ord and Lady Lytton and their two daughters, Hermione and Davina, and their second son, John, arrived in Calcutta in the spring of 1922. Lord Lytton was born in India at Simla in 1876 when his father, Robert, 1st Earl of Lytton, was Viceroy. At that time the Viceroy`s official residence was in Calcutta. Government House (as it was then called) has thus been home to two generations of the Lytton family.

he text that follows has been taken from the memoirs of Lady Hermione Cobbold, elder daughter of Lord Lytton, and draws heavily on her diaries written at the time. The photographs are from the family albums preserved at Knebworth. The choice of text and photos has been made by Lady Hermione`s son, David, 2nd Lord Cobbold.

ord Cobbold, his wife Christine, his sister, the Hon. Mrs Susan Blount, and his first cousin, Lady Rosanagh Raben, visited Calcutta, Darjeeling and Sikkim for the first time in the Spring of 2002, following in the footsteps of their ancestors. Rosanagh Raben is the elder daughter of Lady Davina, Hermione`s younger sister. Davina is sadly no longer alive. Hermione is 97 this Summer and would very much like to have gone too!