Chapslee Estate

Chapslee Estate is a small locality adjacent to the Lakkar Bazaar in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. The estate houses the erstwhile Secretary's Lodge which is now a heritage hotel run by the Maharaja of Kapurthala.

Chapslee is one of the oldest estates in Shimla having been built between 1828 and 1835. It was built by Doctor Blake, a surgeon in the service of the British East India Company.

Lord Auckland, Governor General of the East India Company Territories, was a resident of the adjoining Auckland House. Finding the accommodation insufficient, he took this property first on rent and later purchased it in 1836, to house his private & Military Secretaries, ‘Aides De Camps’ (ADC’s) and named it ‘Secretary’s Lodge’.

The Estate now has a school on it, and the home is run as an exclusive, heritage home by the owner Kanwar Ratanjit Singh and his family. He is the grandson of Raja Charanjit Singh of Kapurthala.

In June 1838, a tripartite treaty between the Government of India, Ranjit Singh and Shah Shuja was signed for the latter's restoration. Following this, Lord Auckland issued the Simla Manifesto announcing the intention of the Government of India to restore Shah Shuja to the throne of Afghanistan.

The ‘Simlah Manifesto’, declaring the first war with Afghanistan, was issued from ‘Secretary’s Lodge’ on 1 October 1838.Lord Ellenborough, who succeeded Lord Auckland as Governor General acknowledged the failure of Lord Auckland’s policy in Afghanistan. On 1 October 1842, precisely four years after the issue of the Simla Manifesto, the Government proclaimed its altered intentions.

Lord Hardinge, who succeeded Lord Ellenborough as Governor General, continued to use Secretary’s Lodge as the Government Secretariat. General Peter Innes of the Bengal Army purchased Secretary’s Lodge in 1848 and changed its name to Chapslee. General Innes sold the house in 1870 and, thereafter, it changed hands every few years and served as the residence of famous persons, including Colonel William Gordon (around 1877),Sir Courtenay Ilbert, General Pemberton, General Sir C. E. Nairne, Surgeon-General Bradshaw, Surgeon-General Cleghorn and so on.

...
Wikipedia