listed but are hand-written in a script that is a little hard to read. Dad could be James or Sam’l and mom is Sarah Rickard or Rickord. Neither my cousins nor I can find any more on either dad or mom, but I will keep looking.

Entry filed under: Halls. Tags: Indian Princess, Ransbottom, Richkard, William Hall.